Health Insurance for World Travel

the Long's Strange Trip

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Gear and Resources

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I wish I could give you the "Magic Link", the one that contains all of the information you need to travel the world. Unfortunately, we haven't found it. Cruising around the Internet yields a TON of information, some helpful, some less than helpful. You'll find that as you look at older web sites from people who have done this, and compare them to newer web sites, many have benefitted from those that have gone before them. The best advice I can give you is to give yourself plenty of time to research and prepare. Decide how what level or preparedness you need to feel comfortable, then plan accordingly. Here are some sites that we found helpful.

Technology

If you decide to do this, you're going to need to spend some time up front thinking about how you're going to stay connected (I'm assuming you WANT to stay connected. Not everyone does.). Where are you going? What kind of Internet access does your ISP provide in that country? What phone adapters do you need? Is your laptop internationally rated, so that you won't need an electrical converter with it (most laptops recently built are internationally rated)? Teleadapt, U.S.A. is a company that specializes in helping travelers stay connected on the road. They have lots of gear for that purpose. Be aware: they tried (successfully) to upsell us to a huge pack of phone connectors that we did not need. Do not fall for this - review the list of phone connection types that each country uses, then determine which ones you need. Turns out that despite the fact that we're going to 14 or so countries, we only needed 5 phone adapters. Alot of places we're going use the same connection as the U.S. If you do discover that you bought more than you needed from TeleAdapt, DO NOT let them rip you off for the 20% restocking fee! Demand satisfaction!

Your computer (assuming, again, that you're taking one) is going to be the biggest purchase of your pre-trip planning. You want to consider weight, computer power, modem speed, and screen size (in my opinion, very important) when purchasing. cnet.com is a tremendous resource for information on virtually any electronic equipment you might need, from laptops to digital cameras. Not only can you read their reviews on various items, but you can also read the opinions of actual consumers who bought the stuff. It was invaluable to me in choosing both the laptop and the camera. In addition, they will also search the web and find the best prices on equipment you select for price comparison purposes.

One thing to keep in mind when ordering on-line: e-tailers don't always have the capability to tell you when you order from them when they'll ship. If you're ordering the hottest new digital camera from an e-tailer who has a great price, it may be backordered and you might wait longer than expected for it. In my opinion, it's always best to call before ordering to check availability. Also, look out for exorbitant shipping prices. Sometimes, that's how they make up the difference they're losing out in charging the lowest price.

To date, we've signed up with four different ISP's. AOL and AT&T claim to have the largest number of POP's around the world, but we found a service called iPass that allows customers of ISP's to use iPass' 5000 POP servers worldwide. We signed up with Speedfactory, a local ISP here in Atlanta, in order to gain access to the iPass network.

Finally, you have to figure out who's going to host your web site. I'm using Mindspring, because they deal with Microsoft Frontpage extensions, and not everybody does. You can get 30MB of space for $29.95 per month. Although I'm no Microsoft fan, I do recommend Front Page. It makes designing a decent site pretty brainless, and if you decide to do a trip like this, you're going to find out that you don't have alot of time or inclination to learn the intricacies of HTML.

Clothing

We got clothes from several different travel outfitters. Our big demands were versatility, weight, and ability to withstand wrinkles and dirt. Travelsmith, REI, Early Winters, and Territory Ahead all make and sell great-looking, durable travel clothes.

Research

I bought a book called "How Travelers Use the Internet" when we first started planning this trip, and it included some good links to various sites that we used in planning the trip. Probably the most valuable link was Ticketplanet.com, the ticket consolidator out of San Francisco who set up our air travel route and sold us our tickets. Ask for Owen when you talk to them - he is incredibly knowledgeable about world travel.

Hey, we all love the Internet, but let's face it - 99.44% of the information in the world (yes, I made this up) is still contained in some book, somewhere. That goes especially for travel information. Fodor's and Let's Go! both have slightly lame sites. Lonely Planet's site is actually pretty good - the best part being the Thorn Tree, where travelers start and add to discussion threads on subjects ranging from finding a good hotel in Playa del Carmen to how to use a squat toilet (THIS I'm not making up). Still, we needed books for the nitty-gritty information. For that, we turned to the Granddaddy of e-Commerce, amazon.com. Click here to see exactly which books we bought, plus what music we're listening to on the road.

When it comes right down to it, the best advice comes from those who went before you. I have been amazed at how many people either have traveled RTW, want to, or know someone who has. This is how we've met lots of people who have given us help.

Scott and Laura Kruglewicz traveled RTW from September 1998 to September 1999. Their site, Worldwide Wanderings, has been featured in the New York Times, and Scott is currently writing a book about their travels. Not only have we used their site as a resource, since they also live in Atlanta, we've gotten together with them on several occasions to share travel stories and get advice.

Shane Finkelstein and Courtney Gibson left the U.S. in January 2000 for their adventure. Shane is not only keeping a running dialogue on his site, WorldTraveler 2000, he's also writing a column in the weekly paper he used to publish here in Atlanta.

We found another great resource in Kristina Johnson and David Franke. They traveled for nine months in 1998, and have an incredible site called Wired 2 the World. I have corresponded with Kristina via email, and she has lots of recommendations world travel. She's even hooked us up with a Nepalese guide who will be taking us on a trek in the Himalayas!

We have a new internet friend from Germany, Thomas Heuser, who found our site, and has decided to take off on his own 'round-the-world trip. His website is www.allaroundtheworld.de.

A great resource for RTW travel is the Round the World Travel Guide.

Finances

Another HUGE consideration before undertaking a trip like this is how you are going to pay your bills while you're on the road. We went with American Express Online Banking, which allows us to pay bills, monitor our investments, and track our expenses online. You also get all the other benefits of being an American Express member, including access to 2500 ATM's worldwide. They'll even accept mail at their offices for you. (By the way, since writing this, we know that we definitely would NOT go with American express if we could do it over again. For exciting details why, see Travel Challenges.)

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