Moving abroad checklist
Here’s a checklist of the main things you need to remember when moving abroad:
Flights, accommodation and immigration
- Book flights
- Book initial accommodation
- Visas
Admin
- Address
- Change or redirect your address with friends, family and businesses
- Packing list.
- I always write a packing list early so I can stay on top of anything I need to buy.
- I recommend trello for packing lists. You can use it on a desktop or mobile. And it allows you to stay organised by create lists. I usually have a ‘need to buy’, ‘ready to pack’ and ‘packed’ list. You can also separate lists by person if you need to.
- Travel insurance.
- Remember that most companies have a maximum trip length. If you’re away for longer you can try worldnomads.com who do a longer term insurance.
Planning
- Transport from your home to the airport
- Transport from your destination airport to your initial accommodation
- How will you take money out while you’re there?
- We regularly use WeSwap for short trips
- For longer trips if you can open a bank account at your destination and then use WeTransfer to move money it can save you a lot of money on bank transfer fees
- Remember that when you travel there are many hidden fees. The main fees with moving money are:
- ATM fees
- Any fees your bank charges
- Exchange rate (Lots of banks won’t charge you a fee, but they will give you a poor exchange rate. This can be extremely costly in the long run).
- Look up emergency numbers and location of nearest hospital to your destination
To do and buy before you go
- Travel vaccinations
- Make sure you do this early, because some vaccinations require a course of injections
- Travel adaptors
- Get cash in your foreign currency
Documentation.
Examples of what you may need are:
- Travel insurance (print out or digital copy)
- Passports (with at least 6 months left on them after you leave your destination)
- Driver’s license
- International driver’s licence (if required)
- Details of initial accommodation (for boarder control)
- Details of funds
- Sometimes you will need this at immigration – check with the immigration website of your destination before going
- This will often depend on what type of visa you have
More tips, hints and articles on living abroad