Pre-Departure Expenses Pre Departure Expenses

Fairly easy to estimate but sometimes forgotten in the excitement of figuring out a daily hotel budget for Vietnam, or the complexities of RTW tickets. Pre-departure expenses shouldn't be ignored and can get out of hand if you're not careful:

Paperwork

Passport renewal if you need it. If you have less than six months left on a passport some countries will not grant you entry so renew it before you leave. It will be easier and cheaper to renew passports while you are still at home. While you are getting photos for the passport get some extra ones too for visas.

Visas - you may need these before you leave home - otherwise they will be on the road expenses. Try to buy as close to entry of the country as possible as they often have an expiry date and often seem to cheaper the closer you are to the country in question.

International driver's licence. May be worthwhile if you plan to hire or buy a vehicle in especially in a non-English speaking country - licence is basically a translation of your home licence. Available from your local motoring organisations and you will need another one of those photos. While you are at it check that your local licence is not due to expire - even if you are not planning on driving on your trip, try to renew this in advance - if nothing else it will save you sitting the test again when you get home. While you are at check the expiry date of your licence and renew in advance if possible.

Hostel card. In some countries (Australia, New Zealand) you may find that hostels have come a long way since the 20 to a single-sex dormitory. The original hostel network (YHA or HI) is still one of the big ones but again tends to be cheaper to join in your country - so investigate this option and get a card if you want before leaving. In Australia the "Youth Hostels" have a reputation of being filled with older folks while the competing chains are more for the partying gap-year scene!

Automobile Club. If you are a member of your local automobile club in your country it may be worthwhile making sure you keep the membership going overseas especially if you are driving in western countries. There are strong reciprocal rights which typically cover not just local maps but also breakdown assistance and rental car cover.

Medical

Vaccinations. Even if you are only going to western countries you probably should get a tetanus booster. For places like Asia the list is really quite impressive and so can be the costs. Most countries now routinely vaccinate children for Hepatitis A - its a nasty disease and the vaccination is for life - worth considering if you are over 30 you will not have been covered in school. Vaccinations can take a while to become effective or may require more than one shot for full immunity. Make sure you don't leave this to the last minute.

Medical check up and stock up on any routine prescription drugs you may be taking. Make sure you have a copy of your medical records if you have any on-going conditions.

Optical check up If you need glasses make sure you have a copy of your prescription. Depending on where you are going it may be a cheaper to get that extra pair of glasses, disposable contact lenses or prescription sunglasses at your destination rather than before you leave home. My last pair of sunglasses with Italian frames cost US$60 in Vietnam. I got 6 months supply of contact lenses in Singapore for less than the cost for 1 month back home.

Dental check up. A dental check is also obviously a good idea - travel insurance policies do not cover routine teeth problems. Doesn't remove the chance of loosing a filling while travelling but at least minimizes it.

Travel Insurance

Buy it when you buy your air tickets, or any other pre-paid expenses, so they you are covered if you need to cancel your trip for any reason. Gone, however, are the days that you automatically bought it from your travel agent, check out the internet for cheaper options, saving you paying the agent's commission.

Gear

I've put this last because this is where many people start - and its a classic mistake where you can spend an absolute fortune on gear you may end up never using.

Gear. Packs, luggage, clothing, shoes, digital camera, memory sticks, ipod, laptop and all the other essentials you suddenly cant leave home without. Be careful with your expenditures here - you can easily spend an absolute fortune on the "necessary" gear.

Some of the more useful and not so useful , in my opinion see here for my opinion on travel gear.