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	<title>Travels with my laptop</title>
	
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	<description>How to make money online while travelling the world!</description>
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		<title>Adventures in Spain</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TravelsWithMyLaptop/~3/kak0IRhG1LA/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelswithmylaptop.com/adventures-in-spain/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:12:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Chris</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Travel Destinations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[barcelona]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[guadi's barcelona]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spain]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelswithmylaptop.com/?p=46</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Most people when they visit Spain on vacation tend to spend the majority of their time in Madrid or Barcelona. While both are amazing cities to visit, especially the posh boutiques in Madrid or Gaudi’s Barcelona, I think it is also pertinent to consider including the southern tip of Spain in your adventures.
Cadiz and the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Most people when they visit Spain on vacation tend to spend the majority of their time in Madrid or <a href="http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/the-saturday-city-barcelona/">Barcelona</a>. While both are amazing cities to visit, especially the posh boutiques in Madrid or <a href="http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/gaudis-barcelona/">Gaudi’s Barcelona</a>, I think it is also pertinent to consider including the southern tip of Spain in your adventures.</p>
<p>Cadiz and the Costa de la Luz in the southern part of Spain close to the Moroccan border is an amazing place to visit. It is not the big city life and tons of commerce such as Barcelona or Madrid, but it is scenic, peaceful, and full of culture.</p>
<p>Cadiz sits on a narrow piece of land the curves on the Costa de la Luz &#8211; which is the coast of light. Many people say that Cadiz has an end of the world feel. So this is a prime place for relaxation, culture, and simplicity.<br />
A place to get lost in your thoughts.</p>
<p>Within this region it is also very easy to drive to some of the surrounding communities such as Costa del Sol and Cordoba. This regions has plenty of long stretches of beaches, you can roam through white villages, and see a variety of palaces and museums. </p>
<p>Also, very popular within this region is Flamenco dancing. Flamenco is a form of song, guitar playing, and dance that represents the soul of Andalucia. Even Pink Floyd sings about Andalucia in his famous song Spanish Caravan. It is a combination of Arab, Oriental, and Gypsy influences that create the unique sound. </p>
<p>Then, of course you can’t forget to visit Granada where the famous Alhambra Palace is. Many artist try to capture the wonders of Granada’s Palace. It is known as the number one sight for visitors in Spain. One primary reason an adventure to the south of Spain is necessary. </p>

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		<item>
		<title>Go for an Adventure</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TravelsWithMyLaptop/~3/2FDVjbH-YkY/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelswithmylaptop.com/go-for-an-adventure/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:52:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Chris</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Travel Destinations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel Tips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[barcelona]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gaudi's Barcelona]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[travel blog]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelswithmylaptop.com/?p=44</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When is the last time you or your family took a vacation? If it has been a while and you can’t escape out of the country to go mystical places such as Machu Picchu or go on location to learn about famous art areas such as Gaudi’s Barcelona, then there are plenty of alternatives to [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>When is the last time you or your family took a vacation? If it has been a while and you can’t escape out of the country to go mystical places such as Machu Picchu or go on location to learn about famous art areas such as <a href="http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/gaudis-barcelona/">Gaudi’s Barcelona</a>, then there are plenty of alternatives to do with your family right where you are.  </p>
<p>You guys can plan on going to the beach. When summer is near you know it is time to hit the beach. It is the perfect place to go for a swim, learn to surf, or to lounge and sun bathe all day long. The family can have  endless games of soccer, volleyball, or football.  The beach is also a good place to bring you dog.  The Zoo is also another great option for children.  I personally love going to the zoo to also see the giraffes and monkeys.  If you and your family haven’t been to the zoo this year I would highly recommend adding this to your list of fun and inexpensive things to do. If the beach or the zoo has already been done on the last several months, then you should plan a hiking trip. Hiking never gets old, and you can make it a learning experience as well. Hiking, no matter where you live or what country you are in, you can almost always find good hiking trails. </p>
<p>If you can’t find it within your budget to plan family vacations every year, there are always creative ways to still go on vacations with your family even if you stay in your own country, state, or even your own city. You and your family could also start a <a href="http://www.nomadicmatt.com">travel blog</a> so that it can make it a more interactive experience, and it will stir the excitement much like if you were going somewhere exotic.</p>

<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Pa2b2vrwgjAEX1pwVJI2ZRK9mAU/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Pa2b2vrwgjAEX1pwVJI2ZRK9mAU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/>
<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Pa2b2vrwgjAEX1pwVJI2ZRK9mAU/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Pa2b2vrwgjAEX1pwVJI2ZRK9mAU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TravelsWithMyLaptop/~4/2FDVjbH-YkY" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
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		<item>
		<title>The History of Rojales</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TravelsWithMyLaptop/~3/w90ZyIpOCH4/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelswithmylaptop.com/the-history-of-rojales/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:31:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Chris</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Travel Destinations]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelswithmylaptop.com/?p=40</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Rojales Spain is a traditional Spanish village which lies inland from the Guardamar Del Segura, south of Costa Blanca. It is rich with history in which the local inhabitants, both Spanish and foreign, enjoy every day of the week. The River Segura which flows right across the town is its most identifiable feature which has [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://theolivebranch.net/rojales-spain/">Rojales Spain</a> is a traditional Spanish village which lies inland from the Guardamar Del Segura, south of Costa Blanca. It is rich with history in which the local inhabitants, both Spanish and foreign, enjoy every day of the week. The River Segura which flows right across the town is its most identifiable feature which has dominated and shaped the history of the town.</p>
<p>Its history can be traced to Spain’s occupation by the Arabs in the 8<sup>th</sup> to 13 century. It was founded by the Muslims, and it was them who created the amazing irrigation systems that were used to water the crops of the farmers, the irrigation systems still exist to this day. The irrigation systems have contributed to the town being known for its agricultural products which are mostly oranges and lemons.</p>
<p>An essential Part of the Arab irrigation system built in the earlier centuries, is the Water Wheel, which is surrounded by some vast stonework which helps to protect it from damage that can arise when the river is flooding.</p>
<p>Another prominent feature of the river is the Azud which is dam with stone works. It has a length of 40 meters and a width of 10 meters, it was built in  the 16<sup>th</sup> Century and it was specifically built to increase the water level of  River Segura and redirect its flow to the  irrigation channels and to the Water Wheel.</p>
<p>The Gasparito Wells are another features worth visiting. They were built on sandstone in 1920, and they were built to collect rainwater which is extremely precious to the people of <a href="http://theolivebranch.net/travelling-around-rojales-alicante/">Rojales</a>. One of the wells has been transformed into an exhibition site, the other well however is used by the local inhabitants and surrounding villages who collect the rainwater from it.</p>
<p>The Charles III Bridge built in the 18<sup>th</sup> century crosses over the river with its 3 extraordinary arches, its definitely a site worth seeing.</p>

<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PDT-ChDdpS_cd46L9MjZPnrtpwU/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/PDT-ChDdpS_cd46L9MjZPnrtpwU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/>
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		<item>
		<title>Travel insurance VS Expat health insurance</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TravelsWithMyLaptop/~3/xbgHHKDf_ec/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelswithmylaptop.com/travel-insurance-vs-expat-health-insurance/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:40:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rach</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[insurance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[expat insurance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[health insurance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[insurance policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[travel insurance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[world nomads]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelswithmylaptop.com/?p=34</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[


You need travel health insurance! &#8211; photo by brkymantra


I&#8217;ve now been &#8216;traveling&#8217; (ie away from home) for over a year and so time to renew my backpacker&#8217;s travel insurance policy. As I&#8217;ve been living in Bali for nearly 9 months I thought it was about time I got myself some proper health insurance, designed for [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="mainimg" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px;">
<dl class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 329px;">
<dt class="wp-caption-dt"><img title="You need travel health insurance" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/39/76765412_618a458105.jpg" alt="You need travel health insurance" width="329" height="245" /></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd">You need travel health insurance! &#8211; photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/brykmantra/76765412/">brkymantra</a></dd>
</dl>
</div>
<p>I&#8217;ve now been &#8216;traveling&#8217; (ie away from home) for over a year and so time to renew my backpacker&#8217;s travel insurance policy. As I&#8217;ve been living in Bali for nearly 9 months I thought it was about time I got myself some proper health insurance, designed for expats. However, after researching several insurance comparison sites and emailing insurance brokers for quotes, I realized that a year-long health insurance policy was going to cost significantly more than I&#8217;d anticipated.<br />
<span id="more-34"></span><br />
The cheapest quote I could find for one year&#8217;s health insurance in Indonesia (incidentally, Bali is more expensive, though I did not realise this at the time) was approximately 550GBP (approx 900$) for a basic policy. This was with William Russell through a broker &#8211; the quote I got directly from the William Russell website was higher. I know that this is a very competitive quote as everything else I&#8217;d found was nearly double that amount, if not more. However, I was hoping for something a little less expensive. I live very cheaply out here and £550 (or rather more as I&#8217;m in Bali rather than elsewhere in Indonesia) would be a big chunk out of my budget.</p>
<p>I looked through the policy wording of this quoted policy and wondered what the differences were between this and my normal backpacker&#8217;s travel insurance which covered emergency health care as well as lost baggage, flight cancellations and a whole host of other things. The differences between a basic health insurance policy and a travel insurance policy? Not a lot. They both only cover emergency inpatient care (ie a stay in hospital) and transportation out of the country if needed.</p>
<p>If you need comprehensive health insurance &#8211; outpatient care, dental treatment, maternity cover and so on then a travel insurance policy is just not going to cut it. However if you&#8217;re looking for basic emergency cover that will pay for expensive operations if you&#8217;re unlucky enough to need them, and you&#8217;re willing to pay for basic health care yourself then there&#8217;s a good chance that normal travel insurance will be sufficient.</p>
<p>But&#8230; and there is always a &#8216;but&#8217; and this is a big one, nearly all travel insurance policies (including long-stay, gap year and backpacker insurance) require you to be a resident of your home country in order to take out the policy. If you&#8217;ve already been away for a year or more it&#8217;s likely that you are no longer legally &#8216;normally resident&#8217; in your home country. Different policies have different wording but it&#8217;s not uncommon for them to state that you must have been in your home country for 6 months out of the last 12 &#8211; not much good for long-term travelers. Even worse, nearly all policies require you to be <strong>in</strong> your home country when you take out the policy. This means that if you&#8217;ve already started your trip, you&#8217;re stuck.</p>
<p>There is a solution. After many hours of research the <strong>only</strong> policy I found that will give you cover if you&#8217;ve already started your trip is <a href="http://www.worldnomads.com/af.aspx?affiliate=trvllptop&amp;subid=&amp;utm_source=trvllptop&amp;utm_medium=textlink&amp;utm_campaign=easy_url">World Nomads</a>. The policy itself is excellent, you can extend your policy (up to 18 months) and even make claims online and you can choose to cover expensive single items such as ipods and laptops &#8211; perfect for us digital nomads! They have glowing reviews from a whole host of high profile travel bloggers and are recommended by Lonely Planet and more. I wasted no time in signing up for a new policy with them once I realised they covered my needs and the price is very competitive for what they offer (at least half the price of a basic expat health insurance policy).</p>
<p>So in summary, if you&#8217;re actually living in a country rather than just passing through, you&#8217;ve been away for longer than 18 months, or you want comprehensive health insurance cover for all eventualities &#8211; you need proper health insurance. Don&#8217;t risk taking out a cheap travel insurance policy and finding out you&#8217;re not actually covered when you need it. On the other hand if you&#8217;re a long-term traveller and just want some decent insurance to cover you in medical emergencies, sign up for a <a href="http://www.worldnomads.com/af.aspx?affiliate=trvllptop&amp;subid=&amp;utm_source=trvllptop&amp;utm_medium=textlink&amp;utm_campaign=easy_url">World Nomads</a> insurance policy.</p>

<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/hkB3FSIlDJis5NBAmVt_bj0YW9s/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/hkB3FSIlDJis5NBAmVt_bj0YW9s/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/>
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		<item>
		<title>Travel internet access</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TravelsWithMyLaptop/~3/A2tpiethOOc/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelswithmylaptop.com/how-to-stay-connected-when-youre-travelling-internet-access-for-digital-nomads/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 26 Sep 2009 06:46:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rach</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel Tips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[2g]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[3g]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[access]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cdma]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hotspot]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[modem]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wifi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wifi cafes]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelswithmylaptop.com/?p=27</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[


Starbucks in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia


If you&#8217;re yet to set out on your travels and you&#8217;ve been freelancing for a while or even if you&#8217;re just an avid blog reader who likes the idea of making a bit of extra money online, chances are you already have a fast, reliable internet connection with generous or unlimited [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="mainimg" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px;">
<dl class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 330px;">
<dt class="wp-caption-dt"><img title="Starbucks wifi" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2457/3959236550_e31300b6f8.jpg" alt="Starbucks in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia" width="320" height="240" /></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd">Starbucks in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia</dd>
</dl>
</div>
<p>If you&#8217;re yet to set out on your travels and you&#8217;ve been freelancing for a while or even if you&#8217;re just an avid blog reader who likes the idea of making a bit of extra money online, chances are you already have a fast, reliable internet connection with generous or unlimited bandwidth. Cheap fast broadband internet access is something many of us have come to take for granted so once you&#8217;re on the road you&#8217;ll want to quickly find the cheapest, easiest way to stay connected so that you can keep working and making money.</p>
<p>So in this article I&#8217;m going to go through some of the main methods of staying connected while you&#8217;re travelling, how to find a good place to work from and keep your productivity up and touch on some security precautions you should keep in mind.</p>
<p><span id="more-27"></span></p>
<h2>Temporary connectivity &#8211; types of Internet access for backpackers and travellers</h2>
<ol>
<li><strong>Wifi in your guesthouse or hostel</strong> &#8211; This is probably the cheapest and most convient option for travellers. A lot of hostels now offer free wifi access as part of your room rate so you can get straight to work without even leaving your room. Sometimes there may be a fee for this service which can range from a cheap daily rate to an expensive hourly rate, so check this before you check in. You can search on <a href="http://www.kqzyfj.com/click-3095127-10512777">hostelworld.com</a> for accommodation that provides wifi and if there is an applicable fee. One downside of this type of access is that if you&#8217;re staying in a dorm room you&#8217;re unlikely to be able to concentrate on your work with people coming and going all the time. If you&#8217;re staying in a private room this is much better but again, check the description and reviews on <a href="http://www.kqzyfj.com/click-3095127-10512777">hostelworld</a> as sometimes wifi will only be available in common areas in which case you&#8217;ll want to make sure you can find a comfy quiet corner to get some work done.</li>
<li><strong>Wifi cafes</strong> &#8211; If you&#8217;re not lucky enough to have free wifi in your accommodation you can usually find a handful of cafes and restaurants that will offer you this as long as you buy a drink. The availbilty of free wifi can vary from place to place (for example Bangkok has hardly any free wifi and you&#8217;ll be expected to pay for an internet pass on top of your cappucino) so do your research before you go if you&#8217;re planning to stay in a particular place for a while. The <a href="http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-3095127-10486478" target="_top">Lonely Planet Country Guides</a><img src="http://www.awltovhc.com/image-3095127-10486478" border="0" alt="" width="1" height="1" /> are usually pretty good at listing cafes with wifi access. Again you&#8217;ll want to try and find a quiet corner where you can get some work done without too many distractions. Be aware of outstaying your welcome too &#8211; you&#8217;re likely to get a few glares if you just order a coffee at 9am and stay there the rest of the day. Be considerate and try to work in quiet hours (ie not lunchtime &#8211; you&#8217;re taking up a seat that could be used for a paying customer) and rotate between a few cafes from day to day if you have this option.</li>
<li><strong>3G or CDMA Internet access &#8211; connect with a mobile phone SIM.</strong> If wifi is expensive or unavailable where you are, or you simply want more flexibility in where you can work, you may be able to get connected with a 3G or CDMA modem and a mobile phone sim. Availability and coverage do vary widely so do your research before you go and test out your connection in different places, as signal strength varies a lot within a small area. If you can&#8217;t pick up a 3G connection then you may be able to access the internet via 2G although this is likely to be too slow to do any serious work. I use 3g internet access with Telkomsel here in Bali and I&#8217;ve found it to be fast and fairly reliable, although a bit on the pricey side. You&#8217;ll need a special modem to use with your sim card (you can sometimes use your mobile phone as a modem although this tends to be slower). I&#8217;ve been using a <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2Fs%3Fie%3DUTF8%26x%3D0%26ref%255F%3Dnb%255Fss%26y%3D0%26field-keywords%3Dsierra%2520wireless%2520modem%26url%3Dsearch-alias%253Daps&amp;tag=flawedlogic-21&amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;camp=1634&amp;creative=19450">Sierra Wireless modem</a><img style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.co.uk/e/ir?t=flawedlogic-21&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=2" border="0" alt="" width="1" height="1" /> which I&#8217;ve not had problems with, however it does tend to overheat if the signal strength is low so keep an eye on this. Some mobile phone companies will give you a free modem if you sign up for a contract but you probably won&#8217;t want to do this unless you&#8217;re planning to stay in one place for a significant length of time (see below).</li>
</ol>
<p>Remember if you&#8217;re using a shared internet connection there&#8217;s always a chance that your data may be compromised. Run a firewall on your computer and make sure your anti-virus software is up to date. If you&#8217;re doing anything particularly sensitive like online banking, you may want to wait until you have a more secure connection rather than using the free wifi in the cafe down the road. There are various tools available to keep your data safe while you&#8217;re on the road. Do a google search for &#8216;internet cafe safety&#8217; to get started.</p>
<h2>Long-term connectivity &#8211; types of Internet access for expats and location independent professionals</h2>
<ol>
<li><strong>Your own ADSL or cable broadband connection</strong> &#8211; If you&#8217;re staying in one place for long enough you may be able to get a short or medium term contract with a local broadband internet provider. There&#8217;s usually a setup charge involved with this and it may not be available where you are so check if this is important to you before you commit to long-term accommodation. However if you can get it this is probably the most convenient and cost-effective way of staying connected.</li>
<li><strong>Prepaid Wifi hotspots</strong> &#8211; These have become very common in recent years and if you can&#8217;t pick up any free wifi where you&#8217;re staying, it may be the next best option if you&#8217;re within the coverage area. The premise is that you sign up for an account and then whenever you&#8217;re in range of one of the &#8216;hotspots&#8217; you can sign in and use the wifi connection. Easiest way to see if you&#8217;re in range of one of these is just to have a look through the available wifi networks on your laptop &#8211; if any of these are prepaid hotspots it will come up with details of how to sign up whenever you try to use your web browser.</li>
<li><strong>3G or CDMA internet access with a mobile phone sim</strong> &#8211; As above, but if you&#8217;re staying in one country for a while (say 6 months or longer) you&#8217;ll probably be able to sign up for a contract which will give you cheaper internet access rates than &#8216;pay as you go&#8217; sims and you may be able to get a free modem bundled too. Make sure to check your signal strength and connection speed before you sign up for anything!</li>
<li><strong>Dial-up access</strong>. When all else fails there&#8217;s always good old dial-up but remember you&#8217;ll need a phoneline for this! Many companies these days offer a &#8216;free&#8217; service so you only pay for the price of the phone call but remember this can add up quickly!</li>
</ol>

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		<item>
		<title>A fresh start</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TravelsWithMyLaptop/~3/Brkg6jJJyq4/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelswithmylaptop.com/a-fresh-start/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 24 Sep 2009 08:38:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rach</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bali]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[expat]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelswithmylaptop.com/?p=26</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I am afraid I have sadly neglected this blog in the last year, However I&#8217;m now back with lots more ideas for future articles so hopefully this site will evolve once again into a useful resource within the next few months.
I&#8217;ve been living in Bali, Indonesia for the last 8 months and have a new [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I am afraid I have sadly neglected this blog in the last year, However I&#8217;m now back with lots more ideas for future articles so hopefully this site will evolve once again into a useful resource within the next few months.</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve been living in Bali, Indonesia for the last 8 months and have a new perspective on trying to earn a living from your laptop when you stay in a foreign country for several months, rather than travelling and moving on every few days. Lots of information for expat freelancers on the way!</p>
<p>So many apologies for my extended absence but we will be back &#8211; bigger and better than before!</p>

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		<item>
		<title>How to tell your boss you’re leaving</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TravelsWithMyLaptop/~3/KJUCqZ3h7P8/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelswithmylaptop.com/how-to-tell-your-boss-youre-leaving/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:20:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rach</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[preparation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[resignation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sabbatical]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[work]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelswithmylaptop.com/?p=24</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[

Photo by BigGolf


Unless you&#8217;ve been freelancing for a while, chances are that at some point you&#8217;ll need to tell your boss and the people you work with that you&#8217;re leaving. Your colleagues may be surprised at your decision to travel &#8211; some may think you&#8217;re mad to be throwing away the security of a regular [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="mainpic" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/biggolf/"><img title="leaving" src="http://www.travelswithmylaptop.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/leaving.jpg" alt="Photo by BigGolf" width="320" height="213" /><br />
</a></p>
<p>Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/biggolf/">BigGolf<br />
</a></p>
</div>
<p>Unless you&#8217;ve been freelancing for a while, chances are that at some point you&#8217;ll need to tell your boss and the people you work with that you&#8217;re leaving. Your colleagues may be surprised at your decision to travel &#8211; some may think you&#8217;re mad to be throwing away the security of a regular pay check, but most will probably admit that you&#8217;re doing what they always wish they had. You may even inspire a few to follow your example and leave on an adventure of their own.</p>
<p><span id="more-24"></span></p>
<p>When preparing to leave your job it&#8217;s important to plan for the least disruption to the people around you as possible. If you hate your job and can&#8217;t wait to throw the towel in, it may be very tempting to disappear overnight or tell your boss exactly what you think of him before you leave but you never know when you might need that reference. Being sensitive to the needs of the company you work for may open doors for you in the future &#8211; you may even be offered the chance to work remotely or come back to your job if things don&#8217;t work out. It pays to be professional, however excited about your trip and fed up with your current situation you may be.</p>
<p><strong>Ensure you give your manager plenty of warning that you&#8217;ll be leaving.</strong> You may only have a 4 week notice period or less, but giving a longer notice period will allow them more time to find a replacement for you, start planning to distribute your workload to other members of the team and generally prepare for your departure.</p>
<p><strong>Explain your reasons for leaving. </strong>Your boss may be shocked that you&#8217;re giving up your job for such a frivolous reason or they may be pleased that you&#8217;re leaving in order to &#8216;live the dream&#8217; rather than because you can&#8217;t stand working there and can&#8217;t wait to leave. If your decision to leave was prompted by other reasons that made you unhappy in your job then you should take the chance to explain this in a fair and balanced way. It may be hard to remain objective but getting angry and leaving on a bad note will only burn bridges and possibly make things difficult for you in the future. Choose your phrasing carefully &#8211; <em>&#8220;Recently I&#8217;ve not been finding my work challenging and feel it&#8217;s time for me to make a change&#8221;</em> sounds better than <em>&#8220;I&#8217;ve been getting really bored and I can&#8217;t take it any more!&#8221;</em></p>
<p><strong>Be professional</strong>. It may be tempting to start winding down once everyone knows you&#8217;re leaving but if there&#8217;s work to be done, make sure you finish it properly before you leave. Do a proper handover with your colleagues or replacement before you finish working and consider writing up a handover manual that can be referred to when you&#8217;re gone.</p>
<p><strong>Be flexible</strong>. You need to be prepared for the possibility that you may be offered an incentive to stay. Don&#8217;t be too suprised if you&#8217;re offered a payrise or a sabbatical. Take time to consider these offers before you turn them down or snap them up &#8211; will a payrise really make your job bearable enough to stay for a year? Will you be content with travelling for six months and then returning to your job? On the other hand if your travel plans aren&#8217;t set in stone, it may be worth staying a little longer if this will enable you to save a lot of money &#8211; it will come in handy when you have no regular income!</p>
<p><strong>And finally&#8230;</strong> try not to gloat <em>too</em> much. your colleagues will soon get sick of hearing how you&#8217;ll be sitting on a tropical beach in a few months time!</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re still lacking courage, try reading Penelope Dullaghan&#8217;s <a href="http://penelopeillustration.com/blog/2004/08/01/109138590799896963/">story of how she resigned from her day job</a> to become a freelance illustrator &#8211; very inspiring for those of us still chained to a desk!</p>

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		<title>The Best Travel Laptop</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TravelsWithMyLaptop/~3/Pgn2_-MARVQ/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelswithmylaptop.com/the-perfect-travel-laptop/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:28:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rach</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[packing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[acer aspire one]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eee pc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[laptop]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[msi wind]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[notebook]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelswithmylaptop.com/?p=22</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[

Photo by Novecentino

I am currently on the verge of buying the laptop I&#8217;ll be taking with me on my travels. I currently work from a shuttle desktop pc which, compact as it is, is obviously not suitable for taking backpacking. I also have an old battered ibook which I dropped and broke the hinges on [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="mainpic" style="float:left; margin-right: 10px;}&lt;a href=">
<p><img title="Photo by Novecentino" src="http://www.travelswithmylaptop.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/perfectlaptop.jpg" alt="Photo by Novecentino" width="320" height="237" /></p>
<p>Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/novecentino/">Novecentino</a></p>
</div>
<p>I am currently on the verge of buying the laptop I&#8217;ll be taking with me on my travels. I currently work from a shuttle desktop pc which, compact as it is, is obviously not suitable for taking backpacking. I also have an old battered ibook which I dropped and broke the hinges on &#8211; it&#8217;s not in a fit state to take out of the house, let alone on a round the world trip. So this brings me to the task of choosing a laptop with travel-friendly attributes.</p>
<p><span id="more-22"></span></p>
<p>These include:</p>
<p><strong>Light </strong>- possibly the most important factor in your decision-making. You really don&#8217;t want to be carting around a lead weight. Once you&#8217;ve had a backpack on your back for a couple of hours you&#8217;ll be glad of every possible ounce of weight you can save. It&#8217;s now possible to get fully-functional laptops that weigh under 1kg. Remember to add in the weight of power adapters and accessories. The lightest laptop around is purported to be the Toshiba Portégé R500, weighing in at 779g and there are several more around the 1kg mark, including the new breed of ultra portable notebooks &#8211; the <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search?ie=UTF8&amp;keywords=eee%20pc&amp;tag=flawedlogic-21&amp;index=electronics-uk&amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;camp=1634&amp;creative=6738">Asus Eee pc</a><img style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.co.uk/e/ir?t=flawedlogic-21&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=2" border="0" alt="" width="1" height="1" /> the <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search?ie=UTF8&amp;keywords=acer%20aspire%20one&amp;tag=flawedlogic-21&amp;index=electronics-uk&amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;camp=1634&amp;creative=6738">Acer Aspire One</a><img style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.co.uk/e/ir?t=flawedlogic-21&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=2" border="0" alt="" width="1" height="1" /> and the <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search?ie=UTF8&amp;keywords=msi%20wind&amp;tag=flawedlogic-21&amp;index=electronics-uk&amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;camp=1634&amp;creative=6738">MSI Wind</a><img style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.co.uk/e/ir?t=flawedlogic-21&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=2" border="0" alt="" width="1" height="1" />.</p>
<p><strong>Cheap</strong> &#8211; expensive equipment will up your travel insurance and you&#8217;ll be constantly worrying about it being stolen or broken. Spend as little as you can to get the technology you require. Luckily laptops are constantly coming down in price and it&#8217;s easy to get a decent spec machine for under £300 ($600 or probably less in the US). Go second-hand if you can and you&#8217;ll be less paranoid about scratching it or dropping it.</p>
<p><strong>Tough</strong> &#8211; changes are you&#8217;ll be throwing your laptop around in your bag a lot, operating it in extreme temperatures or humid conditions, getting sand and insects in it, using it as a pillow, bashing it off the table when you can&#8217;t get wireless to work etc etc&#8230; Some of the new thin and light laptops look sexy but I doubt their durability. You&#8217;re much better off getting something ugly and tough. Panasonic&#8217;s <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2FPanasonic-Toughbook-Laptop-Intel-UV1400%2Fdp%2FB000UUNSJA%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Delectronics%26qid%3D1218576022%26sr%3D1-4&amp;tag=flawedlogic-21&amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;camp=1634&amp;creative=6738">ToughBook</a><img style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.co.uk/e/ir?t=flawedlogic-21&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=2" border="0" alt="" width="1" height="1" /> range are designed to be thrown around/stamped on/blown up  but there&#8217;ll be a model from most of the major company&#8217;s lines that will be suitable for general travel and not mind being bashed around a bit. Check reviews and message boards for the models you&#8217;re interested in to see how they fare after a few months of abuse.</p>
<p><strong>Long battery-life </strong>- you&#8217;ll probably be separated from a power source at many points during your travels. There&#8217;s nothing more frustrating than carrying round the dead weight of a powerless laptop that you can&#8217;t use. Look at battery life when you&#8217;re comparing different models and weigh this up against the cost and weight factors mentioned above. Probably a good idea to bring along a spare battery too.</p>
<p>As I&#8217;m leaning towards one of the new linux-based ultra-portables, I thought it would be useful to draw up a comparison chart of the higher spec versions of the 3 main contenders:</p>
<table style="text-align: left;" border="0" cellpadding="10">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th></th>
<th><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2FW007X-Netbook-Windows-Preloaded-White%2Fdp%2FB001C9X02S%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Delectronics%26qid%3D1218576112%26sr%3D1-1&amp;tag=flawedlogic-21&amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;camp=1634&amp;creative=6738">Eee PC 901</a><img style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.co.uk/e/ir?t=flawedlogic-21&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=2" border="0" alt="" width="1" height="1" /></th>
<th><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2FAcer-Aspire-One-Netbook-Seashell%2Fdp%2FB001BZ924I%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Delectronics%26qid%3D1218576161%26sr%3D1-4&amp;tag=flawedlogic-21&amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;camp=1634&amp;creative=6738">Acer Aspire One</a><img style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.co.uk/e/ir?t=flawedlogic-21&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=2" border="0" alt="" width="1" height="1" /></th>
<th><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search?ie=UTF8&amp;keywords=msi%20wind&amp;tag=flawedlogic-21&amp;index=electronics-uk&amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;camp=1634&amp;creative=6738">MSI Wind</a><img style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.co.uk/e/ir?t=flawedlogic-21&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=2" border="0" alt="" width="1" height="1" /></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Screen resolution</th>
<td>1024 x 600</td>
<td>1024 x 600</td>
<td>1024 x 600</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Weight</th>
<td>1140g</td>
<td>995g</td>
<td>1100g</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Size</th>
<td>226 × 22.9 × 175.3 mm</td>
<td>249 x 29 x 170 mm</td>
<td>260 x 19 x 180 mm</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Storage</th>
<td>20 GB</td>
<td>120 GB</td>
<td>80 GB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Battery life</th>
<td>4.2 &#8211; 7.8 hours</td>
<td>3 hours</td>
<td>3 hours</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>Price (dependent on RAM and other specs)</th>
<td>£300</td>
<td>£250</td>
<td>£330</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>To me, it&#8217;s looking like the <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2FAcer-Aspire-One-Netbook-Seashell%2Fdp%2FB001BZ924I%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Delectronics%26qid%3D1218576161%26sr%3D1-4&amp;tag=flawedlogic-21&amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;camp=1634&amp;creative=6738">Acer Aspire One</a><img style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.co.uk/e/ir?t=flawedlogic-21&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=2" border="0" alt="" width="1" height="1" /> is the best value for specs against price but take some time to do the research and decide what laptop is the best for your budget and requirements. Happy hunting!</p>

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		<title>Packing List</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TravelsWithMyLaptop/~3/CY1UfibeJ0o/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelswithmylaptop.com/packing-list/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 02 Aug 2008 23:09:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rach</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[packing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[backpack]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelswithmylaptop.com/?p=17</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[

Photo by MC MasterChef

What you pack for your trip will depend on where you&#8217;re going, the type of places you&#8217;ll be staying (hotels/hostels/camping) and the activities you plan on undertaking. A packing list for a trekking trip through the Amazon rain-forest will look very different to a list for a beach holiday in Thailand.

In any [...]]]></description>
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<p><img title="Photo by MC MasterChef" src="http://www.travelswithmylaptop.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/packing.jpg" alt="Photo by MC MasterChef" width="321" height="155" /></p>
<p>Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mc_masterchef/">MC MasterChef</a></p>
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<p>What you pack for your trip will depend on where you&#8217;re going, the type of places you&#8217;ll be staying (hotels/hostels/camping) and the activities you plan on undertaking. A packing list for a trekking trip through the Amazon rain-forest will look very different to a list for a beach holiday in Thailand.</p>
<p><span id="more-17"></span></p>
<p>In any case, the most important thing to remember when packing for any trip where you&#8217;ll be doing a fair amount of travelling is to keep it light and minimal. You may have heard the rule to lay out everything you plan to take and then ditch half of it &#8211; nice idea but I&#8217;ve never found this to be possible in reality. Much better to start out realistically, pack light and if you&#8217;re not sure whether or not to bring a particular item, it&#8217;s probably best to leave it. You can pick most things up on the road anyway.</p>
<p><span>Write down everything you want to take and then cross it off your list. This stops you from packing unnecessary items that you might unconsciously sneak in at the last minute and prevents you from forgetting anything. I loathe packing and am renowned for leaving it until the very last minute &#8211; this has resulted in some rather disappointing oversights, such as forgetting my camera when I went to China. An extra half hour or so making a definitive list is well worth the effort.</span></p>
<p>Following is a generic packing list for a backpacking trip that you can use to base your own list on. Tailor it to your own requirements and try to resist the temptation to put three times as much clothing in &#8211; you&#8217;ll only regret it later!</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Backpack</strong> &#8211; try on several and find the one that is most comfortable for you when it&#8217;s full. Decent backpacks are expensive and it&#8217;s really not worth skimping here if you want to save your back and your sanity. The smaller the better really (so you&#8217;re not tempted to pack more to fill it!) &#8211; somewhere in the region of 40 &#8211; 60 litres, depending on your personal requirements, is probably about right.</li>
<li><strong>Clothing</strong> &#8211; if you can afford it, go for the specialist travel or outdoor activity clothing that is made from tech fabrics. They are quick drying, wick sweat away from your body, wrinkle-resistant and some even provide UV and mosquito protection. In general, stay away from cotton (jeans in particular) as it takes forever to dry and once it gets sweaty it stays sweaty and smells. Not really what you want in a tropical climate. Your clothing list might looks something like this:
<ul>
<li> 2 x t-shirt, or 1 t-shirt and one short sleeved travel shirt</li>
<li>1 x tank/vest top</li>
<li>1 x shorts</li>
<li>1 x long trousers</li>
<li>1 x skirt (for girls)</li>
<li>1 x long-sleeved top</li>
<li>1 x micro-fleece</li>
<li>1 x light waterproof jacket</li>
<li>1 x pair socks</li>
<li>underwear</li>
<li>swimsuit</li>
<li>sarong (can be used as a towel, to sit on, as a skirt, shoulder-wrap and multitude of other uses)</li>
<li>1 x pair walking sandals</li>
<li><span>1 x hat or bandanna.</span></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li> <strong>Toiletries</strong> &#8211; bring small bottles and replace them as you go along. <a href="http://www.lush.com/">Lush</a><span> make several varieties of shampoo and shampoo/conditioner bars which are great for travel as they are lighter than bottles and last for ages. Don&#8217;t forget sunscreen and use a high factor &#8211; don&#8217;t underestimate the sun when you&#8217;re near the equator. Baby wipes are useful on plane journeys and when you don&#8217;t have access to a shower. Don&#8217;t bring your entire makeup kit, whatever you do &#8211; I guarantee you won&#8217;t use it. Put everything in <span>ziploc</span> bags and find a decent toiletries bag with a hook. Bring tweezers and a small pair of scissors. Vaseline works as lip balm and to prevent blisters.</span></li>
<li><strong>First aid kit</strong> &#8211; band-aids, bandage, antiseptic cream, antihistamines, paracetamol, bite-relief cream, diarrhoea medicine, water purification tablets, malaria pills, tiger balm.</li>
<li><strong>Essential documents </strong>- money, tickets, passport! Also visas, insurance information, useful and emergency phone numbers and a copy of your itinerary. Take photocopies of everything and leave them with a friend or relative or keep a virtual copy in your email inbox.</li>
<li><strong><span><span>Daypack</span></span></strong> &#8211; bring a small pack that you can fit a water bottle, guide book and a few other items in and use as hand luggage on planes.</li>
<li><strong>Travel towel</strong> &#8211; specialist travel towels are light, fold down small and dry quickly.</li>
<li><strong>Silk sheet sleeping bag </strong><span>- light, comfortable and protect you from dodgy-looking hotel beds. You can get them cheap on <span>ebay</span>.</span></li>
<li><strong>Torch </strong>- for finding your way in the dark and reading in hostel dorms.</li>
<li><strong>Pocket knife </strong>- you don&#8217;t need one with a million different tools &#8211; a small blade, bottle opener, corkscrew and can opener should cover most eventualities.</li>
<li><strong>Clothes line</strong><span> &#8211; you can buy special travel clothes lines with hooks or suckers to attach to the wall and twisted cord so it&#8217;ll hold your clothes without pegs. Or just bring a <span>lenght</span> of nylon cord.</span></li>
<li><strong>Lighter and candle</strong> &#8211; for power-cuts and setting fire to things.</li>
<li><strong>Mosquito net</strong> <strong>and coils</strong> &#8211; needed if you&#8217;re camping or staying in basic accommodation in rural areas.</li>
<li><strong>Plug adaptor</strong> &#8211; essential for items below&#8230;</li>
<li><strong>Gadgets </strong><span>- camera, mp3 player and laptop if you plan to work from one while you&#8217;re travelling. You may also want to bring a mobile phone but get a local <span>sim</span> or use it only in emergencies unless you have money to throw away on huge phone bills.</span></li>
<li><strong>Books </strong>- travel guide for the first country you&#8217;re visiting. Ditch it or swap it when you leave. Do the same with a reading book.</li>
<li><strong>Travel journal </strong>- write about your travels, sketch, collect tickets, jot down email addresses of people you meet. Get artistic &#8211; a physical journal is much nicer to look back at than a blog. Search for &#8216;journal&#8217; or &#8216;moleskine&#8217; on flickr for some inspiration.</span></li>
<li><strong>Miscellaneous items</strong><span> &#8211; superglue, duct tape and sewing kit for fixing things, Ziploc and supermarket plastic bags, ear plugs, cheap watch with alarm, money belt.</span></li>
</ul>

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		<title>Preparing to Leave</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TravelsWithMyLaptop/~3/IARenKOaBZQ/</link>
		<comments>http://www.travelswithmylaptop.com/preparing-to-leave/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 31 Jul 2008 20:14:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rach</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[insurance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[job]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[leaving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Money]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[packing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[passport]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[preparation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vaccinations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[visa]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.travelswithmylaptop.com/?p=14</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[

Photo by Swiv

You&#8217;ve planned your route, bought your ticket and you&#8217;re all set to go but even the most carefree souls will have some preparation work to do before they can hop on that plane. It&#8217;s best to write a checklist of things that need sorting out at least three months before departure &#8211; six [...]]]></description>
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<p><img title="Photo by Swiv" src="http://www.travelswithmylaptop.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/list.jpg" alt="Photo by Swiv" width="321" height="224" /></p>
<p>Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/swiv/">Swiv</a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/swiv/"></a></p>
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<p>You&#8217;ve planned your route, bought your ticket and you&#8217;re all set to go but even the most carefree souls will have some preparation work to do before they can hop on that plane. It&#8217;s best to write a checklist of things that need sorting out at least three months before departure &#8211; six months would be better if you&#8217;re particularly organised. This way you can make sure everything is sorted before you go and you won&#8217;t be rushing around panicking in the last few weeks. The list below isn&#8217;t definitive but it will give you a starting point for your own list, whatever your circumstances.</p>
<p><span id="more-14"></span></p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Passport and visas </strong>- make sure that your passport will be valid for at least six months by the end of your trip &#8211; many countries won&#8217;t let you enter if your passport is due to expire. Make a list of the countries you&#8217;re visiting and check their visa requirements. Remember there will be a fee for your visas and this should be accounted for in your trip budget. Visa application can be a lengthy process so don&#8217;t leave it until the last minute!</li>
<li><strong>Vaccinations and medical requirements</strong> &#8211; visit your doctor or local travel clinic for advice on vaccinations, anti-malarials and other medical considerations. The NHS fit for travel website (geared towards UK citizens but useful information for everyone) will give you an idea of what to expect in each country. If you&#8217;re in the UK, be aware that not all vaccinations will be available on the NHS and you could easily be looking at a few hundered pounds to get a full course. It&#8217;s best to arrange your vaccinations well in advance &#8211; some courses, eg. the Hepatitis B vaccine, take six months to complete. Visit your dentist for a checkup too.</li>
<li><strong>Insurance </strong>- take out a specialist round the world or backpackers insurance policy. Make sure you have enough cover for cameras, ipods and laptops. If you&#8217;re going to be doing any extreme sports (and this is more likely than you may think once you&#8217;re travelling!) make sure you&#8217;re covered for that too. There are various comparison sites that will help you to find the best policy to suit you.</li>
<li><strong>Leaving your home </strong>- if you own your home, decide if you&#8217;re going to sell it or rent it out while you&#8217;re away. If you rent, find out how much notice you need to give and put a reminder note in your calendar. If you&#8217;re sharing with housemates, give them plenty of time to find a replacement for when you leave. You&#8217;ll also have to make arrangements to either put your belongings into storage or sell or give away as much as you can before you go.</li>
<li><strong>Pets</strong> &#8211; ask around friends and family for anyone willing to take care of your pets while you&#8217;re away. Remember that looking after an animal while you&#8217;re away for a year is a big commitment and you may not have a lot of volunteers, so start looking early. If you&#8217;re stuck you could try advertising in local classifieds. Use your local animal shelter as a last resort &#8211; their main priority is stray and abandoned animals and being put in this environment is likely to stress your pet. Make sure your pet is healthy and up to date with vaccinations before you leave.</li>
<li><strong>Job </strong>- check your notice period and decide when to let your colleagues know you&#8217;re leaving. It will usually be appreciated if you give a longer notice period so that a replacement can be arranged before you leave, but don&#8217;t do this if your boss is likely to fire you on the spot! Try not to make everyone sick with your constant talk of travels (difficult I know!).</li>
<li><strong>Money </strong>- work out a rough daily budget for each country so you&#8217;ll know when you&#8217;re overspending and can cut back before it&#8217;s too late. Think about how you&#8217;re going to access your money while you&#8217;re away and maybe set up a new account or apply for a new credit card. Ideally you should be using a card that won&#8217;t charge you for spending abroad. Take two credit cards if you can &#8211; they&#8217;re useful for emergencies if nothing else and it&#8217;s always good to have a spare.</li>
<li><strong>Stock up</strong> &#8211; make a list of everything you&#8217;re taking with you (I&#8217;ll be writing a post on packing soon). Keep an eye out in outdoor and travel shops for items on sale. Buy things gradually over a few months and you won&#8217;t be rushed into buying expensive and unsuitable items at the last minute.</li>
<li><strong>Tieing up the loose ends </strong>- remember to pay all your final bills, cancel your phone contract, stop your direct debits, change addresses for bank accounts etc. to your parents or a friend&#8217;s address, make sure everyone knows you&#8217;re leaving and how to contact you.</li>
<li><strong>Have an amazing leaving party and enjoy your trip!</strong></li>
</ol>

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