Hello from Argentina. Despite a flight being cancelled, sick kids and everything else above the equator – we made it! The dream I had 5 years ago to spend an entire winter (summer here) has officially become a reality. I wanted to share with you a few things I did to prepare for coming down here that have made life a little easier.
#1 Bills – (That should be a four letter word.) Imagine not having your mail to open and discover what bills needed paid? If you are like me, most of your bills are set up to pay online. But there are still a few, that despite my best attempts I have not gotten set up for online bill payment. So I set up a nifty spread sheet in excel that has all of the important information for each and every bill.
Click here to download Bill SpreadSheet
It includes Name of creditor, balance, payment amount, payment date, phone # for creditor, address for creditor, notes etc. I broke it down into several fields that include Credit cards | Utilities | Mortgages | misc bills etc.
If you want that exact spreadsheet – you can click here or the image over there –> to download it.
#2 iPhone – This has singlehandedly been one of the best purchases I have ever made. Aside from the cool photos it takes when mashed up with the free photoshop app, the skype app has been a life saver. If you have an iPhone and are traveling internationally or want to cut down on your minutes used while at home – download skype now. I downloaded it and paid the $3 a month for unlimited calling to US based Phones – which includes cell phones. If you click here and select the “Unlimited Country” option and get it. 
This has given me the ability to conduct business as normal. There are some other features like forwarding your US number to the skype account, but to be honest – I have not set that up and don’t miss the phone ringing 100 times a day. In fact, if you could do me a favor and call my cell and leave a message so my voice mail will fill up – i’d appreciate it (614) 867-5309.
There are some other plans to call other countries that are super cheap and the quality has been great. Just remember to turn your iPhone on “airplane mode” and also to turn on “wifi” and as long as you have a wifi connection – you are good to go
And oh yeah – one last thing, if you are taking a long vacation (longer than one month) change your cell phone plan to the lowest possible priced plan. At&t let me do this without extending my contract. The beauty is when I get back I should have approx 3000+ minutes in reserve so my plan will stay low priced for a few months after I return.
#3 Weigh your bags at home before departing - This one is so simple, but if your like me and like to pack bricks in your suitcase – get your scale out and weigh your bags.
There is nothing worse that paying an extra $40 for packing that extra brick, or hostile employees & impatient people behind you as you repack your bags at the ticket counter. Most airlines require that you are under 50lbs per checked bag and 40lbs per carry on.
TIP* You can also check your carry on at the gate for no charge if you don’t feel like lifting it overhead and dragging it down the 3 inch wide isles on the plane.
And oh yeah – this video shows why luggage locks are useless…
Have you traveled for an extended period of time? Any tips or suggestions you’d like to share?
I have about ten more tips that include everything from winterizing the house to stopping your mail to notifying your bank you are traveling abroad etc.. Let me know if you’d like to see that in a follow up post.
As always thanks for reading, and I look forward to your comments. The team over at Turbo Social Media has implemented a reply system for my comments – so I’m excited to put it to use and respond to your comments.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Sean,
Good points. Also always good to have make sure you’ve got enough medication and that you get immunized against malaria! JK.
Hope you’re having a great trip!
Matt
Great post, Sean. I’m heading to Italy in 2011 and will be taking an iPhone for the first time. It sounds like Skype + Airplane Mode is the way to go. I’m wondering if I should NOT add an international data plan to the phone, then. I know the villa we’re going to has wifi. Should I be able to use that signal + Skype to make calls, etc.?
Great blog.
I was away for 7 months last year across South America, Europe, Africa and Asia.
My med kit was priceless, I had scepticima, giardia… you name it. And gave me confidence as I went off the beaten track and lost access to medical services.
The other great one was notifying my credit card company of where I’d be and when. Ended up having it fradulently used at least twice, but because I’d pre-warned them where I was, rather than block my card, they stopped the transaction, so I could keep on functioning!
Really useful information here, I am a student and like to go travelling, the only holidays I can really afford are UK ones, although last year we went to decided to stay at Ebbsfleet and just go for a day trip to Paris. The hotel was great, I still got to see Europe, but at a fraction of last year’s cost.
Lorraine
Do you really own 867-5309 in the 614 (Columbus) area code? If so, how did you get hold of it?
Brilliant material and I’m glad I discovered you by way of Gogle, Your things is the very best!
I like your article points. My research has shown your points to be true, however I have also read the opposite from different sites like this one. Do you have any thoughts for getting more savvy info on travel tips or related topics? I would certainly appreciate it!
Hey all,I like reading through your own weblog, I wanted to write a little comment to support a person as well as desire you a good continuation. All the best for those your own blogging initiatives.
{ 1 trackback }