Trip Prep To Do List – Dec 2015

This month, we visited Keith’s family and Universal Studios.  We also went to Barcelona, Naples, Rome, Lucca, Pisa, Cannes, and Mallorca over Thanksgiving.  Since it was a busy travel month for us, we didn’t check that many items off our list.  One big things that we did, was officially launch our site to our friends and families.  Lots of folks knew that we were planning on doing this, so it wasn’t a surprise to everyone.  Before we could launch this and put it out there, we had the small matter of telling our respective employees about our plans.  We want to be above board and honest with everyone about what we are planning and why.  We both decided that we would have hated it if our employers found out about this trip from someone else.

House

• Fix up house for rent
• Rent house – put on the market between Nov 2016 – Jan 2017
• Rent storage unit
• Move all items into storage
• Get landlord home insurance
• Cancel phone, internet, electric, water – when we move out
• Setup FPL for renters
• Setup water for renters
• Sell unused stuff on Craigslist
  
• Host garage sale
• Donate stuff that’s not worth listing – 1 box of books to the public library
  
• Forward mail to service

Travel prep

• Add pages to passports for Keith and Nicole
• Get passport pictures for everyone
• Get new passports for the kids
• Scan documents – Passports, all receipts for travel insurance claims, all travel confirmations, credit card contact numbers, birth certificates, marriage license
• Purchase Travelers insurance and medical insurance
• Get international driver’s license
• Learn to drive a manual car
• Book first flights – May / June 2016
• Book first accommodations – Airbnb rentals
• Book trains and ferries for first month (Ireland / England)  Bookings open 90 days out
• Book car for Ireland
• Get visas for long stay in Euro Zone
• Book Eurostar 6 months in advance for best rates
• Learn to drive a manual
• Buy all clothes / travel items needed
• Buy luggage
• Pack luggage
• Pack backpacks
• Order business cards for trip website and emails – Keith has been working on a design for these.

Schooling

• Apply for homeschooling
• Withdraw kids from public school
• sign up for Florida Virtual School
• Call Anne @ Florida Virtual School
• Call Rick @ Florida Virtual School
• Meet with school board rep to discuss online schooling and documentation options
• Get needed books for schools
• Get Kindles for the kids and get them set up

Electronics

• Buy apple laptop for trip
• Buy two other laptops for the trip
• Buy a new point and shoot camera or a DSLR
• Buy 2 external hard drives for backup
• Setup Skype with family/friends
• Teach parents how to use Skype
• Get 2 unlocked phones (one BB, one Apple) – I love my new BlackBerry Priv and it is very possible that this will be my phone for our trip.
• Setup Storage on cloud drive
• Setup website and blog – We are up and running.
  

Health

• Buy and create a medical kit
• Vaccinations for everyone
• Eye exams for everyone
• Get extra glasses for Keith and Nicole
• Dental appointments for everyone
• Final physicals for everyone
• Redo Wills and Living Wills – in progress, hope to sign all the paperwork this month

Finances

• Cancel unnecessary Credit Cards
• Open a new ATM account
• Travel notices to CC companies
• Change address on bills that will carry over
• File taxes for FY 2016
• Change paychecks for 401K contributions (Keith for 2017)
• Return Camry on lease – Dec 2016
• Sell Keith’s car – March 2017
• Do power of attorney paperwork

Work

• Write letter of resignation – Nicole
• Write letter of resignation – Keith

Other

• Going away party
• Order cheap wedding bands
• Get extra keys made