Trip Prep To Do List – Jan 2016

This month, we did a lot of preparing for Christmas and our visitors over the holidays.  Fortunately, preparing for the holidays always involves a lot of cleaning and this was a good opportunity for us to get rid of some more stuff.  But, it wasn’t great for getting lots of other stuff completed on our trip prep to do list.  As of Jan 1st, 2016, we leave in 438 days.  This sounds like a long time, but I know it is going to go fast and there is a lot to do.  Welcoming in 2016 means we have to ramp up our efforts at home.

House

• Fix up house for rent – I have a list of things we want to do and a plan to get them going
• 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
  
• Forward mail to service

Travel prep

• Add pages to passports for Keith and Nicole – ok, so we can’t do this now.  We need to actually get brand new passports per this
  
• 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 – doing research now.  If anyone has any tips, I’d love to hear them.
  
• 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.  We want to get these done this month

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 – Quinn already had one, and Partick just got one for Christmas so we can cross this off the list.
  

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, appointment to sign off everything the first week of Jan
  

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