Monday, April 25, 2011

Moving Abroad (Pre-Departure)

Hello,
        Wintermute here bringing you your daily dose of Dumbr. It’s hard to know all of the things you should do before you fly out, and then when you land after the first week of hindsight you sit and wish you planned a bit better. I doubt I could ever cover all of the important things you need to do, also I’m sure there are a lot of variables that only apply to some.

1.      1. Identity. Make about 3 copies of everything, and have them all printed out. Your diploma, passport, contract, health check form, have at least 10 or more passport sized photos of yourself, itinerary, e-mails from your employer, anything that can prove you are who you say you are. There was a teacher at my school, slept on the plane, had his passport stolen, and was stuck in like Russia or Europe or something, don’t let that happen to you.

2.      2. Backup Files. If you are like me and don’t have a laptop to take with you, e-mail yourself anything important prior to leaving. Or get a site that lets you store data and files on it. You should also back up all of your important files on DVDs. Be sure to e-mail your passwords and usernames to yourself.  Some banks require you to phone in to reset your password, and when you are halfway around the world, that can be very difficult. 

3.       3. Money Strap.  They are plastic and fit around your body tightly. Also when converting dollar to won or won to dollar, do it in Korea, America has no idea what they are doing, sorry.

4.       4. Camera. Pack a Digital Camera, this is very important and I will explain in a later post. It’s not for taking pretty pictures. But you can do that too I guess.

5.       5. Immigration. Write a list of everything you pack and your new address and keep it on you for the flight. Don’t worry about the small stuff, but if you are packing a PS3, PSP, or laptop, write that up and its worth. When you are moving to a new country they will ask you at the airport what you have with you and its dollar worth, they want to know everything you are bringing in.

6.       6. Hygiene. Korea fails at this. Bad toothpaste, hardly any deodorant, they do have Gillette razors, and shaving cream. For women you are okay unless you have a particular brand of stuff you use.  They do have birth control pills there. Go to a clinic, rub your tummy and say “baby no.”


7.       7. Movie Recommendation: “Taken”, and forever fear international travel. 

            I think that’s about it for your pre departure to do list. Tomorrow we will go over a few things that will help make your airport and international flight experience just that much better. So be sure to come back and I’ll see you tomorrow.    

Your flight coach,
Wintermute

32 comments:

  1. I got a lot of my stuff backed up, but never thought about making dvd's for my personal stuff.

    Good info as always.

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  2. i moved to a different country one year ago and it wasn't hard.

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  3. awesome tips, I'll try and remember these!

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  4. great tips, except for number 7!!

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  5. these are some great tips, thank you!

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  6. HA! I will both fear for my safety AND keep myself child-free, thanks to your sage wisdom!

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  7. Surprised there isn't a "don't travel alone" point.

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  8. I hate making checklists. However, I do know that they're invaluable. In retrospect I realize that I maybe always should make those...

    Also, "Your flight coach". Loved that :)

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  9. i will never move abroad, probably never

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  10. excellent advice. If it weren't for shared custody of my wee son I'd be out of this dump of a country.
    Following

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  11. wow thirteen haha, ya know he can always come and visit when he is older.

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  12. Basically this is the perfect way to not F up your trip, sadly, I am a procrastinator and constantly forget stuff on trips. -_-

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  13. also, @finn, I recommend traveling alone, much much better, or at least I prefer it anyway. Seems safer to me too, you don't have to worry about anyone elses safety just your own.

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  14. Great tips. Great post. Cheers.

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  15. Also another tip would be wear clothing that is normal in that place so you blend in.

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  16. Never been outside my country, but good stuff to know.

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  17. lol @ number 7. Is step 3 so you wont get robbed? is that a common thing?

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  18. I think rule 1 is the most important rule! My friend went to visit his homeland and all his stuff was stolen including his passport it became a total mess! That's why people need to make a lot of copies of everything!

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  19. This is good stuff, keep it up

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  20. very useful tips. will have it in mind, next time I travel.

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  21. Always you with the great advice, thanks again!

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  22. @team panda, well yes and no, it is of course a possibility. My main reasoning is behind it is for convenience sake, I dont like to take wallets, most have metal in them. I prefer to have little to nothing in my pockets. I keep all my cards wrapped with a rubber band and stored away somewhere safe. Also when I returned to america due to the circumstances I was not able to transfer the money from my korean bank account to my american bank and therefore had to carry hundreds of dollars around. with it in a strap I did not have to worry about anything happening to it.

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  23. From teacher to flight coach..
    kind of a downgrade..

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  24. Saw Taken, you'll know what to do in a kidnapping situation.

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