Being for a short trip, an extended trip, gap-year or round the world (rtw) trip, a trip requires preparation and there are a minimal number of topics that anyone should cover.

When I first started preparing for my trip to Middle East, I searched the web for information on a lot of these topics and except for great but ephemeral answers provided on the forums of lonelyplanet and BootsnAll, I could not find a good comprhensive guide.

So, I decided I could write one and started this page.

Well… It did not happen as planned and I actually found a good guide that covers most of these topics. The guide Footloose and Fancy-Free in the third world  by Randy Johnson is a great source of information for all people that want to travel for extended periods of time (and not just in the third world). Randy has traveled for many years in many countries so you get the info from someone that, unlike me ;), has a lot of experience doing it.
I still believe the following list of topics should be covered by anybody that wants to leave for a long trip. I did!

1. Why Travel?
2. Alone or with Company?
3. Trip Duration
4. Itinerary
5. Budget
6. Vaccinations
7. Documents
8. Health
9. Packing
10. Tickets
11. Special Events
12. Insurance
13. Relationships
14. Job
15. Appartment/House
16. Other Possessions
17. Memberships
18. Pets
19. Communication Planning
20. Money Management
21. Electronics
22. Books
23. Music
24. Last Checks Before Leaving

If I only had one advice to give, it would be: Start taking care of vaccinations and your documents as soon as possible because some of these are not compresible because out of your control. A visa for Syria took 10 days and if you need multiple visas, the time for each visa is additive since most (or all) of the embassies require you to leave your passport while they are processing the visa. As well, some imunization require multiple shots over 1, 2 or even 3 months and you cannot make this faster… So, don’t take a chance and make these things FIRST!

[This page is still alive and I will add links and comments in the future so come back from time to time.]