travel
Travel checklist
- [ ] check visa
- [ ] check vaccinations for area
- [ ] check currency exchange
Booking a plane
- clear cache often, prices are set by cookies
- early vs last minute bookings? no idea which one is best
- most people often already have a cancellation insurance, don't get one twice
- be careful you don't tick extra options when traveling with a cheap company, this is how they make money
- smaller airports often have better prices
- check if the flight no. you're planning to go on is available somewhere else, sometimes the same flight is available for less somewhere else
- kayak.com
- skyscanner
- tripdelta
Planning a trip
- Investigate when you want to travel first, off-season can save 80% in costs
- Check out what you can do in the towns you're heading at. Make a day by day plan.
- Never just go somewhere, planning on site is a waste of vacation time.
- 12hrs - TRAVEL GUIDES FOR PEOPLE LIKE YOU
Gear
- roost - laptop stand, prevents neck pain
Medicine
- deet
- Oral Rehydration Therapy
- Anti-diarrhea meds
- Thermometer
Vaccinations
- hepatitis A/B are pretty important. 3 shots in 6 months.
- protection against stomach typhoid for Asia (don't eat chicken)
- DTP
Hygiene
general
- wash hands after toilet, before cooking, before eating
- don't judge food by its exterior, you can't see microbes
drinks
- not all tap water is drink water; don't have ice cubes
- only drink coffee / tea prepared with boiled water
- don't drink uncooked milk
food
- best to peel your own fruit
- when preparing own food make sure to wash it in boiled water / mineral water
- don't eat rare meat or fish
- don't eat unpacked
Insurance
Traveling uninsured is super dangerous; if for some reason you end up in a hospital (which could be for anything; even stuff that's out of your control) there's a fair chance of you going bankrupt. Since I'm Dutch this part will be focused on Dutchies that are moving abroad, though I'm sure that many countries will have a rough equivalent of the terms described here.
If you're Dutch and stay >1 year abroad you're no longer insured for most common things. Insurances provided by the Dutch state are:
- next of kin insurance (Anw)
- unfit for work insurance (AOW)
- insurance law (Zvw)
- long term care law (Wlz)
- social care law (Wmo)
Subscribing to the AOW and Anw can be done until 1 year after leaving the country.
In addition there are other risks to take care of:
- liability insurance
- travel insurance
- emigreren.nu/zorgverzekering - Dutch emigration law overview
In Australia there are 3 types of insurances:
- life insurance
- health insurance
- general insurance (liability / property)
Emigrating
Emigrating is a tricky beast. There's tons of things you need to take care of. Here's a short list:
- information of embassy or consulate
- digital passport (DigID)
- taxes
- health insurance
- retirement fund
- legalisation of diploma's and documents
- welfare
- Dutch government emigration checklist
Applying for a second year visa in Australia
So in order to apply the best approach would probably be to become a "skilled independent" - this doesn't tie you down to a specific employer and is generally pretty good. For people in software, the most relevant ones are probably:
- Software Engineer 261313 ACS
Developer Programmer 261312 ACS
- skilled occupations list