Preparing for 8-Weeks in Asia!

We are T-minus 2-days away from our Asian Adventure and we have been planning this trip for the last few months. Our Asian Adventure is taking us to seven countries: Japan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia. Check out our list below to see what we accomplished in preparation for the trip!

Visiting a Travel Doctor

Our first experience at a travel doctor was great! I mean typically I don’t look forward to going to the doctor, but when you get to talk with the doctor about travel destinations – it’s any traveler’s dream! We received a lot of detailed information on the countries we are visiting, as well as made sure we are up to date on vaccinations. We picked up prescriptions for malaria pills and Zithromax in case we run into any stomach situations abroad! It was a very long appointment, but bonus points for all of it being covered by insurance!

Getting an International Driver’s License

Yes – we have driven in other countries, including a European Road Trip, but we’ve never had International Driver’s Licenses. Not all countries require one, but some countries do including Japan! We plan on doing a three hour Go Kart tour through Tokyo and this tour requires an International Driver’s License. We went to AAA to get our licenses, the process is easy and quick. It requires two passport photos, which you can also get at AAA. The license costs $20, plus photos, but certain AAA memberships have these fees included with the membership.

Ordering Currency

We are finally millionaires, but only in Vietnam!

We recommend getting a small amount of the local currency before any trip. You don’t want to carry all of the money for your trip in one place, just get enough to get yourself settled into the trip. Even when you are traveling to countries where cash is king, you can always exchange or withdraw money when you get there. During our trip to AAA, we ordered currency for Japan, Vietnam, and Thailand. While AAA may not have the best rates to exchange money, if you order at least $200 worth, then you avoid an additional service charge.

Opening a Bank Account with No ATM Fees

We opened a Charles Schwab High Yield Investor Checking Account, solely to take advantage of the benefit of no ATM fees worldwide. As we are going to be traveling to many countries that are cash based, we know we will be using ATMs frequently on trip. Not having to worry about additional fees is a huge bonus! It was very easy to set up and open online. FYI – One of the requirements of opening the account is that you also need to open a brokerage account, there is no minimum balance requirements for either account.

Applying for Visas

We will be traveling to seven countries on our Asia Trip. During the planning phases of your trip, it is important to look up the visa requirements for each country. We used the US State Department to learn about the visa requirements for US Citizens. Five of the countries we are visiting require visas; three we can get on arrival and two we needed in advance. Make sure you have enough empty pages in your passport, extra passport photos with you, and at least 6-months of valid time before your passport expires. We applied for our Vietnam e-visa online. This process was simple and we had our visa approved in 3 business days. If you are traveling to Vietnam, we highly recommend using their new e-visa process. It is a lot more affordable and faster than previous process. We still need to apply for our online Myanmar visa, but anticipate this also being an easy process!

Last, but not least – Shopping!

There were a few items that we purchased specifically for this trip:

Backpacks – We are officially going to be backpackers! Chris and I have never traveled with only what we can fit in a backpack. We both bought Osprey Porter 46 liter bags (carry-on size!) to make traveling through Asia easier.

Wicking Clothing – We wanted to make sure we are prepared with clothing that is easy to rinse and wear, so we have t-shirts, pants, underwear, and more that is made of wicking material. Our favorite brands are EMS, ExOfficio, UnderArmor, Patagonia, and Prana.

Bugsaway Clothing & Bug Repellent Lotion – SE Asia is known for having a lot of mosquitos and the mosquitos love both of us! We are being extra cautious by packing to avoid our mosquito friends.

Follow along on our 8-week journey to Asia! We will be posting updates along the way!