In our last part in this series, we discussed how you could begin planning your trip to Australia. Now we are going to take things up a gear to get you ready for your departure. If you have been diligent you should now already have some type of rough plan for your trip, and you will have made sure that your travelling companions are people who you will be able to survive in the company of for the duration of the trip.
Getting Ready to Leave for Australia
Here are a few of the things that you will want to consider in the run up to your departure date:
- Even if you intend to find accommodation as you go from place to place, we still advise that you at least arrange somewhere to stay for that first night of your arrival. Believe me – there is nothing worse than arriving tired in a foreign country and having to look for somewhere to stay. Just book somewhere for that first night and at least you will have somewhere to stay after your long flight.
- We would also advise you to pick up some appropriate travel insurance for your trip. It is possible to pick up policies that have been especially created for these backpacking types of holidays, and we recommend that you choose something like this. We don’t want to sound too pessimistic here but there is a real risk of things going wrong on your backpacking trip. If you have appropriate travel insurance, it may prevent a bit of bad luck from turning into a disaster.
- Think carefully about the things you are going to take in your backpack – especially if you are going to be carrying this thing around with you for months. Take everything back out of your bag and be ruthless. If you do not have a good reason for taking an item, don’t take it. You will also want to check out your baggage allowance because if your bag is overweight you will need to pay extra.
- You are going to need some Australian dollars for your trip. In the past people used to order foreign currency before they left on holiday, but this is no longer really needed as you can usually use your ATM card to get cash in a foreign country. It usually works out cheaper to get money using the ATM machine, but just make sure that you will be able to use your ATM card in Australia. It is worth taking a little bit of Australian money with you as well so that you do not have to go hunting down an ATM machine when get off the plane.
- Another thing you may want to arrange before you leave is transport form the airport in Australia – at least be clear about where you will go for your bus or taxi when you arrive there. It can be a real pain to have to try to arrange transport when you arrive tired at the airport.