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You’ve decided on a destination. You’ve scoured the internet for packing essentials. But have you considered all of your responsibilities at home before you embark on a long-term adventure? It would be great if you could simply forget about things like mail delivery and bills while you trek through New Zealand, Bolivia, or Budapest – but the adulting show must go on! You’ll enjoy your trip much more if you’re well-prepared. 

Here are just a few things to do before you take off on a long trip:

Set Up Electronic Billing 

Set up electronic billing from home before backpacking

Set up electronic billing from home before departing your trip

Even while galavanting around the world, you still have to pay bills, unfortunately. Thankfully today, almost all services use electronic billing, allowing you to pay from virtually anywhere and even set up payments in advance. 

If you’re not already using automated billing, be sure to set this feature up well before you leave for your trip. This can be done online or on the phone. Setting this feature up at least one billing cycle before a long trip is a great way to confirm that the feature is working and that money is being taken out of the correct account. 

However, even with autopay, it’s still important to have access to your accounts and statements. Most companies offer apps where you can see statements from anywhere you have cell service or a Wi-Fi connection. Downloading these apps allows you to check your accounts while you’re away in case of fraud or an unexpected charge. It’s also wise to have the customer service numbers of any services you have, in case there is an issue. 

These tips will help you most of the time, but there are a few services that do not offer online billing. For these utilities, contact the service provider to make a plan regarding payment during your trip. If possible, suspending these services while you’re away will save you money and a headache. 

Stop Mail Delivery

Though setting up electronic billing will cut down on the amount of physical mail you receive, that doesn’t cover everything. Everyone receives junk mail, letters from friends and family, as well as important documents (particularly around tax season). 

Especially if your mail is delivered to your address in an unlockable box, there is the risk of others snooping through your mail and even stealing packages delivered to you. This, of course, puts you at risk for identity theft and the loss of important documents and packages. 

If you’re going on a shorter adventure, consider asking a trusted friend or family member to pick up your mail and keep it safe until you return. Keep in mind, that according to the United States Postal Service (USPS), to have someone else pick up your mail at the post office, you must give them written permission. If you use a P.O. Box or live in an area where mailboxes are locked, make sure to give the other person a key.

If your trip is longer, make sure to reach out to your post office to hold your mail while you’re away. Your post office can hold your mail for up to 30 days while you’re traveling. It’s important to put in the request to hold your mail early to ensure mail doesn’t arrive at your address after you leave. 

For trips longer than 30 days, there is the option of forwarding your mail to another address for up to one year. If you will not have access to a set address while traveling, consider asking a family member or friend if they would be willing to receive and set aside your mail during that time. You can also sign up for Informed Delivery, which allows you to see previews of your mail on your phone to make sure you don’t miss anything important. 

Let Your Bank Know You’ll be Traveling 

Let your bank know before departing on your backpacking trip to avoid any issues

Let your bank know before departing on a long trip to avoid any issues

If you’ll be traveling outside of your home state or country, it’s wise to let your bank know ahead of time. Oftentimes, banks will flag purchases made outside a certain geographic area as “suspicious,” and will freeze or restrict your account to help protect you from fraud. However, this could be a major inconvenience if it occurs while traveling. 

To prevent this, make sure to call your bank ahead of time and tell them the general area you will be traveling in and for how long you plan to be there. If your trip is taking place outside of the country, check your bank’s policies on foreign/international transaction fees. These fees can be quite expensive and cost you a significant amount of money. 

If you plan on making several purchases during your trip using a debit or credit card, consider opening a bank account without foreign transaction fees. This can save you a significant amount in fees throughout the length of your trip. The account can then be used on other international trips you make in the future. 

Prepare Your Home to Rent or Sublet 

Why not make some extra cash while you are exploring? In today’s world, there are several safe and reliable ways to rent or sublet your home while you’re away. Taking advantage of this opportunity allows you to bring in income while you’re gone, and believe it or not, many long-term travelers have benefited from this arrangement. 

However, if you want to lease out your home to others, there’s more to it than tidying up quickly. It’s important to make all necessary repairs before renting out your home. A rental with issues can lead to bad reviews, or worse, the tenants leaving and requesting their money back. You also want to make sure any problem areas of your home are fixed before your long trip starts. Something like a busted pipe or roof leak can be catastrophic if you’re not around to immediately notice and fix the issue. 

Homeowners can tap into their home equity to cover the costs of any necessary home improvements. For example, features like a coffee nook, quality lighting, and fresh new flooring can help you get more renters and better reviews. Investing in quality furniture, towels and bedding can also positively impact your guests’ stay (and your rental rate).  

These improvements will also increase the value (and equity) of your home as well as making your home a more pleasant place to live. For renters, make sure to reach out to your landlord for any needed repairs before you leave. Also, make sure your landlord allows subletting as some leases do not allow this. 

Cancel Unnecessary Subscriptions Before Your Long Trip

Subscription boxes like meal kits and beauty packages are awesome, but will be of no use to you during your long trip. Oftentimes, the product will be expired or unusable by the time you get back. 

Before you leave, make a list of any subscriptions you have (this is also a helpful tip for budgeting in general). Then, determine which ones need to be cancelled while you’re away and which ones are worth keeping active. For example, a subscription like Netflix or Hulu might be useful on a trip, while something like a meal kit would go bad quickly. 

Also keep in mind that some companies allow you to temporarily suspend your subscription while you’re away instead of outright cancelling. This can save you a lot of headaches when you return. And of course, make sure to resubscribe to everything once you’re back home. 

Consider Adjusting Your Mobile Plan 

Mobile phones are a necessary expense for the vast majority of people. However, depending on your mobile service, you may be charged extra for international usage. If you’re travelling internationally, this can be a significant added expense. 

Adjust your mobile phone plan before your backpacking trip to avoid hassle on the road

Adjust your mobile phone plan before a long trip to avoid hassle on the road

Before your long trip, review your mobile plan and see if you have coverage in other countries and if there are additional fees. If your provider doesn’t enable service where you’re traveling, you can consider buying a prepaid phone to keep in contact with others during the trip. 

If you need suggestions, ask other long-term travelers who have visited the area for their suggestions for remaining connected during your trip. In the case that you don’t know anyone personally, consider looking at online forums and sites about how to manage your mobile plan abroad.

Have Someone to Check on Your Home 

If you can’t or don’t want to rent out your home, finding a house sitter is an important step in securing your home. There are several options for making sure your home is safe while you’re away. For example, you could ask a trusted friend, neighbor, or family member to check in on your home once a week to make sure nothing is out of place. 

When this isn’t an option, there are also several services that will match you up with a person to house-sit your living space. These services offer verified sitters and support and communication through an app. These apps are especially helpful for pet owners because they often offer veterinary support in case something goes wrong. Regardless of who you choose to watch your home, remember to provide them with keys and anything they will need as well as a list of things to look out for. 


Going on a long trip is an excellent way to see the world, stay in shape and make lifelong friends. Although the preparation for a trip may be stressful, follow these tips, and you’ll be on your way in no time.

There are a lot of considerations that go into finding and establishing the right career. Often this is about identifying what job meets your highest personal and values-led priorities in life.

You may be one of the increasing numbers of people wanting to find a position that sees you making a meaningful impact on the environment. Not just where eco-friendly methods are used but a career where you’re empowered to truly make a difference. 

At the same time, you may want to also take the opportunity to explore more of what the world has to offer. Making connections with other countries and cultures has never been more accessible.

As such, you’re likely to be searching for a sustainable travel job – work that involves travel and a job that enables you to travel across the country or internationally in the course of your duties. 

But are there options providing you with the best of both worlds? Let’s take a closer look at how you can identify sustainable travel jobs and even pursue a career involving sustainability and travel. 

Sustainable Travel Jobs in Development

As we have reached a point of climate emergency, there is an urgent need for change. This is beginning to occur at the infrastructural level with various civic, private, and scientific fields contributing to developing solutions.

This also presents opportunities for enriching sustainable travel jobs. Many development positions involve spending time in various areas of the country — or even the planet — and applying your expertise to making meaningful change. 

One of the key sectors to engage in this way is urban planning. Many towns, cities, and rural communities have committed to making sustainable alterations.

Urban planners are tasked with developing design strategies for both short- and long-term projects aiding revitalization and better health. Sustainability is an increasingly central part of this career path; not only in managing the environmental impact of projects but also in making design choices that reduce pollution and waste.

There tend to be opportunities to find work that involves travel, both to find inspiration from other sustainable communities and in moving from project to project. To engage in the field, you’ll generally need a degree in a relevant area — architecture, economics, and sustainability are good options. 

However, if city design isn’t in your wheelhouse you can still pursue development through a career in environmental science. Becoming an ecologist is a great choice as your work with institutes and government agencies will see you traveling to a variety of locations to research ecosystems.

Following periods of analysis in the laboratory you can then provide reports on your findings to help address both local and global environmental challenges. As with any science field, you’ll generally be expected to hold at least a bachelor’s degree, in this case, ecology, biology, zoology, or other related areas.  

Sustainable Travel Jobs in the Nonprofit Sector

How to Find a Career That Involves Sustainability and Travel

Find a Career in a Nonprofit that combines Sustainability and Travel

While some sustainability efforts are being made by large corporations and governments this tends to move at a glacial pace. At the moment it seems like dedicated environmentally-focused nonprofit organizations are doing a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to educating the public and pursuing projects.

This means often your best route to a job that involves travel and sustainability is with a nonprofit. Just as volunteering holds travel opportunities, you can adopt paid professional careers with these organizations across the planet. 

While it’s certainly possible to get administrative positions, you’ll tend to find more success with specialized professions. Accountancy, legal expertise, and cybersecurity are common demands.

Sustainable nonprofits are also likely to be looking for those with technical skills for hands-on projects like solar electricity installation and community development. When applying for these positions in countries abroad, you’ll also find specialized sustainable travel jobs are often more eligible for visas than those jobs that can be performed by locals.     

It might seem like an insignificant thing, but when you are pitching your skills abroad, you need to make sure you’re mindful of local customs.

Australia is one of the common targets for those seeking nonprofit experience but the sustainable travel job market has some specific requirements for resume formatting and standards.

You need to adapt your resume for tone — don’t come across as overconfident, extend your 1-page summary to 3-4 pages of high detail, and nix the headshot. Small, culturally relevant considerations help indicate to sustainable nonprofits abroad that you’re respectful of their standards and keen to engage with them.   

Sustainable Travel Jobs in Tourism

Eco Tourism offers a job combining sustainability and travel

Eco Tourism offers a job combining sustainability and travel

The tourism sector has always been a good option for work that involves travel. However, it’s only natural that you might have some reservations regarding how jobs here reflect your environmental priorities.

After all, tourism is responsible for around 8% of global carbon emissions. The good news is there’s an increasing number of businesses in the travel and hospitality sectors that offer consumers sustainable options through eco-tourism.  

Ecotourism guiding is a popular choice for a sustainable travel job. It sees you operating both as a storyteller and environmental educator, helping to solidify tourists’ connection to the natural world and their responsibilities to it.

Guides can often find on-the-job training but in ecotourism, it certainly helps if you have knowledge or experience in conservation. Alternatively, you can target hospitality positions in sustainable hotels which are identifiable through apps like Expedia that allow you to search for businesses with eco-friendly practices.

While some simply have eco-conscious aspects, others are specifically aimed at providing holistically sustainable travel accommodation.   

Whichever position you pursue, it’s important to remember you’ll be interacting with the public. This means you also need to be committed to practicing COVID-safe protocols such as wearing your mask in public.

It’s vital, too, to get a vaccine, which is considered to be safe, having gone through rigorous testing and approval processes. While you may experience some initial side effects, immunization is a tool to keep you, your colleagues, and the general public safe and healthy. It also moves us closer to achieving herd immunity.

Conclusion

Finding a career that blends your sustainability priorities with your desire to travel is more achievable now than at any other time. Sustainable development, the nonprofit sector, and ecotourism are just a few of the current industries you can target.

Take time to explore the possibilities for a sustainable travel job where you can make a difference in far-flung destinations. 

Over the past year, many avid travelers have had to slow their roll and reduce their travel due to COVID-19. During this time of quiet reflection, the realities of human carbon emission have begun to fully sink in.

As cars cleared the streets and airplanes stayed grounded, the facts remained: One long-haul flight from London to New York can produce around 986kg of carbon dioxide per passenger, according to the Guardian (US). That amount is comparable to the average yearly carbon output of a person living in a country like Paraguay or Burundi. 

With the return of air travel and the alarming projected increase in aviation emissions, you may be seeking solutions to carbon offset travel while exploring all our beautiful planet has to offer.

The What & How of Carbon Offsets

Carbon offsetting involves recognizing and directly addressing your individual carbon emissions. Online calculators make it fairly easy to determine exactly how much carbon you emit in your daily life. However, when travel is thrown into the mix, transport and other activities may cause your carbon footprint to skyrocket.

By employing simple techniques to counteract your carbon emissions, you can fill your passport with stamps while still protecting the environment. Carbon offsets for travel take many forms, and you can choose which forms best fit your lifestyle. 

Whether you prefer planting trees, encouraging less wasteful farming techniques, or helping isolated communities install cookstoves to replace wood fireplaces, you’re sure to find a cause you can get behind. Canceling out your carbon emissions allows you to get back to what you love most: travel.

The Truth About Travel & Carbon Emissions

According to the Washington Post, “flights were responsible for 2.4 percent of global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in 2018.” While this may seem a relatively small sliver, the statistic fails to tell the whole story. 

For one thing, those numbers are projected to soar to nearly three times their current level within the next few decades. For another, because of the vast inequity of carbon emissions on our planet, a flight is likely to take up a much larger percentage of your personal carbon footprint.

Lifestyle Changes to Carbon Offset Travel

Reduce Waste & Consumption

There are many ways in which you can reduce or help carbon offset your travels. One way is by adopting a minimalist lifestyle. Minimalism doesn’t mean getting rid of everything you own, though — it means recycling, avoiding single-use items, and maximizing the enjoyment of any collections you do have without relying on quantity over quality.

A minimalistic approach to life will reduce the amount of waste you produce, thereby making the Earth greener and more enjoyable when you travel.

Eco-Friendly Digital Solutions

While you’re on the road, you can make use of several digital solutions that allow you to travel while being kind to the Earth. Carbon and solar calculators permit you to measure your impact on the environment and take concrete steps toward living a zero-waste lifestyle. 

Eco-tourism apps, on the other hand, can help you locate local produce, find sustainable lodging, and rideshare, no matter where you are in the world. In the future, fully electric driverless cars will help accelerate this change even more!

Adopt Environmentally-Friendly Work Habits

Today’s work landscape is also rapidly evolving to accommodate more eco-friendly habits. Depending on your lifestyle and work preferences, some of these techniques may work better for you than others. Two of the most popular options for eco-friendly work are work-from-home and work exchange programs.

Working From Home

As we’ve come to realize over the past year, working from home has one rather major impact: no commute. Not only does working from home save you money and time, it also significantly reduces your carbon emissions for flights. 

When you reduce the amount of fossil fuels you produce on a daily basis, this helps carbon offset travel and travel-based carbon emissions. Freelancing writing is one popular way of achieving this flexible, work-from-home lifestyle.

Work Exchange Programs

For those unable to go freelance, consider participating in a work exchange program in the location you’d like to visit. The options available to you depend on your nationality and the country you wish to work in. 

Potential work exchange programs in the United States include ranch work, the hospitality sector, and childcare services. When you work and travel at the same time, you’re less likely to jet off to a new country each week, reducing your overall fossil fuel emissions and allowing you to enjoy a rich, authentic work-travel experience.

Other Ways to Carbon Offset Travel

If you still haven’t achieved the carbon-neutral lifestyle of your dreams, there are several other ways to offset your carbon footprint. Many companies are more than happy to take your donations, but you’ll want to ensure their projects are legitimate and high-quality.

Some airlines also offer options for passengers to manually offset their carbon emissions for flights.

No matter what your current lifestyle, there are always ways to reduce your carbon footprint while journeying across the planet. Take the first step today toward living a greener life and saving the planet you love to explore!

It has been more than a year since we saw the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, and most of us have been practicing social distancing ever since. Many travel enthusiasts are thinking of using the coming spring and summer to travel somewhere away from such an isolated existence. If you are one of those considering traveling again soon, be sure to pay heed to safety measures and health advisories to protect yourself and those around you. So, besides having your Covid-19 test, here are five air travel health tips for how to travel safely during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

1. Take Required Safety Measures Before Your Flight

Covid-19 has hardly left any part of the world unscathed. So your destination might have new scenery, but you need to follow the same fundamentals when it comes to your health.

  • First and foremost, get vaccinated if you can. It is your best security in the present circumstance.
  • Even after you and your co-travelers have gotten vaccinated, if any of you are sick or show common Covid-19 symptoms, do not travel.
  • Before you plan your trip, check the travel restrictions in your destination as well as the areas through which you might be passing.
  • When you are at the airport and on your flight, follow the social distancing norms issued by the airline. Whenever you touch something, remember to clean your hands with soap and water or hand sanitizer.

2. Pack All Your Travel Essentials

One of the key aspects of traveling during a health emergency is packing all your essential items and being prepared for any situation. You never know how the situation changes in your destination, and therefore, pack the following things:

  • Carry separate sanitizing solutions like travel-sized hand sanitizer, alcohol sanitizing wipes, disinfectants, and liquid soaps for all your family members. Note that air travel has stricter liquid carrying limits as compared to ground transportation.
  • Carry well-packaged high-protein snacks and chocolate bars. If you feel hungry on your way, you can eat these snacks without needing to find them on the go.
Bring medicines from home to travel safely during Covid

Bring medicines and a first aid kit from home to avoid pharmacy visits when you travel

  • Take essential medications with you so you don’t have to find them at your destination. If you can, carry antiviral drugs and supplements to help yourself in case of an emergency.
  • Take a strong moisturizer like shea butter lotion to apply on your hands that will be quite dry after repeated sanitization.
  • Put important items like medicines, sanitizers, and headphones in a small carry-on bag for easy access.

3. Use a Face Mask And Sanitizer Throughout Your Air Travel

Even if you have gotten vaccinated, you shouldn’t let your guard down while COVID-19 is still a threat. Flying safely during COVID-19 requires you to consider the following points:

  • Wear your mask throughout the entire journey
  • Carry travel-sized hand sanitizer so that you can frequently sanitize your hands after you touch things
  • If you have to touch your face, clean your hands with alcohol sanitizing wipes beforehand
  • For extra protection, bring a face shield to protect your entire face from particles from your co-passengers
  • When you need to take the mask off, do not touch the inner surface area. And if you accidentally touch it, put on a new one immediately
  • Keep spare masks and sanitizer bottles in your handbag, so that you can access them in seconds

4. Eat And Sleep Properly Before Boarding Your Flight

Flying safely during Covid requires a strong immune system which means you’ll want to feel your best despite the tense times. The air pressure at 4,00,000ft is much lower than normal, and it can upset your stomach. Couple that with being in close contact with so many passengers in the cabin, and you know why your immune system might become susceptible. So, prepare in advance to remain in good shape during your air travel.

  • The gas in your body can increase significantly on a flight. Therefore, opt for easy and light meals before you board.
  • The meal you take just before the flight should not have sugar and be rich in complex carbohydrates and protein.
  • Fruits are great options for eating before you board a plane. Potassium-rich fruits like bananas can regulate your blood pressure and ease your muscle cramps during your air travel. Consider Vitamin C-rich oranges to boost your immunity.
  • A good night’s sleep is very crucial before you board the plane since may not get proper sleep on the flight.
  • Avoid drinking too much alcohol on the night before the journey, as it may leave you feeling ill during the journey.

5. Fly Airlines That Maintain Safety Norms

The airlines have a big role in ensuring their passengers are able to travel safely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Check whether your airline offers the following services.

  • Your airline must sanitize all the interiors after each flight. This includes spraying disinfectants and clean-wiping all the seats, lavatories, doors, overhead nozzles, and every other touchpoint.
  • The airline should block the middle seat of every row to maintain a safe distance among passengers.
  • The airline crew should have done their Covid-19 tests and must have negative results.
  • Many international airlines are equipping themselves with High-Efficiency Particulate Air Filters (HEPA) to suck in 99% of harmful particles. Make sure your airline has the system installed.

Final Words

During these turbulent times, flying safely during COVID requires you to be conscious of all kinds of dangers. But with all the hygiene measures in place, you can complete a successful trip without compromising your health and happiness.

Even the biggest homebodies have started to get cabin fever after a year of this pandemic, in which global travel seems like a thing of the past. If you’re suffering from a serious case of wanderlust, trying out virtual travel experiences during quarantine might be the best thing to do right now. Although flights are canceled and borders are closed, you can still see the world through your computer screen. Here are some way that you can travel from home and scratch your travel itch during quarantine.

1. Explore The World Through Webcam

With a near-endless supply of live stream webcams throughout the world, you can travel just about anywhere from home. Sites such as SkylineWebCams offer hundreds of incredible viewing experiences, so just pick where you want to go.

Webcams can be an incredible way to explore far-flung reaches of the earth that you might never get a chance to visit, such as the Lofoten Islands in Northern Norway, where you can live stream the Aurora Borealis. These cameras reveal magnificent landscapes and stunning night skies – you can almost feel the chill from here.

Live stream the Northern Lights over Lofoten Islands in Norway

Live stream the Northern Lights over Lofoten Islands in Norway

2. Travel from Home with a Virtual Roadtrip on Google Maps

If you’re an engine nut then travel restrictions may have seriously ground your gears. Road tripping is a timeless travel experience. From the highways of America to the back roads of Scotland, exploring a country by vehicle is a great way to get off the beaten track.

Thanks to Google’s incredible efforts mapping the world through “street view” you can travel from home by taking a virtual road trip. Drop the pin anywhere from Siberia to South Dakota to explore the streets.

3. Take An Immersive Jungle Tour

Take a deep dive into the natural world through audio-visual virtual travel experiences during quarantine. Travel Colombia has created a wonderfully rich and sensational jungle journey, exploring the birdlife of their deep forests through sight and sound. “By downloading the accompanying list, you can test your ornithological know-how and see which species you can spot,” says Dominick Cavazos, a travel writer at Last Minute Writing and Draft Beyond. “The wildlife on offer is astounding.”

Virtual travel in the Colombian Jungles during quarantine

Travel virtually in the jungles of Colombia during quarantine

4. Hit The Club

If virtual bird watching doesn’t get your heart rate jumping, maybe you’d rather explore the underground club scene of cities across the world. Berlin has been the home of hard-hitting techno for decades, and night owls all over the world are missing their dose of dancing.

Fortunately, virtual club experiences can bring the latest DJs into your living room. You can even experience the coming-of-age experience, getting rejected from superclub Berghain in virtual reality for a dose of realism.

5. Catch a Virtual Tour of World-Famous Museums

“Museums and art galleries have responded with appropriate creativity to the unfolding pandemic and many are now offering valuable virtual experiences of their collections,” says Alanna Morey, a lifestyle blogger at Writinity and Researchpapersuk. Traditionally, you might have queued for an hour or more to get into the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, but now a virtual tour can be loaded up in seconds.

Virtual travel and visiting museums during quarantine

Take a virtual tour of the Van Gogh Museum during quarantine

6. Embrace Yellowstone’s Force of Nature

Exploring America’s national parks could take a lifetime, but fortunately, the pandemic has brought us a few shortcuts. Travel from home by taking a virtual tours of these parks, which have been made available free online and can bring you up close and personal with the natural wonders they contain. Yellowstone National Park, for example, provides POV virtual travel experience videos through many of its most famous sights – without the crowds!

7. Explore Architectural Wonders

Step inside some of the world’s most fantastic buildings, without even taking a stride. These virtual architectural tours offer viewers immersive experiences filled with facts and jaw-dropping sights, proving a real insight into the history and cultural impact of these architectural creations. One of the great joys of travel is walking through a new city gazing at centuries’ worth of culture accumulated in the architecture – now you can embrace this experience in the virtual age.

The Future of Virtual Travel Experiences During Quarantine

Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, you can explore the world from the comfort of your own home. Whether you’re missing the hustle and bustle of underground clubs or the vast quiet of a National Park, virtual tours can take you anywhere you can imagine – and beyond. Traveling from home with a virtual travel experience during quarantine might quench your thirst for travel in surprising ways!