Preparations

When traveling out of the country, certain preparations have to be made. There are two types of preparations: home and away. One must ensure everything is taken care of at home (like paying bills, caring for pets, etc) in addition to the travel arrangements themselves.

For this trip, I have the advantage of not having a whole lot of US based obligations. I sold my house last month which freed up funding. And because of COVID canceling all of 2020, there's no contract work to be had. The only thing I really need to worry about is my car. The lease ends in early September so it has to go back to the dealership. Today I'm having it detailed and tomorrow it will be inspected. Hopefully the resale value doesn't differ too dramatically from the residual value.

For those who may not be aware, international travel prep includes securing a passport and a visa. Americans can go to DR and pay for a tourist visa as they walk out of customs so there is no application. If you overstay the visa, you simply pay a fee (or so they say...).

Other preparations include certain vaccinations (not required but recommended), as well as obtaining anti-malaria meds. Those daily pills are to be taken several days prior to the trip and throughout. On this trip, I'm not taking any antimalarial meds, but I will definitely be keeping the sunscreen and bug spray on (applied in that order). It's a little bit of a gamble but I won't be in the woods or by a river so I should be okay.

I'm trying to pack light. For footwear, I'm going with flip flops, a single pair of walking shoes, and my running shoes for workouts. For jewelry I'll take a small gold necklace with me, nothing outlandish. I'll packed 2 or 3 pairs of swim trunks and an equal number of regular shorts. I bought some brand new white tees to go with a couple other shirts. To stay looking fresh, I'll be washing clothes weekly while in DR as if I were here in the US.

I am basically bringing the medicine cabinet with me as well, everything from allergy medications to pain pills to topical ointments. You should never rely on a foreign pharmacy to have what you need.

I am still debating if I should bring my laptop. I'm leaning towards yes. It is helpful to have for writing, research, and watching flicks. For comms, I have my old Samsung Galaxy Note 8. It works in DR on the Verizon network for $10 a day but that's not economical so I'm going to get a Sim card when I touch down. I'm hoping that service swap works out well since I've never actually done it. Fingers tightly crossed on that one because I need my phone to work. The new sim will likely come with a different phone number so there will could be some transition.

Of all the things I'm bringing along, I'm most excited about my new GoPro Hero8. If there's one thing I dislike about going somewhere interesting, it's fumbling with a camera phone to get video. I'd rather enjoy what I'm seeing through my own two eyes. Now I'll be able to more easily document the trip in video and upload to YouTube hands free. I ordered these special hats from someone who makes and sells them on Etsy that have a (somewhat) discrete little pocket in the front where you secure the GoPro so it sees what you see -- perfect for passive video recording. I can even control it remotely from the app or with voice commands. Super convenient, right?