As your adventure plans gather momentum, you’ll find yourself deluged with to-do lists. You will never, ever get through them all before your day of departure dawns. You will not get as much training done as you intended. You will be up packing at 3am packing the night before you leave.
When planning for a big trip, it’s important not to get consumed by all the fun items on the list (‘˜Buy massive penknife’) and neglect to deal with the items on your list that are actually essential for getting you to the start line of your adventure. To-do lists can grow so enormous that they terrify you and inhibit productivity.
So here is a minimal to-do list which will help get your plans galloping forwards.
Begin with the urgent and important stuff. Cross them off as you make progress. Work down the list from the top ‘“ do not skip any of them just because they are boring. This stuff needs to get done!
- Start saving and plan your finances.
- Cut down on your spending.
- Discuss your plan with the people it will have an impact on: family, colleagues, friends.
- Make a plan and put the dates in your diary.
- Tell people what you plan to do and when you will begin.
- Book your flight to the start line (or do something similar that commits you irrevocably to action).
- Work out the things you need to do without which the trip will not happen. Do them.
- Look into bureaucracy, transport and logistics.
- Make plans for healthcare while abroad.
- Emergency and safety planning.
- Organise your equipment. Focus on the stuff you need rather than the stuff you’d quite like to have.
- Only now should you begin doing all the fun bits: buy a massive penknife, make create a website, etc.
- Begin!
My new book, Grand Adventures, answers many questions such as this. It’s designed to help you dream big, plan quick, then go explore. There are also interviews and expertise from around 100 adventurers, plus masses of great photos to get you excited.
I would be extremely grateful if you bought a copy here today!
I would also be really thankful if you could share this link on social media with all your friends – http://amzn.to/20IMYDt. It honestly would help me far more than you realise.
Thank you so much!
Grand Adventures from Alastair Humphreys on Vimeo.
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