Oh my gosh!

Brainstorming! Yes, that's it: Brainstorming! The solution to this absolute chaos in my head!
Although I started my plannings in mid-December, a lot of things to take care about came up my mind and still there is a bunch of remaining things to do. My brain was like a bath tub that started to overflow because someone (was it me?!) forgot to turn off the water. So there came the time to think of flowing off the water somehow. Brainstorming seemed to be the best idea.

So I began to write down everything that was stuck in my head, no matter if it had anything to do with Canada or not. You cannot imagine how liberating this has been to me. After a couple of hours I got the feeling that my tub was a lot emptier than before and...hey, someone turned off the water, too! ;)

Well, the bad news were that the sheet of paper I have used, turned out to be a 1:1 reflexion of my former head chaos. I noticed that on the paper words were linked to others that have nothing to do with them. Maybe you are able to find the relation between "health insurance" and "outdoor equipment" or between "membership of hosteling international" and "selling the car".

Anyway, I have successfully used the past months to organize a lot of stuff. Below you will find a short list with the most important things to care about whenever it is about to start a long-term journey. This might be useful to some of you, at least. For all the rest, skip the next passage:

1. application for visa/working permit; in addition inform yourself about the conditions of entry, before getting into trouble with the immigration officers at the airport
2. book the flight (do that ASAP; I did and you know what?! Got the direct flight from Frankfurt to Vancouver for 322 EUR!!!)
3. get your health insurance for abroad; speak with your insurance company whether it is possible to do it with them or finding a cheaper one and save money; I got my health insurance over ADAC (German Automotive Association) for round about 350 EUR for a whole year; of course, it depends on the country you like to visit, your age and the time you'd like to stay over there
4. check the validity of your passport (notice: it is absolutely required to have a biometric passport photo when travelling to Canada or the U.S.)
5. re-think the equipment you like to take with you; try to keep it at a minimum as the capacity for baggage during flight is really low; with Condor your are permitted to take 20 kg with you + hand baggage; believe me: this is not MUCH!!! ;)
6. make sure where to stay/accommodation ; this is up to you whether to keep it "low budget" or "splurge"; I prefer two possibilities: (1) Hostel or (2) Couchsurfing.org; I'll come to that later on
7. don't forget about the last-minute organisational stuff , like looking for the best ride from the airport to the city or planning the first days at your destination