D Day -1

Farewell party in Porto last Friday!!

Farewell party in Paris yesterday!!

 

 A big thank you to our friends and families!! We'll miss you!! 

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Another way than the blog to follow our trip: the big map in Luis' parents living room!! ;))

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Here is the song we have in mind today:

Administrative stuff

1/ VISAS

COUNTRY	VISA
Italy	Not required (European Union)
Slovenia	Not required (European Union)
Croatia	Not required (European Union)
Hungary	Not required (European Union)
Romania	Not required (European Union)
Bulgaria	Not required (European Union)
Jordan	10€ at any border + departure tax at exit
Syria	60€ for french and 26€ for others EU at the embassy in Paris
Turkey	15€ at any border or airport
Iran	50€ at the embassy in Paris
India	67€ for 6 months at the embassy in Paris
Nepal	33€ at any border or airport
Hong Kong	Not required for a visit up to 90 days
Macau	Not required for a visit up to 90 days
Taiwan	Not required for a visit up to 30 days
Japan	Not required for a visit up to 90 days
South Korea	Not required for a visit up to 90 days
China	65€ multi entry (3 months)
Vietnam	70€ at the consulate in Paris or 30 € at the consulate in a neighbour country in SE Asia
Cambodia	25€ at any border or airport
Laos	30€ at any border or airport
Thailand	Not required for a visit up to 30 days
Malaysia	Not required for a visit up to 30 days
Indonesia	20€ at any port or airport
Singapore	Entry permit for a visit up to 14 days on arrival
Australia	27€ - Online form and application
New Zealand	Entry permit for a visit up to 90 days on arrival
USA	12€ - Electronic System for Travel Authorization valid for 2 years for visits up to 90 days - Online form and application
The Bahamas	Not required for a visit up to 90 days
Cuba	40€ visa at consulate in Sydney and must have an exit ticket from the island
Panama	Not required for a visit up to 90 days
Colombia	Not required for a visit up to 90 days
Ecuador	Not required for a visit up to 90 days
Peru	Not required for a visit up to 90 days
Bolivia	Not required for a visit up to 90 days
Paraguay	Not required for a visit up to 90 days
Uruguay	Not required for a visit up to 90 days
Brazil	Not required for a visit up to 90 days
Chile	Not required for a visit up to 90 days
Argentine	Not required for a visit up to 90 days

This website http://www.visahq.com/visas.php is interesting to have information about visa requirements and application.

Before leaving France, we applied and obtained the visas for Syria, Iran, and India at their consulates in Paris and the visas for the USA and Australia on the internet. It seems that the Chinese visa is also pretty hard to obtain. We will deal with this one in New Delhi.

2/ BANK

We decided to open a joint account to manage our expenses easily and researched for the best offer. After a while, it appeared that banks available in France have not yet developed appropriate offers for long-term travelers. Most of them debit about 3% of every card payment and of every cash withdrawal (plus a 3 euros commission and the local exchange rate)!

We found only one bank which does not charge at all card payments and cash withdrawals, even out

of the European Union: an online bank, MONABANQ. But they refused to open us a joint account (two young unemployed....).

With HSBC, cash withdrawals are not charged in their agencies world-wide but their account fees are quite expensive.

So we opted for BNP Paribas in which we both already have an account. BNP Paribas is part of the Global Alliance partnership with 8 other banks. Cash withdrawals are not charged in all of those banks but the partnership is far from covering the whole globe!

3/ DRIVERS LICENCE

The international drivers licence is compulsory to drive in some countries outside the EU and the Schengen space.

To get it, just go to the nearest police préfecture with two identity pictures and a proof of address. For more information: http://vosdroits.service-public.fr/F11534.xhtml

4/ MANDATE

During this year abroad it will be difficult for us to deal with all the administrative matters we would have to do in our home country: for example to get a registered letter at the post office, etc. To simplify the job of our helpful and beloved parents we decided to establish an official mandate which is a notary deed in France. Cost: about 70 euros.

5/ DOCUMENTS WE ARE TAKING WITH US

- Of course our biometric passports

- identity cards

- certificate of vaccination

- reference of our travel insurance and social security card

- paper with all emergency phone numbers (consulate of the visited countries, our bank, our insurance, etc.)

- diver’s licence & international driver’s licence.

We also scanned all of our administrative documents and stored them in a Internet account.

Health considerations

1/ VACCINES

To be well informed on the vaccines and other medical treatment we should undergo, we went to the Air France vaccination centre where we took an appointment for a travelers’ consultation (35 € for the both of us).

There we were advised to be vaccinated against rabies, typhoid, hepatitis A, yellow fever, japanese encephalitis : in total 7 injections and 5 different visits to meet deadlines between each injection.
We were already updated for hepatitis B and diphteria, tetanus, polio, and whooping-cough.

The interesting thing about this centre is also that the vaccines are registered in an International Certificate of Vaccination, the official document edited by the World Health Organization.

2/ MEDICAL KIT

We will take with us a thermometer, plaster, compress, and tablets for
- headache and pain (paracetamol),
- digestive problem,
- allergies (antihistaminic),
- a month of anti-malarial preventive treatment,
plus anti-inflammatory and burn ointment, external antiseptic and eyedrops.


3/ INSURANCE

Coping with the various travel insurances is mission impossible. To see clearly through the diverse proposals, we presented them in a tabular form. Like those are French insurances, the chart is in French, sorry! :/

	AVI international - Assurance Voyage Marco Polo	ACS - Assurance Voyage Globe Partner	AVA - Plan Santé international	Mondial Assistance
	www.avi-international.com/assurance-voyage-marco-polo-35.html	www.acs-ami.com/fr/acs/globe	www.ava.fr/contrats/plan.asp	www.mondial-assistance.fr/content/23/fr/Get a Quote.html
	49 euros par mois	39,60 euros par mois	690 euros pour 12 mois (57,50 euros/mois)	677 euros (56,40 euros/mois)
Frais médicaux à l'étranger	Sans franchise 300 000 euros	100% des frais réels - 150 000 euros maximum/an	Prise en charge ou remboursement sans franchise et sans limitation	150 000 euros (franchise 30 euros)
Frais médicaux en France	Non	Non	Hospitalisation à concurrence de 1 000 000 euros et autres frais dans la limite de 15 000 euros
Frais dentaires d'urgence	150 euros	300 euros	100% des frais réels, plafonné à 300 euros	150 000 euros (franchise 30 euros)
Frais dentaires suite à un accident	500 euros par dent	600 euros
Frais d'optique	400 euros en cas d'accident caractérisé
Transport médical		100% des frais réels
Rapatriement sanitaire	Frais illimités	100% des frais réels	Par les centres d'assistance
Rapatriement du corps	Frais illimités	100% des frais réels (frais funéraires limités à 1 500 euros)	Oui
Visite d'un parent	Billet de visite d'un parent si l'assuré est hospitalisé plus de 5 jours - 2 000 euros maximum	Billet A/R + 80 euros par nuit (max. 8 nuits) en cas d'hospitalisation de plus de 6 jours	Billet A/R et frais de séjour
Capital décès	15 000 euros	8 000 euros	8 000 euros
Capital invalidité permanente totale suite à un accident	75 000 euros maximum	30 000 euros	40 000 euros (franchise 30%)
Capital invalidité partielle suite à un accident	de 1 à 99%	Non	40 000 euros (franchise 30%)
Billet de retour en cas de décès accidentel	ou risque de décès d'un parent (père/mère/frère/sœur) - Frais nécessaires et raisonnables	En cas décès d'un membre de la famille proche	En cas de décès d'un parent proche
Transmission de messages urgents	Mise à disposition	100% des frais réels
Envoi des médicaments indispensables et introuvables sur place		100% des frais réels
Assurance responsabilité civile privée - Dommages corporels	Garantie à 100% - 750 000 euros maximum	4 575 000 euros (franchise 80 euros)	4 500 000 euros	4 500 000 euros (franchise 75 euros)
Assurance responsabilité civile privée - Dommages matériels	450 000 euros maximum	76 000 euros (franchise 80 euros)	450 000 euros	4 500 000 euros (franchise 75 euros)
Assurance responsabilité civile privée - Dommages aux bien confiés	1 500 euros maximum	11 500 euros (franchise 80 euros)		4 500 000 euros (franchise 75 euros)
Agression	Inclus dans les frais médicaux
Préjudice moral esthétique	15 000 euros maximum
Frais de recherche et de sauvetage	2 000 euros maximum	3 000 euros	5 000 euros
Avance de fonds	1 000 euros en cas de vol des moyens de paiement	700 euros en cas de vol	500 euros en cas de perte ou de vol des moyens de paiement
Caution pénale	7 500 euros	7 000 euros	Avance à hauteur de 7 500 euros
Assistance juridique	Honoraires d'avocats et assistance juridique accidents (voir responsabilité civile)	3 000 euros	3 000 euros
Assurance bagage	En option	1 150 euros pendant le trajet A/R	2 000 euros (franchise 15 euros) pour vol en cours de transport aérien	1 000 euros en cas de disparition ou de détérioration (franchise 30 euros)

We opt for the AVI international Marco Polo one which seems to be the more complete one. We will take it only for eleven months as we are covered by the European Health Insurance Card (delivered for free on www.ameli.fr) during our first month in Europe.