Progress Reports and To-Do Lists

My husband and I talk about our upcoming Around the World adventure frequently, discussing ways to cut costs and save money, thinking about the implications of our trip, etc.  I think about it every day, I read and seek out helpful information constantly.  However, we haven't been great at formulating an actual plan yet - we have general ideas and thoughts, but we decided we need to sit down and talk about what we need to do on a regular basis, in order to take small steps over the course of time rather than waiting on it all until the end and becoming overwhelmed.

Sunday we sat down together and figured out our next batch of "To Do's".  We've already figured out our approximate monthly costs (which may be altered depending on some choices we have to make in the near future), I've started researching RTW flights, but also found that I can only get estimates now as we can't move forward with the real flight details until about 6 months before we plan to leave.  We've started research and begun to narrow down our actual travel path, but there's so much more to do!

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Here's what we came up with to work on over the next couple weeks:

• Develop a few general itineraries - substituting in some different destinations for each itinerary, but maintaining a core of "must-sees" (me)
• Do more research on working while we are abroad (both)
• Delve deeper into http://www.workaway.info/
• If suitable for our needs, register to begin making contacts (him)
• If not suitable, find alternative
• Do more research into volunteer opportunities (both)
• What types of opportunities are offered in the places we are definitely going to go?
• Which types of opportunities appeal to us?
• Costs, benefits of ones that interest us most
• Look into our GM car ownership/payments (him)
• Can we sell this car to reduce monthly expenses while away without losing money on what we've already invested
• Research overland travel from Greece-->Croatia-->around Eastern Europe-->Moscow (me)
• Types of transporation, costs, et
• Complete more in-depth research on the Trans-Siberian/Trans-Mongolian Railway making notes of all details (me)
• Costs for all sections
• Stops along the way, things to see/do
• Different options
• Time of year to go
• Look into Visas for all definite destinations and possible destinations (both)
• Create a worksheet with costs, requirements, time restrictions, etc
• Are any immunizations required for the destinations we want to visit? (both)
• Do more research on Homestays (both)
• Reach out to people we know who have connections in places we plan to visit (both)

We both felt really good after talking in-depth about everything and coming up with a short-term game plan.  I've started a binder where we can house all of the information we find.

I'm sort of a nerd, so making lists and starting to write down actual information for specific destianations makes me excited!  I like to have things in writing and feel that pieces of the puzzle are starting to fall into place.  The more pieces that we have visible, the clearer the picture will be and the closer we get to seeing our dream realized!

Thoughts?  Advice?