Google, travel blogs, the officials and a little bit of self-reflection helps in answering some important questions before going abroad:

• Information about New Zealand, regulations about arriving, weather and how to get there best

• How and/or where do we want to live?

  • We decided on living in a camper van for our whole New Zealand stay. How much does that cost, how much money do we have, what do we need to know before buying a camper van, like inspections, insurance, camping grounds and was does “self-contained”, WOF and REGIO mean?

  •  A lot of questions were answered and some camper vans were found on www.backpackerboard.co.nz

• Do I need to tell the officials that I quit my job?

• What insurance do I need and what happens with my insurance back at home when I am on the road?

• Gültiger Reisepass - da wo alles beginnt

• Gültige Kreditkarte (Ablaufdatum checken!)

• Working-Holiday Visum für Neuseeland beantragen 

  • Für circa 120€ gibt es hier innerhalb von einer Woche ein 12-monatiges Visum für NZ (wichtig: Login Daten nicht verlieren, die brauchen wir in NZ zur Eröffnung unseres Bankkontos) 

• One-Way Ticket nach Neuseeland buchen (what a feeling!!!) 

• Internationalen Führerschein (15€)

• StaTravel Starter Paket für Neuseeland
  ​Da wir bereits unsere Flüge über STA Travel gebucht haben und begeistert von dem Service waren, sind wir kurze Zeit später wieder zu Sea Travel zurück gegangen und haben uns ein schönes Starter Paket für die Anfangszeit in Neuseeland gebucht. Für 262€ pro Person haben wir folgendes bekommen: 

  • Abholung vom Flughafen in NZ und Transfer zum Hostel 

  • 3 Übernachtungen im DZ im Hostel inkl. Frühstück

  • Kostenloses WLAN in der Unterkunft

  • 1 Monat Gepäckaufbewahrung

  • Hilfe bei administrativen & organisatorischen Dingen

  • ​Eröffnung eines Bankkontos

  • Neuseeländische SIM-Karte

  • Beantragung einer Steuernummer

  • WWOOFing-Mitgliedschaft zum Sonderpreis

  • 12 Monate Zugang zur Online Jobbörse von IEP Job Assist New Zealand

• Auslandskrankenversicherung ​​

  • Auch diese haben wir über StaTravel gebucht und sind für 12 Monate bei der Allianz versichert, deren Konditionen wirklich grandios sind. Zudem bekommen wir für einen kleinen monatlichen Aufpreis eine Versicherungskarte von der Allianz, mit der wir weltweit eine Anzahl an Arztkosten und Medikamenten direkt bezahlen können ohne vorher selber in Vorlasse gehen zu müssen (für long-türm Travel on a Budget ein absoluter Luxus)

• Gültiger Reisepass - da wo alles beginnt

• Gültige Kreditkarte (Ablaufdatum checken!)

• Working-Holiday Visum für Neuseeland beantragen 

  • Für circa 120€ gibt es hier innerhalb von einer Woche ein 12-monatiges Visum für NZ (wichtig: Login Daten nicht verlieren, die brauchen wir in NZ zur Eröffnung unseres Bankkontos) 

• One-Way Ticket nach Neuseeland buchen (what a feeling!!!) 

• Internationalen Führerschein (15€)

• Valid passport – when all the fun begins!

• Valid credit card (check date!)

• Working Holiday Visa for New Zealand

  • For about 120€ you get a visa for about 12 month within a week (important: do not lose your log-in data, you will need it to open a bank account in NZ)

• One-Way Ticket to NZ (what a feeling!!!!)

• International driver’s license

• StaTravel Starter Pack for New Zealand
  Since we already booked our flights with StaTravel and since we were really satisfied with their service, we went back there to book our Starter Pack which will make our arrival much easier. For just 262€ we got this:

  • Pick-up from the airport and transfer to the hostel

  • 3 nights (double room) in a hostel with breakfast

  • Free WiFi at the hostel

  • 1 months of free luggage storage

  • Support with administrative topics

  • Opening of a bank account (from Germany)

  • New Zealand Mobile Sim Card

  • Application for a NZ Tax ID

  • WWOOFing membership at a special rate

  • 12-months access for the online job portal of IEP Job Assist New Zealand

• Insurance 

  • We also booked this using StaTravel and are now insured with Allianz for the whole 14 months. Their conditions are amazing and we even have a card which pays several doctor’s bills and medicine right away without us having to pay in advance ourselves (this is, for people like us who travel long term and on a budget, pure luxury)

• Vaccination advice at the tropical institute

  • Since we are going to NZ, Canada, North-, Middle and South America we need quite a lot, needed to refresh some basics and needed tetanus, rabies, heb A & B and yellow fever

• Make vaccination appointments with your doctor and at the tropical institute

• Fill out a form so your insurance will take over the costs for your vaccinations

• Make Check-Up appointments with your doctors

  • Family doctor, gynecologist, oculist, dentist, dermatologist

• Work- and Travel application including pictures

• Warrant for your parents (bank, employment agency)

• Information (access data, cancellation numbers, insurance) for home base

• Print all travel documents

• Scan important documents and put them in a drop box

• Copy and laminate important documents

• Check validity of credit cards

• Open a bank account at DKB (withdraw money for free word-wide for the first year)

• Make passport pictures for visa on arrival (10 – 15; biometric)

• Actualize address book

• Save all documents and pictures twice (leave one external harddrive back at home with all your documents and pictures in case of robbery)

• Print out your latest account balance before departure (sometimes they want to see it in case that you do not have a return ticket)

• Bring all important documents to your parents place

• Find a good party location

• Send out invites

• Get a DJ

• Have some fun games for the night of the party

  • We actually bought a football table and are putting together a lottery for our guests to win some fun and cool prices like drinks, stuff we needed to sell anyways, the football table and nice gestures of friends…

• Pay bill