Have you ever wanted to drop everything and travel the world for a while? Well, what are you waiting for? When it comes to making a major life change like that, there’s never going to be a “perfect” time to do it, so you might as well start planning now. To help you get started, I’ve collected a list of resources from around the intertubes:

  • TravelHacking.org: Chris Guillebeau of the popular travel blog The Art of Nonconformity wants to let you in on his travel hacking secrets. If you’re like most aspiring world travelers, money is an issue, and joining the Travel Hacking Cartel can help you learn how to game the system and maximize frequent flyer miles so you can fly for free.
  • Almost Fearless: This travel blog by writer Christine Gilbert describes her life as a digital nomad with her husband and extremely cute baby. There’s also an excellent selection of ebooks and resources to help you take the plunge yourself.
  • 11 Reasons to Stop Dreaming and Start Planning Your Round the World Trip: Print this off and tape it somewhere highly visible in case you need motivation to kick yourself in the butt and get moving.
  • NomadicMatt.com: Nomadic Matt’s site is an awesome resource. His blog posts are always entertaining, and the travel guide section is full of helpful goodies like average costs and things to see and do in each country.
  • Location Independent: Traveling the world for long periods of time is more financially feasible if you can work from wherever you are. This blog shows you how.

While you’re daydreaming about living it up in India or Thailand, don’t forget to make arrangements to get a passport if you don’t have one already. You should allow at least 6 weeks to get a new passport if you apply with regular service, and at least 3 weeks if you use the government’s expedited service. Also, note that if the government shuts down for any length of time, passport processing services will be affected. And when they start back up again, there may be a backlog of applications in the system that could increase processing times.

If you need your passport in a hurry, your best bet is either to make an appointment at a regional passport agency office or use a private passport expediting company like RushMyPassport. We’ll hand-deliver your application to the Department of State for processing in as little as 24 hours, with no need to travel to an agency or wait in line.

Apply for your new passport today!