So – being the anal-retentive over-thinker that I am, I have been planning for this trip to the US since I committed to going early last year. We’re going for a road trip from San Fran up and around a bit of the West Coast and eventually attending Burning Man in Nevada before ambling our way back down to San Fran to fly home.

While most of my plans have revolved around budgeting, annual leave and timing (and collating groovy clothes/accessories to wear on the playa) I’ve come to the stage now where it’s the little things that I forget or don’t know about that will make or break the trip.

Soooooo – anyone have any ideas of things that I might need for a stress-free, 3+ weeks on the West Coast of America (including the Nevada desert)?

Here are the things that I’ve organised so far –

* Passport
* International Drivers License
this should be fun (not). I’m a self-confessed road-rager so Mac’s worried I’ll get us both shot! And driving on the opposite side of the road will do my head in – I guess the word is ‘interesting’, this should be interesting.
*Hire Car
PT Cruiser babay! How very…..gothic. Anyone know the level of insurance to get (least expensive type)?
* Flight tickets
with no stop-overs the best time we can make is 13+ hours. Claustrophobia coupled with a miniscule attention span could result in needing to self-induce an alcoholic coma for the duration of the flight. <Praying for a baby-free flight>
* Travel Insurance
* Global Sim Card
as luck would have it I have a quad-band GSM Mobile and a compatible charger for the states so I’m set!
* This groovy slotBar bag (pictured)
got a bit of a pick-pocket phobia going on at the moment.
* The possibility of getting my hair braided/corn rowed before the burn.
* Digital camera, iPod, mobile phone, crosswords, novels, travel diary, electricity adaptors, tea tree oil, vegemite, prescriptions, rent, gifts.

We’re going to be staying at motels & friends’ places so there’s no need to organise this beforehand <letting go, letting go> :P

I’ve got scans of all of my travel documents and website passwords stored in my hotmail account in case I lose anything or need to access more funds. Anyone have any ideas/thoughts on using Cirrus/Maestro cards overseas? Am undecided at the moment how to organise the travel funds i.e. ATMs, cash, traveller’s cheques, Cirrus/Maestro card?

I know that there are going to be things that I forget to plan for or things may happen to throw my well-laid plans into disarray, but I figure pre-warned is pre-armed, so your help is really appreciated.

xxx