Travelling far? What to leave behind before you go

Solo hikes, sailing, months abroad. A little preparation means the people at home worry less, and you enjoy it more. None of it takes long, and most of it you'll only do once.

This guide covers what to leave behind: an itinerary, copies of what matters, account access, a few words, and a check-in plan that fits patchy signal. If you use a dead man's switch for messages, there's a section on setting it up so it doesn't go off while you're simply out of range.

Leave a living itinerary

Share a rough route, key dates and accommodation with one person. Agree a check-in rhythm, and what they should do if they don't hear from you.

"Living" is the important word. Plans change on the road, so the itinerary should too. A shared note or a pinned message in a chat with that one person works well; update it when you change towns, boats or trails.

What to include

• Rough route and the dates you expect to be in each place
• Where you're staying, with booking references if you have them
• Who you're travelling with, and how to reach them
• Stretches where you know you'll be out of signal, and for how long
• Your tour operator, guide or boat skipper, if you have one

Agree what happens if you go quiet

This is the bit people skip. Decide together: how long should they wait before worrying? Who do they try first? At what point do they call your insurer's emergency line or the embassy? Writing it down saves your contact from making those decisions in a panic.

Copies of what matters

Keep copies somewhere you and one trusted person can reach.

• Passport and visa
• Travel insurance policy and emergency number
• Medical information and prescriptions
• Bank and card emergency contacts
• Next of kin and embassy details

A secure cloud folder that you can open from any device is more useful than a photo on a phone you might lose. Keep a paper copy of the insurance emergency number somewhere separate from your wallet.

Account access while you're away

Long trips have a way of coinciding with a bill that bounces or a letter that needs answering. Think about what would happen at home if you were unreachable for a fortnight.

• Post and bills. Ask someone to open anything that looks official, or switch to paperless before you go.
• Banking. Tell your bank you're travelling if it asks, and keep a second card stored separately.
• Two-factor codes. If your codes go to a phone number you won't have abroad, add an authenticator app or backup codes before you leave.
• Where things are. If you were stuck abroad for a while, would anyone know where your will, insurance and pension details live? Our guide to telling family where important documents are covers how to share that without handing over passwords.

Set check-ins to match the trip

Patchy signal and a monthly check-in don't mix. Lengthen the interval, add more reminders, and extend the grace period so nothing opens by mistake while you're somewhere remote.

On Sealkept you check in by email, in the app, by replying OK to a reminder text or by pressing 1 on a reminder call. Texts and calls work without data, but reach depends on the country and carrier, and usual carrier rates may apply, so send yourself a test before you leave and still plan for getting online now and then. If you'll only see wifi every week or two, a monthly interval with a 21-day grace period gives you far more room than a weekly one.

Pause or keep running?

Pausing switches off reminders, alerts and releases; on Sealkept one tap holds everything for 30 days, and you can resume as soon as you're back. That's ideal for a two-week holiday. For six months of sailing or a solo trek through remote country, it's better to keep the switch running with settings that suit the trip, so it can still act if something genuinely goes wrong.

Add a verifier

A trusted verifier is someone who must confirm before anything is released. For a traveller, a good verifier is the same person holding your itinerary: they know where you are, and they can tell the difference between "out of signal" and "something's wrong". The dead man's switch guide explains how reminders, verifiers, the soft alert and the grace period work together.

Not sure which settings suit your trip? The check-in quiz asks five questions and suggests a plan.

And a few words, just in case

Most travellers never need it. But writing a short note before leaving often makes the trip feel lighter.

It doesn't need to be more than that. A thank-you, a reassurance, the name of someone who should know. If you want to write something longer, our guide to what to write in a goodbye letter has a structure you can follow.

Before you lock the door

Run through the checklist once more the day before. Charge everything, check that your contact at home has the latest itinerary, and send them a quick "leaving now" message when you go.

If you'd like messages for the people at home to stay sealed while you travel and reach them only if you don't come back, Sealkept is built for that, with settings made for travellers: generous reminders, optional verifiers and a grace period before anything is opened. For the full picture of how a switch works and how to choose an interval, read our guide to the dead man's switch. Then go and enjoy the trip.