PASSPORTS
Regardless of whether you are just imagining a summer off somewhere, or a semester, you need to check your passport. First, if you don’t have one already, keep in mind that it can take months to get one once you’ve applied. I am of course speaking as a US citizen, but I am familiar with a few other nationalities who find the process even more onerous and time-consuming. If you already have one, how long until it expires? Consider the following scenario:
Your passport is good for one year, and your trip will only be eight months, at the most. Sounds OK? Maybe not. The last country you visit, seven months in, gives visas on arrival, BUT, requires six months remaining validity on your passport. In fact, this six month validity rule is quite common.
Another consideration is available pages. If you get really busy and fill up with entry and visa stamps, you run across the problem of space to put more. Some countries still make a fuss if you don’t have many blank pages left. In the past I have dealt with this problem in two ways: 1) request a double-sized passport to begin with, or 2) get a foldout extra page series glued in to the back at an embassy/consulate somewhere during the journey.
So, in summary, making sure the passport is in good shape is something that should not be left for the last few months. Ideally it should happen long before that. Yes, as an emergency it can probably be done at your embassy somewhere on the road, but why do that to yourself? I have never enjoyed standing outside my embassy, waiting for it to open, pressed into a mob of people desperately clamoring for visas and generally feeling like I would rather be anywhere else.
VISAS
Obviously that leads to a discussion on visas. This is where your nationality matters a great deal. European Union (EU) passport holders get a good deal in most parts, and Japanese, South Korean, German, and a few other nations encounter easy (visa-less) entry in a large number of countries. US passport holders do OK overall, though there are some reciprocity penalties and overt political propaganda that one must deal with. Some countries (i.e. Russia) require an invitation letter from a tourist agency, and booked accommodation. This is the kiss of death if your idea was to just fly in and wander around for a few weeks. Iran requires something similar, but only for nationalities deemed to be antagonistic toward them politically. Bolivia used to charge US citizens a ridiculous $160 for a visa, along with all sorts of nonsense like ‘proof of financial solvency’, but this was done away with in 2020. As I understand it, the high fee was the suggestion of the now-deceased Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, to then Bolivian President Evo Morales.
If you have a good idea of where you are going, it is critical to research every single country’s visa requirements. Any visa it makes sense to get ahead of the trip should be dealt with (another good reason to not delay getting/renewing your passport early). If the trip is going to be long, this means that it will be necessary to secure visas along the way, hence its good to know what countries early in the trip have fully functioning embassies of the later destination countries in question. As annoying as this has been in the past, modern technology has helped considerably, as an increasing number of countries will issue visas via an online application. Saudi Arabia, of all places, one of the most difficult countries to travel to independently before 2019, now has a slick online visa application site.