Leaving in a week!

I can't believe how fast these past 6 weeks of summer have gone. I only have one week left before I embark on the journey of a lifetime! I haven't started packing yet, so it hasn't really hit me yet that I will be across the world in 9 days. My mom and I have been struggling with some medical/financial things that were kind of hard to figure out, so I wanted to write out some tips on here for future students traveling abroad to Australia.

1. Money/Bank Accounts: I opened a checking account at Bank of America because they are associated with a bank in Australia called WestPac, where I will be able to take money out of the ATM without a charge in Australia. I also got a CapitalOne credit card, because they do not have international fees in Australia either. I am of course also going to bring some Australian money with me in my carry on bag.

2. Medications: Make sure to check the legality/availability of your medications and the policies of your insurance company far before your departure date. We found that obtaining a 6 month insurance override for any kind of medication is pretty difficult and time consuming. We've had the most trouble trying to figure out what the deal is with Adderall and Adderall XR. They do not have it or prescribe it in Australia and you are only allowed to bring in a 3 month supply of it at a time with proper documentation ( a copy of the prescription and a letter from your doctor saying that it really is for you). After that, we found out that I will have to find a doctor over there and together with that doctor, obtain an import permit and an import license for both the Adderall and my birth control pills. I am hoping that this wont be too hard. Don't forget to bring all of your medicine and documentation in your carry on bag because you will have to declare it and will want to have it easily accessible for the customs officer.

That's all I can think of for now!