How do you prepare for a trip?

So if you haven’t noticed this yet, I’m a planner. It’s both a curse and an advantage. I like to prepare as much as possible, researching and reading reviews on where I should stay, what to do when I’m there, and most important of all – where to eat and drink! 

While I love wandering around a city or town, getting lost in side streets – I also want to make sure that I don’t accidentally do that on the ONLY day the museum I desperately want to go to is open. The same holds true with something as simple as shopping –  if the only time you give yourself between tours or reservations is 1pm in the afternoon, you may be out of luck if all the shops close for lunch or a siesta. When you travel, you quickly learn that there is no such thing as standard when it comes to opening hours. So even if you don’t want to plan everything, I would suggest you at least list out what you definitely want to do when you are visiting somewhere and plan those things. Everything else can be more fluid. I know, I know… that’s kinda like planning to not plan. But it works!

Because I travel so much, it’s easy to forget that not everyone knows what I now just inherently understand (mostly due to actual experience!). So in order to not make assumptions when I travel with other people, I created a list of key travel tips and things to consider when planning a trip. I hope these help some of you out there too (NOTE: this is definitely written with US Citizens in mind but may relate to other nationalities too)!

• Double-check that your passport does not expire until at least 6 months after your return date (6 Month Validity Rule does not hold true for ALL countries, but it is better to be safe than sorry because regulations change all of the time) – Lesson learned when 2 different friends have missed their flights/had to cancel their trips due to this.
• Scan a copy/take a photo of your passport and email it to yourself/store it in the cloud just in case it gets stolen and you need to get a replacement (a copy will help expedite the process, but don’t forget that you also often need to report it missing to the police and bring a copy of that police report with you to the Embassy) – Lesson learned when friends had theirs stolen during 2 different trips to Paris!
• Buy Trip Insurance if there is a risk of you needing to cancel your flight/the trip location is risky/weather may play a factor (i.e. blizzards, hurricanes, etc.) OR make sure you buy everything using a credit card that has trip insurance built in.
• Contact your Credit and Debit Card companies ahead of time to alert them of your international travel dates and confirm the cards will work overseas (don’t even ask how many times my cards have still been frozen even AFTER doing this!) Does it have a chip? Does it have a pin? Do you know the pin? Is the pin automatically programmed to something simple like the last 4 digits? Notifying your card company will minimize the risk of them suspending your card, but does not eliminate the possibility, so I now always have a back-up card (that is NOT Discover – lesson learned during Spring Break 2005!) as well.
  •  Also, if you pre-pay/reserve for anything using a specific credit card, make sure you either a) just bring it with you in case or b) confirm that you don’t need to show it/use the same one when checking in/picking up whatever you paid for (i.e. train tickets). – Lesson Learned when picking up Eurostar tickets in London where the card used to buy the tickets was needed for pick up!
  • Note: American Express and Discover are not widely accepted internationally, while Visa and Mastercard are accepted in most places that accept credit cards. – See lesson learned above about Discover! 🙂
• Check with your bank to find out what fees are associated with using your cards overseas. There is often a Foreign Transaction Fee of 2-3% on Credit/Debit Cards plus an additional ATM fee that is often higher than whatever you pay normally ($5-15 per withdrawal). Some companies are starting to offer credit cards with no foreign transaction fees as a benefit, so it might be worth it to pay attention to that if you are in the market for a new Credit Card.
• If you absolutely need money immediately upon landing, or need a large chunk of cash to pay for an apartment, you should exchange US Dollars for local currency ahead of time so you have the cash on hand (Note: you can always try to withdraw a large amount at an ATM, but there is always a risk that your card won’t work and most banks have daily withdrawal limits). – Lesson learned on several vacations where mine or friends’ debit cards didn’t work either at all, at the beginning of the trip when they were particularly needed, or worked only with certain ATMs!
• Otherwise, withdraw from an ATM when you arrive for the best exchange rate. 
  • Make sure your ATM card will work overseas 
  • Check to see if it has a chip because those will be the cards that work the best (think ticket machines, unmanned gas stations, etc.)
  • Find out from your bank what fees are associated with using your Debit card internationally: they may charge you more than a normal foreign ATM fee (i.e. $10 vs $3 every time you withdraw.) and there is often an international exchange rate fee of 2-3% 
• Check to see what the local voltage is and what type of outlet plugs they have: Make sure to bring a plug adapter AND a voltage converter if bringing something that needs to be converted to a different voltage (most cameras/phones/laptops have built in converters or are multi-voltage so they automatically change the electricity current from 110v to 240v, but you should double check.) Note: I’ve given up on trying to travel with hair dryers or hair straighteners that don’t have dual voltage/aren’t the correct voltage because I’ve almost set too many hotel rooms on fire due to them shorting out even with the correct voltage converter!
• If you want to use a cell phone while traveling (doesn’t everyone at this point??):
  • Contact you phone company to see what International plans they have (T-Mobile has free international data and texts on some of their plans!) and what the options are for phone calls, text and/or data access  (i.e. AT&T had a 120 MB option for $30 that I have used in the past when I want to have international data for maps and email, etc.). They can also give you tips on what you should shut off to avoid charges. – Lesson Learned when I forgot to shut off my roaming once!
  • If you have an UNLOCKED phone (usually happens when you have either paid for your phone in full up front or if you request it once you have paid it off with a carrier) that is on the GSM network (AT&T and T-Mobile, possibly some others now) vs. the CDMA network, you can try to buy a pre-paid SIM card when you arrive in the country and replace your current SIM card. NOTE: this means your phone number will change to a local number and you won’t receive texts or calls from your other SIM card unless you switch them back and forth. Every country is different in this regard and it can be more difficult/expensive than expected to find a SIM card, determine how to register it, how much calls/texts/data it has, and get it to work – especially if everything is in a different language. This is particularly useful if you are staying in one place for a while and will have local contacts though or if your carrier just doesn’t work overseas. — Lesson Learned when this worked in France, but didn’t work/was too expensive for my Aunt in Italy. 
  • You can always just try to find wifi in hotels, restaurants, tourist locations… but this doesn’t help when you are lost or separated from your group with no way to get wifi (yes, this has happened with group trips numerous times.)
• Download maps onto your phone or a tablet ahead of time that you can use offline. TIP: if your phone has GPS, it should work regardless of if you have service, so while you can’t get step-by-step directions, you can see where your “little blue dot” is as you look at the map. 
• Once your plane ticket is booked, you should double check with your airline what your carry-on and checked luggage restrictions and weight limits are for your specific plane ticket (although pay attention to this when choosing your flight too, because extra fees might make another flight or airline a better choice that it seems at first glance). Airlines are getting more and more particular about what is included in your ticket price, with some now even making you pay for a carry-on! TIP: I always leave extra room and weight for gifts/things I buy and bring a travel suitcase scale to weigh my bag on the other end to avoid overweight bag fees. I also pack a lightweight duffel bag to use as a carryon in case I need to check my suitcase on the way back *cough* because it is full of wine *cough*. – Lesson learned WAY too many times to count