Traveling to another country guarantees a lot of new impressions. But only if you prepare for it and do everything needed to avoid troubles.
You were scrolling through Booking or AirBnB for a couple of days or even weeks. You couldn’t sleep at night, planning how your trip will go, what you will see, which places you will visit and what people you will meet.
Even thus we often face reality, when time and place decide everything, we can still give you some tips to make sure you have the simplest things ready.
How to plan a trip
Use only popular Internet services and travel guides to book a place to stay. Search for a hotel with a rating of at least 4.5 points. Read all the reviews, not just the bad ones.
If you travel as a transit passenger through popular airports, avoid booking tickets with the short layover. If there is only one hour between your flight, you might not find your luggage once you arrive at the airport of destination. Airlines might not have enough time to get your luggage on to the next plane. Recommended time is at least two hours between the flights.
Documents and visa
Make sure you check everything about getting the visa at the Airport, check the list of necessary documents. Read the tips from other travelers. Buy a good insurance policy and check all medical services included, specify the coverage of local hospitals.
Carefully check all your initials, document numbers, dates and time in vouchers, tickets, insurance. Check if your passport is relevant, your passport has to be valid for at least 6 more months before your flight. Always keep your passport with you.
As I always say: it’s better to forget a toothbrush or couple of socks, then to forget your passport.
Make copies of documents and give to people with whom you are traveling. Take a photo of the documents and save it to the cloud storage, or your email address.
If you are traveling with a child, one of the parents often requires the official permission of the second parent or a certificate of his absence, make sure you have it ready before your flight.
Write down all significant phone numbers, addresses of banks, embassies, consulates, insurance companies. Have some cash with you in local currency. Credit cards might not be accepted everywhere. Tell the bank that your card will be used in a particular country because it can be automatically blocked with the suspicion of theft. You don’t want to end up with the blocked card in the middle of the street!
How to get ready for the road
Think about all the important things you cannot afford losing, so in case if you suddenly lose your suitcases, it’s better to put them with your hand luggage. Check in advance the list of restricted items (sharp objects, chemicals, and liquids, batteries). Use vacuum bags to save space in the suitcase. Use the suitcases packing service at the airport, but do not forget about the big bright sticker to identify your bag and save time looking for your luggage.
Don’t be shy to write down a checklist of important things! Do not rely on your phone, laptop or tablet.
Good old pen and paper will never let you down.
Good luck!
