- Make a checklist of what you want to take with you about a week before your vacation to avoid packing in a panic.
- Keeping a list in your hand luggage, will prove handy, should anything go missing and an insurance claim ensue.
- At least one set of clothes in your hand luggage in case of baggage delay or loss,
- Your sun glasses, scarf, hat/cap, cardigan, camera in your hand luggage if your tour starts on arrival itself,
- Comfortable shoes and shocks as you walk a lot when you travel . Don’t beat up your feet and nothing beats a fresh pair of socks! Love them as much as they love you, and they’ll take you to amazing places,
- a Jacket in your hand luggage or baggage as nights get chilly at some places,
- Appropriate swimwear/ beachwear for swimming activities. You will not be allowed to enter the pool (at hotels and on cruise) without suitable clothing. Another option is to pack this quick-dry underwearso you can easily wash them on the road,
- Pack a towel as you never know when you will need it, whether it’s at the beach, on a picnic, or just to dry off. While many hotels, apartments offer towels, you never know and carrying a small towel won’t add that much weight to your bag.
- Sarongs as it can be used as a wrap when you are cold, a towel, a curtain, or a piece of clothing that can be worn dozens of different ways.
- Solid Toiletries are the Best instead of liquid equivalents,
- A small combination locks with you especially when you stay in dorms and need to lock your stuff up. Don’t use one with keys because, if you lose the keys, you’re screwed!
- small first aid kit with aspirin, Benedryl, cold meds, Tums, cough drops, bandages, Neosporin, and other things that you never know when you’re going to need it and you can’t always get it when you travel.
Batteries die. Your good mood shouldn’t and couldn’t miss out any perfect shot.
This will really help you narrow down what are essentials and what you don’t need. Humans have a natural tendency to want to fill space so if you pack light but have lots of extra room in your bag, you’ll end up going “well, I guess I can take more” and then regret it
Arrive early for everything and you’ll get to experience major attractions at their least busiest. Plus, sunrises are pretty.
It will let you see at night, you avoid stepping on stuff, and help you tell ghost stories. Who’s afraid of the dark?
Snorers are everywhere and you need your sleep.
Planning all of your outfits before your trip will save you a lot of stress during your travels. Plan what you’re going to wear morning, day and night. Plan the outfit you’ll wear to that special dinner or Sunday brunch. Plan what you’ll wear to visit museums and art galleries. If you do plan your outfits beforehand save the details on your phone.
Remember to pack for the unpredictable; rain, snow or extreme heat. Make sure to check the weather a couple of days before you leave to see if anything has dramatically changed and adjust as needed.
Visit your doctor and dentist for a checkup before you leave for the travel because falling prey to an illness in a foreign country is not fun — and many countries require you to get vaccinated in order to visit them so, regardless of your opinion on the subject, you just might have to.
Please carry your medication & all medical details along with a prescription with you, making sure they include:
- Your Health Insurer’s contact details and your policy number
- Name and address of contacts in the event of an emergency
- Your blood type, general medical history, list of any medications you are taking, known allergies, glasses/ contact lens prescription, etc.
The locals will appreciate it and it will make your interactions easier. You don’t need to master the language but learning a few things like “Hello,” “Goodbye,” “Thank you!”, “Where’s the bathroom?” will go a long way to endearing yourself with the locals. They’ll like that you tried.
Hotel staffs deal with budget travelers all day, every day. They know exactly where to go for meals and attractions. They also tend to be locals so they know the city very well. Ask them for all sorts of information. Even if you aren’t staying in one, just pop in and ask for help. They’ll usually give it.
With travel insurance through travel guard you’ll have valuable coverage that travel with you and your family.
Disasters happen. It’s always good to have a backup in case you get robbed or lose a card. You don’t want to be stuck somewhere new without access to your funds.
Don’t give banks your hard-earned money. Keep that for yourself and spend it on your travels. Get a credit card and debit card that doesn’t charge a foreign transaction fee or an ATM fee. Over the course of a long trip, the few dollars they take every time will really add up!
Don’t forget to e-mail a copy to yourself and to a family member. You never know when you might need to have some sort of documentation like passport, visa etc with you and might not want to carry your original. Additionally, if your passport gets stolen having a copy will come in handy for your police report.
You should wear a sunscreen to overcome sunburn risks during beach vacations and even ski getaways, taking protective skincare measures at 30,000 feet is not something typically discussed. Yet you could have a greater risk for sun damage while flying than when you’re on the ground because Airplane windows are typically made of polycarbonate plastic or layered composite glass,
Please carry your medication & all medical details along with a prescription with you, making sure they include:
- Your Health Insurer’s contact details and your policy number
- Name and address of contacts in the event of an emergency
- Your blood type, general medical history, list of any medications you are taking, known allergies, glasses/ contact lens prescription, etc.
You’re probably not drinking enough, especially if you’re traveling through hot, humid countries. it’s fun to get drunk at 30,000 feet, but it’s also much easier to get dehydrated. Staying hydrated — especially on long-haul flights —makes it easier to get over jet lag too. If you can drink the tap water — you’ll save money and help the environment by bringing a Steripen along, rather than buying dozens of plastic bottles of water — a Steripen kills more than 99.9% of harmful microorganisms, including giardia, bacteria, viruses, and protozoa, making tap water safe to drink
Visa is conditional authorization granted by a country to foreigner, allowing them to enter or remain within or leave that country. So get the information related to the visa such as Applicability, eligibility, fee , conditions etc before planning for the trip.
Before you leave register with the Embassy of each country that you will be visiting. It helps the Embassy to better assist you in case of an emergency, such as a lost or stolen passport, in the case of a natural disaster.
Flights are always the first thing you should book when planning a trip- sometimes do this nearly a year in advance. For the most part, the earlier you book, the better price you will get. Airfare rarely goes down in price unless there is a sale.
Remember to pack for the unpredictable; rain, snow or extreme heat. Make sure to check the weather a couple of days before you leave to see if anything has dramatically changed and adjust as needed.
When booking flights, sometimes it is cheaper to fly into airports close to your final destination, and then take a train or bus to where you need to go. Be sure to shop around for your flight and know that direct isn’t always the cheapest route.
Please carry your medication & all medical details along with a prescription with you, making sure they include:
- Your Health Insurer’s contact details and your policy number
- Name and address of contacts in the event of an emergency
- Your blood type, general medical history, list of any medications you are taking, known allergies, glasses/ contact lens prescription, etc.
If you’re planning to do any activities or excursions on your trip, allow you to reserve your spot and skip the line. This will you to avoid wasting time in multi-hour lines and go right in, get to see more during your day.
It’s a good idea to ask about the price before you hop on a bus, guagua, or other form of public transportation.
What happens if you arrive in a city, go to grab your email confirmation for your accommodation, and your phone and laptop are out of battery? So, you always make sure that have a hard copy of accommodation name and their address, as well as directions if you won’t be taking a taxi. Once you arrive, you’ll grab one of the hotel’s business cards, so you’ll always know where you’re staying, and can show it to locals to ask for help with finding your way back.
Put your Room Number in You r Phone or write down on Hotel’s Business card.
Remember to pack for the unpredictable; rain, snow or extreme heat. Make sure to check the weather a couple of days before you leave to see if anything has dramatically changed and adjust as needed.
You should always try to avoid logging into bank accounts or entering any passwords while using free public WIFI at a place like an airport. But if hotels have password for their Wi-Fi you can use it.
You’ll be connecting to a whole range of unsecured Wi-Fi networks on your trip, so you need to a use a VPN to protect yourself from hackers, malware, and all that good stuff. It’ll also allow you to change your location so you can watch your favourite TV shows online.
This is a great habit to get into if you don’t want your credit card company or bank to put a hold on your card while you are overseas.
Don’t judge other customs. You are a visitor. Be respectful, Locals are willing to help you out, but there’s probably a language barrier, so keep your cool when something doesn’t go your way. Research more, and listen to other peoples’ point of view. And don’t let your bad experiences taint an entire country — if you had a crap time somewhere, it doesn’t mean that the country sucks or it’s not safe. Maybe it was just bad luck.
Mosques and Temples are not always open to foreigners or women. Dress codes for religious places can include covering your head, being barefoot, not wearing leather articles etc.
Don’t judge other travellers, either. Don’t judge people for visiting the most touristy cities in the world, don’t judge them for travelling with a backpack or a suitcase, don’t judge them for being a budget or luxury traveller, don’t judge them for carrying a selfie stick, just accept that everyone’s different, travels for different reasons, and likes different things.
If you skip the local food, you miss out on culture. Don’t be scared. If you’re nervous, look for places where kids are eating. If it’s safe for them, it’s safe for you. Try everything, even if you have no idea what it is
Remember to pack for the unpredictable; rain, snow or extreme heat. Make sure to check the weather a couple of days before you leave to see if anything has dramatically changed and adjust as needed.
Things will work out in the end. No need to rush. You’ll get to where you are going in due time. Travel is about the journey, not the destination.
You’ll learn a lot about yourself and how to become independent. It’s a cliché, but it’s true. Traveling solo teach you how to fend for yourself, talk to people, and handle unfamiliar situations with ease. It can take some getting used to if you’ve never done it before but do it at least once. Make yourself uncomfortable and surprise yourself. You’ll learn valuable life skills when you push yourself!
This is extremely important from a safety perspective; it’s good to have several people back home who know where you’ll be. If ever you disappear for a few days, your family will know immediately and will be able to know where you are staying at that time. It takes just a few minutes but really improves your safety.
Don’t keep all of your cash and cards in one spot because emergencies happen.
Because emergencies happen like you couldn’t find an ATM and needed money for the bus to the hotel or vice versa, pay
Money belts are dumb and uncomfortable to wear under your clothes, every time you need to pay for something, it looks like you’re rummaging around in your underwear, and thieves are well aware of their existence. So Just do whatever you normally do with money at home: put it in your pocket or your purse/wallet.
Better to look unsure than end up in bad neighborhood or wasting a lot of time and energy getting lost at an inconvenient time. If you don’t have data, can download entire country maps through HERE Maps and get walking directions for anywhere you need to go.
- When you exchange foreign currency at the airports, travel kiosks, and so on,
- As a part of convenience fees at the banks,
- Transaction fees at the ATMs abroad,
- Exchanging from unauthorized dealers,
- Interest rates for swiping credit cards abroad.
If you are going to visit a lot of museums and other attractions in a short period of time, a city pass is going to save you money on admission (plus most provide free public transportation too!).
The main tourist attractions are popular for a reason. While unpopular or unexplored places can be fun and impressiveas the popular sights. Don’t be a travel snob, hit up the popular stops as well as the lesser-visited stuff. Going to random places normally just shows you that they aren’t well known for a reason.
You have already experienced with them. Sometimes familiarity gives comforting and that places have free Wi-Fi and public restrooms you can use.
You’ll be more approachable, you’ll find it easier to make travel friends, and the locals will warm to you. Being rude and looking grumpy will bring nothing good your way.
Photography is not always permissible and at many places is permitted only at a fee. There is usually a higher fee for video cameras. Lots of photos taken by you, Years from now, you’ll want to look back on those nights you can’t remember and the people who made them memorable.
Business travelers know the instructions and move fast since they are usually in a rush and travel light. Line up behind them as much as possible. You’ll speed through the line.
Families always take time. It’s not their fault. They just have a lot of stuff because of the kids. Try to avoid getting in lines with lots of kids.
You’ll have fewer crowds getting in your way as big tour buses, groups, and most travelers head to lunch. It’s always best to visit an attraction super early, late, or when people eat. You’ll have even the most popular places to yourself!
They have a lot of flexibility when it comes to assigning upgrades at check-in. It never hurts to ask. Often times they can accommodate you if the hotel isn’t full.
Shoulder season is the period in between a destination’s low and high seasons of tourism, everything is more affordable and crowds smaller at popular attractions.
This is the best way to build your travel confidence. It gives you deeper understanding and knowledge of the places you want to go, get to discover cool places that aren’t listed online.You can’t understand places’ present if you don’t know anything about its past. You can read following for it: Wikitravel articles, post by Travel bloggers who have been there, local news sources, guide books, non-fiction book, novels set in that country, Magazines
They can point you to free activities, special events happening during your stay. They even offer discounts on attractions and transportation. It is their job to help you experience the destination better
Don’t follow the other travelers, just because you feel like you should. What interests you? What do you want to visit and learn about? This makes your trip excited and fun.