- Check your passport expiration date; most countries won’t let you travel if you have less than six months validity on your passport. Yes; we have had friends turned around at the airport for this.
- Make sure someone back home knows about your travel plans including your flight and accommodation details.
- Have a packing list for your trips and double check that list when you are packing so you don’t forget anything.
- Pack Light; learnt that from my husband who literally checks everything that goes in the suitcase. But it’s definitely easier carrying a small suitcase when you are on the go.
- Use a foreign exchange free credit card and when the machine gives you the option of paying in local currency or your home currency, always chose the local currency.
- Always have a photo of your passport on your phone.
- Always carry a change on clothes in your carry-on; just in case of flight cancellations or if your luggage is lost.
- Do your research before you travel; there is enough information on the internet or your local library will have guidebooks.
- Things will not always work out the way you have planned, be ready for the unexpected; its part of the experience and will make a great story one day.
- Download Google Translate app on your phone and use the camera feature to translate signs, menus or anything else you want to read. It has definitely been very helpful.
- Eat the street food; as long as the food is hot it will not harm you.
- Not all places it is safe to drink water from the tap; check before you drink that water. If the water is not safe for drinking it is not safe for brushing your teeth as well.
- Practice the art of bargaining; it will definitely come handy while shopping in many countries.
- Buy souvenirs from every country you visit; it makes a great collection. I collect a magnet from every place that I have visited.
