How To… #1: Prepare for a Trip

Greetings!

So today I’ll be going over how I prepare for a trip and what you’ll need before and during your travels. (This is a post assuming you’ve already budgeted your trip. I will write a post later on about budgeting for trips.)

I’ll be going to Florida for a week, so even though it’s a short trip, I think it’s a good time for an example of how to plan your trip.

First thing’s first, before I go anywhere, I always make a list of what I need, so that if I’m missing anything, I can get it well in advance.
The four big things I make sure to have before I go anywhere are as follows:

• Passport
• Working Sim Card/Calling
• Credit Card
• Cash (30-40$ local currency (Watch the exchange rate when you do this. Some countries (Denmark, for example) are more expensive to go to. You may want to take a little bit more cash out before you get there.))

If you don’t have these things before going to a foreign country, you’re scuppered. You can always figure stuff out if you have these things.

Now, once I have these things, I always start with figuring out where I’d like to stay. Then I choose my plane ticket. I usually try to find the cheapest ticket possible (flying economy is always a good bet) and I look at different airlines to check their prices. Apps/websites like Hopper, Expedia, and Kayak are pretty good, but there are others out there.

After I get a ticket, I make sure that I have a booking for where I’m staying (Hostel, hotel, with friends, et cetera). For this week I’ll be staying with my grandma, so my life is made easier. My advice for picking places to stay is to make sure it’s within your budget, but that it also looks like a safe and fun place to stay. You don’t want to stay at a crack house just to try and save money. I would always suggest a hostel (which you can see my full advice on the subject of hostels in my previous series of posts ‘Hostels and Youth Travel pt 1-4’.

I always like to try and come up with some sort of ‘plan’ or ideas of what I’d like to do while I’m away. Because this is just a quick vacay with my grandmother, I’ll be operating at her schedule. I’d still like to go swim in the ocean and stuff, but most of my ‘doing’ will be helping her out and keeping her company.

When you’re going somewhere though, look at what kinda stuff there is nearby. It’s amazing what is only a bus ride or train ride away. Try and see what kind of historical locations there are, or museums, or bakeries, or if there’s an ‘Old Town’.

Here’s a tip : If you’re into history, art, and architecture, always see if there’s an ‘Old Town’. Especially in European countries. It’s really cool.

At any rate, depending on where you stay, they might offer tours or day trips to significant locations as well. It’s always worth checking out.

Once you’ve got that figured out… packing.
I’ll have a separate post about packing for a trip.

But after your tickets are booked, hostels and things are organised, and you’re all packed, you just have to get on a plane and go.

Once you arrive you’ll have to make sure you :
a ) find your luggage
b) not get lost in the airport (my sister did this in London. It was hilarious)
c) have a mode of transportation to where you’ll be staying. (there are always busses and taxi’s at the airport if you don’t have someone to pick you up. I would recommend the bus, as they are cheap and you can pick out an easy route with Google Maps.)

Once you arrive at your destination, it’s pretty much up to you to do what you what to do. Depending on the flight and time zone differences, I usually take a few hours to just relax, have a shower, grab some food. It’s always nice to feel refreshed after a plane ride.

And that’s pretty much it. I’ll go into more details in later posts about budgeting and packing for trips, but all in all, it’s a pretty simple process.

Just a few more tips:
a) Always have the number of the embassy of your home country in the country you’re going to just in case things really go sideways.
b) Have the ‘international’ phone number for your bank just in case something goes wrong with your card.
c) Keep your parents/guardians updated on your whereabouts. It doesn’t have to be your exact location at all times, but they worry. (A lot. Do yourself a favour. Save the brain aneurysm.)

Aight,

Peace! : )