Published May 15, 2023, 6:20 p.m. by Monica Louis
1. Check your passport and make sure it’s up to date. Depending on the country you’re visiting, you may need a visa. Get all of your paperwork in order well in advance of your trip.
2. Get travel insurance. This is a must for any international trip.
3. Notify your bank of your upcoming travel. This will help prevent your card from being declined when you use it abroad.
4. Learn about the country’s customs and culture. This will help you avoid any potential faux pas.
5. Pack light. You don’t want to be lugging around a heavy suitcase.
6. Wear comfortable shoes. You’ll be doing a lot of walking.
7. Bring a power adapter. Different countries have different electrical outlets.
8. Learn some key phrases in the local language. Even a few words can go a long way.
9. Be aware of your surroundings. This is especially important in unfamiliar environments.
10. Keep your valuables close to you. Don’t leave your passport or wallet lying around.
11. Be cautious of people who approach you. If someone seems suspicious, walk away.
12. Don’t accept rides from strangers. Stick to licensed taxis or other public transportation.
13. Don’t flash your cash. This can make you a target for thieves.
14. Be careful with your food and drink. Avoid tap water and ice cubes, and peel fruits and vegetables before eating them.
15. Don’t leave your belongings unguarded. This includes your hotel room and rental car.
16. Keep your travel documents handy. You’ll need them when going through customs.
17. Stay in touch with family and friends. Let them know your travel plans and check in with them regularly.
18. Use common sense. If something doesn’t feel right, trust your instincts and move on.
19. Don’t overdo it. Balance sightseeing with down time to avoid getting burnt out.
20. Be flexible. Things won’t always go according to plan, so be prepared to roll with the punches.
21. Slow down. There’s no need to Rush when you’re on vacation.
22. Do some research before you go. This will help you make the most of your trip.
23. Make copies of important documents. This includes your passport and insurance information.
24.Pack essential items in your carry-on bag. This way, you won’t be stranded if your luggage gets lost.
25.Be aware of your surroundings when using ATMs. This is a prime spot for pickpockets.
26.Keep your belongings close to you when in crowded areas. This will help prevent them from getting lost or stolen.
27.Carry small bills and coins with you. This will come in handy for tipping or making small purchases.
28.Be cautious of people who approach you offering help. They may be trying to scam you.
29.Don’t leave your drinks unattended. This can lead to them being spiked with drugs.
30.Trust your gut instinct. If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t.
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bev and i are full-time travelers that's
right no home just travel and when we
started traveling abroad last year we
started getting a lot of questions about
how we do things so we decided to add a
how-to series to our weekly vlog yes our
weekly vlog is where we take you around
and show you all the places we go and
all the fun we have and the trouble we
get ourselves into we get ourselves into
pickles sometimes yes we get ourselves
in a lot of trouble but today we're
going to share with you
30 things you need to do
before you travel abroad
we're john and bev and we are the
retirement travelers
number one is get an ipad or tablet i
was a little resistant at first because
i'd always used a laptop but it is
amazing you can download books you can
check maps it is so handy when you're
traveling on the road
number two is to create a digital
notebook
gone are the days where you carry a big
spiral notebook with you with all your
details you need to make all of your
details digital number three is do your
banking do your accounting do everything
online
sign up for everything digitally
no paper
number four is to create a file in your
cloud
of all of your important documents we
have a file that we use that we have put
everything in it from social security
cards to insurance cards our passport
pictures
every document that we can think of that
we might need to be able to prove who we
are in an emergency
number five is update your contacts if
you don't like the person get rid of
them actually you want to make sure that
you have all the right email addresses
birthdays anniversaries
everything because when you're on the
road you want to send postcards and
other things make sure you have the
right information
number six is to use a vpn in the united
states vpns aren't really that important
but when you're traveling abroad you
need to know that your information on
your computer or your ipad or your phone
is safe
we use expressvpn and we love it and it
does several things for us besides keep
our
information safe when we're browsing
online it also enables us to set our
location back at the united states so
that we can see
television shows or news programs
sometimes
websites don't allow you to reset a
password unless you're in the states
number seven is get whatsapp it's an
amazing tool for communication everybody
overseas uses it from tour operators to
airbnb hosts that is how they will
communicate with you they don't want to
make a long distance call to your
telephone number also it's great for
video chats and connecting back with
your friends and loved ones at home
number eight is make sure your passport
has an expiration date that ends six
months after you return home
a lot of countries will not allow you to
enter the country if your passport is
near expiration date the other thing you
need to know is that you need to make
sure that your passport has plenty of
pages you can get a passport that has 52
pages in it when you start your journey
or you can get one that has 28 i believe
but nevertheless make sure you have
several pages because some countries
will not allow you to enter unless you
have several pages available for them
number nine is get some extra passport
pictures taken and bring them with you
occasionally you may need them for visas
number 10 is make sure you have your
visas you need to do some research ahead
of time to know which countries require
an extra visa
most countries will allow you to get a
visa up on entry um there are websites
out there that will help you determine
which countries you need these for some
countries like china or vietnam might
require you to get a visa ahead of time
and those can take some time sometimes
they're a month sometimes more
they're also costly so be prepared for
those number eleven is make sure you
know how long you can stay in the
country you're visiting in the schengen
zone for example you can only stay 90
days out of a rolling 180. some
countries you can stay only 30 days it
really all depends so check each country
before you go
number 12 is get an international
driver's license
this is a very simple thing to do you
can go to a aaa
they charge i think 20 dollars to do it
you give them a passport picture or they
will take your picture but there has
been discussion online as to whether you
really even need one we have been asked
for it on this trip so be sure you get
it ahead of time
number 13 if you're a u.s citizen make
sure you enroll in the smart traveler
program through the state department
it's a great way to
let your government know where you're at
in a particular country at a particular
time in the unlikely event that a war or
natural disaster would happen
they know how to contact you and they
know you're there
number 14 is to get global entry you
have to apply ahead of time and you have
to allow the government plenty of time
to do a security screening on you but it
acts just like tsa pre-check you go
through the same lines at the airport in
the united states and when you return to
the united states it lets you skip the
line because you've already been
screened
to come back into the country it doesn't
help you get into other countries but it
does help you return back to the united
states
number 15 is check travel advisories
through the state department of each
country you're going to visit
sometimes the information is regionally
based in the country and that's how the
country gets its rating or something
that happened in the past
read the information and make a decision
on your own are you willing to take the
risk to travel to that country
number 16 is make sure you have an
accountant or another trusted person
that can help you handle issues that
arise from the irs
you when you're abroad it's very
difficult to deal with little issues
that come up you might get a notice from
the government saying you missed
something on your taxes but you need to
have someone help you even if you do
your taxes yourself
number 17 is get a good financial
advisor markets go up and down and it's
really important to have someone you
trust while you're traveling
number 18 is arrange for someone to take
care of your home when you're away now
you could do what we're doing and have
no home just travel i mean
you know somebody thought of that and
it's very nice to just be able to travel
abroad and not have a home to worry
about that if you are still keeping your
home while you're traveling you need to
have someone who can handle all the
issues that arise
number 19 is arrange for someone to
manage your mail now the first year we
were traveling we used a service to do
this but we made a big upgrade to second
year
my sister doesn't so if you have a
family member that can
check your mail take pictures of it and
send it to you while you're away it is
amazingly helpful let me just say right
now bev thank you so much we could not
do this without you
number 20 is make sure you know your pin
numbers for your debit and credit cards
you may only use your debit card to
withdraw cash from atms but sometimes it
might not work or there might be a hole
placed on it and you need to know your
credit card pins as well
number 21 is make sure your debit and
credit cards do not charge an
international transaction fee you do not
want to charge every time you use your
card overseas number 22 is get a list
from your doctor of all the medications
that you're taking and carrying with you
you can also get a printout from your
pharmacy
but on that note also make sure that
you're carrying enough prescriptions to
last your entire trip unless you're
doing what we're doing in purchasing
prescriptions abroad
number 23 is get a good travel credit
card we use the chase sapphire reserve
it's a little pricey but the benefits
outweigh the cost we get into travel
lounges we have travel insurance and we
earn lots of points for cheap travel
it's worth it
number 24 is make a list of all of your
vaccinations when john and i began our
trip we were going through all of our
things downsizing and we came across
various
shot records from our childhood so we
put them in a spreadsheet and created an
essentially a master list of all of our
vaccinations and this is very helpful it
also we've put in notes to tell us when
we need the next
series of vaccinations for a particular
country so just go ahead and get all of
that organized and get it ready to go
number 25 is make sure you have all of
your travel vaccinations for each
country that you're going to visit in
some cases it takes a little bit of time
to get all your vaccinations you might
need a series of two or three shots so
make sure you allow enough time to get
your vaccinations done before you visit
a country 26 is read up on every
destination you're going know what the
tipping customs are know the exchange
rate and other important cultural
information that you need some countries
require you to wear a long skirt to
enter a temple or to enter a cathedral
and you need to know these things before
you go
number 27 is try to minimize the number
of booking sites that you use we have
found if you use too many it gets a
little bit confusing trying to keep
track of what you booked when and where
number 28 is get a good travel insurance
this can help for with trip
interruptions or if you get sick and you
have to cancel it can also assist you if
something happens on your trip and
you've lost your luggage or other things
also your travel credit card can
sometimes help with these things so make
sure you know what your rights are on
all of these things and be prepared for
them number 29 is make sure you're
signed up for all the customer loyalty
programs whether you're flying taking a
ferry taking a train staying in hotels
make sure you're signed up you have a
number
and keep track of them
number 30 is know your phone plan before
you go
there are various plans out there and
some of them can be quite costly they
charge you by the day
or perhaps with google fi they give have
an unlimited plan but if you're gone
full time like we are you can't use it
full time and it's not designed for that
so what we're doing abroad this year in
europe is we're buying sim cards as we
go and um it's a little more complicated
and adds more complexity to our trip but
that's what we're doing
so we have finished all 30. and if you
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along on our retirement journey around
the world
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