As excited as you are at the prospect of having a granny flat construction or spending a week or two away from the office, in a well-equipped and cosy bed and breakfast in Oamaru, New Zealand, to take in all the breathtaking views the locality has to offer, this doesn’t take away the fact that international travel can be stressful. Only when you don’t sufficiently prepare for the excursion, that is.
Indeed, if you only wish to have tons of fun during your trip to New Zealand, Australia, UK, or anywhere in Europe, take a mental note of the following tips to make the preparation phase of your trip a cinch:
Monetary Concerns
- Call the bank or your credit card provider. The last thing you’d want to happen when you step foot on foreign soil is to discover that your credit card has been disabled. To keep that from spoiling the royal Caribbean cruises you’ve booked through Phil Hoffman Travel, for instance, make sure to inform your card provider about your trip. Often, they’d turn off cards that record transactions done overseas, say Greece, when they know you’re currently residing in Australia.
- Get a good idea of the local monetary conversion. When you’re travelling on a shoe-string budget, one thing that can such the fun out of your trip is to realise that the local conversion leaves you with little to spend for your holiday. Not only will this leave you with little to do during your trip, it can keep you from relaxing in quality accommodation facilities like the one provided by Channers on Norfolk Australia. That would certainly be a bummer!
- Always have local cash handy. If you’re going to hop from one country to another, it may be wise to keep some local currency ready because certain establishments don’t accept credit cards at all. An example of such businesses is buses and trains.
Setting Expectations
- Dig into guidebooks and other sources of travel information. To know what’s in store for you during your holiday, do your homework prior to your plane taking off. Research about local attractions and activities as well as get in touch with service providers who may cover some of the conveniences necessary during your trip. If you have plans to conquer the many peaks and pistes found across Europe, then make sure to take advantage of ski equipment hire from Alpine Infusion. In addition, invest in a guidebook, especially one that comes with maps and introduces you to some local expressions. Surely, learning to say “can you tell me the right direction?” in French wouldn’t hurt.
- Get to know the dates of the biggest events/celebrations in the locality. If you don’t want to get caught in long lines at the airport or battle through a crowd as you check in for a week at our Oamaru Backpackers room, you have to know when is the peak season in the country/city. Not only will the place be a little too crowded during such months, airline companies and hotels tend to ask higher prices during such times.
Safety Matters
- Get the go signal from your physician. Before you book a ski holiday through travel operators such as Ski Miquel, it may be best to ask your doctor if you’re truly fit for an adventure on the slopes. After all, skiing is one of those extreme sports that require you to be fit in order to perform optimally. In the same manner, you need to approach a medical practitioner if you plan to go on a cycling holiday overseas (perhaps with the help of a company like Hooked on Cycling Holidays so you can have all the necessary vaccinations. Doing so will ensure that you get to enjoy the countryside locales in Europe without having to worry about acquiring some unfamiliar disease.
- Register with your country’s embassy. Whether there is a national conflict happening in a country or not, notifying your embassy prior to pursuing your itinerary can make it easier for the government to contact and get you to safety in cases of emergency.
These are just some of the areas you need to look into when you prepare to go on riveting battlefields Gallipoli 2015, one of Australia’s leading war historians, or when you got plans to go on a journey across Europe to satisfy your wanderlust. If you want to know what else you need to prepare for such a trip, maybe this packing checklist for international travels will come in handy.
