Are you dreaming of a fantastic trip through Europe or are fortunate enough to have already begun planning it? After recently traveling to Paris, Munich, Salzburg, Rome, Barcelona and Manchester, my husband and I put together a list of tips and tricks to successful and enjoyable travels!
Deciding where/when to travel
1. Keep in mind the time of year that you want to travel. There are cheaper flights during the off season for a reason – sometimes it’s because the weather gets really rainy or cold, and that just isn’t an enjoyable experience for anyone. There is usually a good time to go anywhere that isn’t the busy season, just do your research.
2. When deciding what all to see within each city you don’t have to have it all figured out, but just keep in mind if you are going somewhere with LOTS of sights to see make sure you feel like you will have plenty of time to see what you want to see. It could be disappointing to miss out on something when you never know if you will have the opportunity to go back.
3. This kind of trip is not a relaxing lay by the beach, read a book kind of vacation – it’s an adventure and will be go go go, so keep that in mind and be prepared to WALK and soak up all the culture, sights and delicious food you can.
4. Setup a TripIt account (www.tripit.com). It’s a really cool way to keep track of your hotels, flights, travel details, etc. and it’s very easy. You can manually add in whatever information you want, but all you have to do is forward your confirmation emails you get for your travel and hotels to a specific email, and it automatically uploads all relevant information to an itinerary for your trip.
Items to Purchase/Packing
Start purchasing things you think you will need for your trip about a month in advance. We did a lot of our shopping on Amazon ahead of time and tried to think through all the little (and big) things we would need.
Biggest advice I can give – PACK LIGHT!!! If you are moving around a lot, lugging around a whole bunch of unnecessary things is not going to be fun, and also won’t leave room for you to bring stuff back with you if you do any shopping (which you inevitably will).
Suggested 2 Week Packing List (women – clothes): 6 pairs of socks, 6 pairs of underwear, 1 extra bra, 4-5 outfits (I brought 2 pairs of jeans and 2 pairs of leggings, and then 5 sweaters with 2 undershirts), warm gear such as scarves, ear warmers and mittens, travel size soaps and makeup in plastic ziplock (ready to go following airport security guidelines, which are the strictest in the US and the UK, but not near as much in other countries). Pack durable items that won’t easily stretch out or look worn right away. My husband brought a pair of khakis and definitely regretted it because they wrinkled very easily.
Once you are there, the only things you will really want to mess with washing will be your socks and underwear. I did both sink washing, having found a small bottle of detergent in the travel section in Germany, and we also found a great laundromat in Italy near our hotel that washed and dried our laundry in an hour which was a fabulous way to go (just ask the hotel staff where you can find one nearby and how it works because each country may be different).
1. We bought the following backpacks that were really great for us because it seems to be a hassle if you just have rolling luggage, but there are also bags that are both backpacks and rolling luggage, which I think is also a great option.
This was the bag my husband carried, and had most of our stuff in it: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0038134Y2/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This was the one I carried. We decided to have only one bag that we would check, and this one we always carried on the plane and it contained an extra set of clothing and essential items in case they lost the other bag for whatever reason, and we didn’t want to be held up by anything like that: http://www.rei.com/product/837012/osprey-porter-46-travel-pack
2. As much as I would like to say I could just throw my hair up and go, I knew I still wanted to look cute in my pictures with the knowledge that we would be looking back on these photos for a long time. I purchased a travel hair dryer and a tiny straightener to get me through the trip. I actually only ended up using the hair dryer at one hotel (most had a hair dryer) but the straightener came in handy for just quick fixes. If you have curly hair or can’t get it generally straight from blow drying, it’s not going to be a great option, but it does work well for bangs and I would just use it on the front sections of my hair and the ends.
Hair dryer: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009XH6V4/ref=oh_details_o07_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Straightener: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00260HH1C/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
3. Buy a converter/adapter if you are using any North American electronics. You can switch the back of it to convert the European electricity (220v) to the US voltage (120v). I did find that our Apple products (iPhone, iPad, etc.) didn’t need the converter (and didn’t actually work when you had it turned to converter) because it has an internal converter in the plug, so you just need to use the adapter function. The one we had was from Best Buy and it worked just fine, I don’t understand why it has such bad reviews because it really worked just like I hoped. Make sure if you are in the UK you pull out the third prong to help secure it in the wall (some people might not realize it’s there).
Converter/Adapter: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/dynex-adapter-and-converter-unit/9997798.p?id=1218230124067&skuId=9997798
4. Since we knew we would be traveling when it was cold (late October/early November which is a time I highly recommend because Fall is BEAUTIFUL over there), we purchased good, weatherproof jackets with hoods that would be warm and hold up well in the rain. Don’t skip this or having a jacket with a hood. I initially thought I would just have an umbrella, but using a hood was so much easier.
5. Other cold weather items: I made sure to have mittens/gloves, ear warmers/hat and scarves. Also, I bought some great fleece leggings that were wonderfully warm. The boots I purchased were really warm as well and great for walking. I did get some blisters, but I don’t know if I could have avoided that with any type of shoe because we walked so much and I didn’t rest, so I would still recommend them because my feet were never cold and they really were great for all terrains. Just have one pair of versatile boots/shoes that you can wear the whole trip, and that’s it.
Leggings: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009YKEU1W/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1m
Boots: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006R8M31I/ref=oh_details_o09_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
6. We purchased TSA locks for our luggage to avoid theft. I think the reason I liked both our bags is because they were not easy to get into, particularly if you have a lock on the smaller Osprey bag (the other larger bag was just tougher for someone to get into without either of us knowing because of the buckle and then two drawstrings on the inside). Nobody was able to steal anything from our bags.
7. A money belt is smart to have, particularly to keep your passport in when traveling and if you have an excess of money at any time. I prefer the ones around your neck because they are easier to get to and isn’t bothersome. I used a money belt that goes around your waist and it was really uncomfortable, neither of us cared for it, and it wasn’t very easy to get in an out of.
8. We decided to purchase a really nice camera for our trip to take better pictures with. We got an extra memory card that was larger so we knew we wouldn’t run out of memory space. While we were touring cities, one of us would have the nice camera to take pictures, and the other would use their phone. It’s a nice way to capture moments by having both means of photography because one may be easier to use than the other, or one might better capture the scene than the other. Just a preference for us.
1-2 Weeks Out
1. Get some US dollars converted to whatever currency you will need (more than likely the Euro, unless going to the UK and it’s the Pound). We pulled out about 300 Euros and 100 Pounds to start us out on our trip. There will more than likely be a fee from your bank every time your pull out money while you are traveling (about $5) and we usually did 300 Euros at a time just because we felt OK having that amount of money on us.
2. Setup a hold on your mail through USPS.com to start on the day you are leaving, and ending the day you return (unless you have someone taking care of that). May need to do the same with newspapers if you get those delivered.
3. Check the websites for all the hotels you are staying at and get directions from the airport or train station (depending on your mode of transportation) to the hotel – whether it be by bus, train or metro, they all typically have a cheaper mass transit system to get you where you need to go. Take pictures of maps with enough detail if you are doing any walking to get to your hotel, at least for your initial stop (until you can get WiFi again). You can type the direction details in the ‘Notes’ section of TripIt. If you have really early/late flights or departures, make sure their systems run at that time, otherwise you may have to take a taxi instead. We only had one time where we needed to take a taxi, otherwise we were able to use their transit systems to get everywhere we needed.
4. Setup insurance on any phones, tablets, computers or any other devices that could potentially be stolen.
5. Put together a bag of medicines. I included a link from the CDC on a list of over-the-counter medicines to include in your bag. We also brought Airborne with us and took it every day to keep our immune system up. Tip: Don’t discount the ‘mild laxative’. Traveling and eating differently can mess up your body a bit and you might need it more than you think. I know, gross. We
Suggested medicine: http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/pack-smart
1 -2 Days Out
1. Start throwing away food that will go bad (or give it away) while you are gone.
2. Print out your TripIt Itinerary – this will be helpful to have on you when you are running around between cities as everything you would need to know is in one place.
3. Make copies of your passport, insurance cards and credit cards, and keep a copy with you as well as with an emergency contact in your home country should any of your things be stolen.
Time to Travel!
1. After checking into your hotel, dropping off your luggage and beginning to figure out where to start first, ask for a map and then talk to the hotel staff and see if they have recommendations for sights to see and restaurants to eat at. You won’t go wrong with their recommendations, as it really is part of their job to make sure you enjoy your stay in their city, and all of the places recommended to us on our travels were amazing. Don’t be afraid to ask for specific instructions or have them write directly on the map. It helped us a lot to make sure we got to where they wanted us to go.
2. Use their mass transit systems. It’s cheap and really not hard. I realize in most of the US, we don’t have a good transit system, but a lot of countries in Europe get it right. Remember that with any train/metro/bus, you have to make sure you are going the right direction (we made this mistake once then never again). They refer to each line by the name of the final destination, and there is always a map with routes on it to tell you how it works. If you know someone tells you to go on the metro towards ‘Old Town’ versus ‘Small Town’ which are in opposite directions (as an example of final stops), but you need to get off at ‘Middle Town’, make sure you are on the correct side of the station or street to jump on the transportation towards that final destination, and then get off at the correct stop you are actually needing. If you are not seeing your stop, you are probably just on the wrong side of the street or station. It can be overwhelming so just take your time looking at the routes and feel confident before stepping on a train/bus, because they usually have short waiting periods before the next one comes along, so no need to rush. Also, leave plenty of time if you are trying to get out of the city to another destination to make it on time, leave room for hiccups and potential missed buses and metros. Remember that the cutoff for checked luggage to get on your flight is about 45 minutes before takeoff.
3. Prepare to spend about 100 Euros a day (per couple) on sight seeing and food. Obviously this amount may be different for other couples, but that’s about what it came to for us. There are ATM’s everywhere, and most should have an English language option to select. Just stick your card in and follow directions, there isn’t anything special you need to know about pulling money out. I would suggest using cash everywhere as opposed to a credit card because you may get foreign transaction fees on a credit card, as opposed to the one time (per cash disbursement) ATM fee imposed by your bank.
4. Shop at the local grocery stores! We always got bottles of water to carry around during the day or keep in our room at night from the grocery stores, as well as snacks. I personally don’t like to be anywhere without any type of food on me at all (in case we are in a situation where we don’t have access to food and we are hungry), so that was an easy and cost effective way of traveling.
5. Remember (per a friend of mine) that victims look like victims. Walk around with next to nothing. Have your money belt on (leave your passports and surplus money in the safe in your room, just bring enough money for the day), a credit card in case you can’t get to an ATM and run out of cash, your phone and/or camera (refer to the information on buying a nice camera to hear how we managed both), a map and carried a bottle of water. That was it. The lighter you stay, the easier it is to keep up with everything and make sure nobody pick pockets you or targets you as an obvious tourist. If you are looking at your map (which we had to do quite often of course) pull off to the side and don’t stand in front of everyone immersed in your map, that makes you an easy target. If one person is looking at the map, have the other person be close by and alert to make sure nobody tries anything.
6. Look up tipping customs for each country because it’s different everywhere and certainly not the same as the US.
7. Use free Wi-Fi. A big part of how we selected our hotels was based on access to Wi-Fi in our rooms. We wanted to be able to connect with family and friends at night when we were in our hotel room, and it also made it easy to do any research on activities for the next day. We did add on a small data plan of 120mb ($30) in case we were in a bind somewhere or lost, because internet usage charges are outrageous if you are out of the country or not using a wireless network.
8. Back up pictures to the cloud from your phone, and if possible, get pictures from your camera onto your computer while you are traveling. We risked it a bit by just leaving everything on our memory cards, but it ended up OK for us.
If there are any other questions, please don’t hesitate to comment below! Traveling is one of the most eye opening experiences you can ever have, so do it!
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”
― Mark Twain,
“But that’s the glory of foreign travel, as far as I am concerned. I don’t want to know what people are talking about. I can’t think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything. Suddenly you are five years old again. You can’t read anything, you have only the most rudimentary sense of how things work, you can’t even reliably cross a street without endangering your life. Your whole existence becomes a series of interesting guesses.”
― Bill Bryson
“I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.”
― Mark Twain
Bon voyage!
xoxo
Becca
A lil bit of everything 