Regardless of the country you travel to, it is very necessary to prepare your luggage for convenience and safety before you go. To give you some experience, here are some important tips for overseas travel you definitely will need.
1. Prepare passport and make some copies of your visa
The first thing before you leave is to check if your destination is going to require a passport or visa. Different countries have different requirements for visas. Some places only take a week to complete the visa while some areas require up to several months and many different documents.
Some countries require your passport to be valid for 6 months from the date of departure, such as Singapore. Typically, the visa process requires 4-6 weeks or more. However, some countries do not require visitors to have a visa.
For safety and some unfortunate situations, it is recommended to keep a copy of your passport, tour schedule, and contact numbers in all of your luggage bags. In case your luggage unluckily is lost, there will be more chances for it to get back to your hand.
2. Check out health, weather and time
Health is one of the top concerns when traveling. The first thing you should do is to check the health status of the countries you are going to. If there is an epidemic, it is best not to visit there. If you are reluctant to go, let’s have a health examination, vaccinations and preventive measures such as wear a mask and clean hands more regularly. You also need to be careful with water or street food there.
Next, you should check the weather where you plan to visit to arrange the luggage properly. An umbrella, coat and waterproof shoes are always a must in your suitcase when travelling.
Before your trip, you also need to check carefully which times are ideal for visiting each place. For example, do not go to Thailand during the flood season or Laos in the heat of the summer, these times are not safe for travelling. Besides, when you book flight tickets, you should watch the weather forecast in the upcoming weeks, in advance to know what kind of outfit you should pack to take away with you.
When traveling, keep in mind that some attractions are just open at some specific times and some others are about to enter only on the festive season. Usually, if you do not like the hustle and bustle when traveling, you should stay away from the festive season (usually starts in February, March in European countries and April, May in Southeast Asia). For example, the Keukenhof – the flower garden in the Netherlands is only open until the end of May; or during Easter in Italy, most of the tourist attractions do not welcome guests. Please check this information carefully before booking because it will affect your trip.
3. Learn about essential local customs, traditions, and language
In order to not put yourself up with unfriendly eyes or even be arrested for lack of knowledge, please consult carefully and adhere to the rules on customs, practices, and ways of life in foreign countries. For example, when going to Thailand, you are not allowed to decry or to behave indecently towards the Thai royal family, or when going to Japan, you do not sit in the position of the host and must leave shoes and sandals outside.
Nowadays, there are many ways to get more information about the customs and tradition of each country, make sure that you will research them thoroughly before taking a trip there. To not be embarrassed when managing in a foreign country, it’s always better to learn some essential words and sentences in the native language. Just start with some simple basic words like thank you, sorry, please, help and more. These words will help you to communicate with the locals much easier. If you are not quick to learn a new language, you still can bring a picture dictionary, or install a translation application on your smartphone. All of them will be very helpful to you.
Notably, even the toilets will be written in the local language. Therefore, “toilet” is also one of the important local words that you should definitely know how they write or speak. Remember that not all countries use international symbols for the toilets or washroom.
4. Exchange currency
When traveling abroad, exchanging a little foreign currency and keeping some local cash in your pocket, instead of leaving it all on the card, are really necessary. Sometimes, you cannot find an ATM in a new country or have a problem with the card without knowing who or where to ask for help. Therefore, having some cash in hand will be so much helpful.
Even if you go to big cities or at some small shops, they sometimes don’t accept foreign currencies or accept credit card payments, so that cash is needed. Also, remember to take small denominations money with you, they are convenient for buying junk food, tips, food or drinks.
Another tip is that you should not change money at the airport because the exchange rate is not preferential. You also should know and be familiar with the exchange rate before you go. It’s necessary to compare with the domestic currency denomination to avoid being cheated when exchanging money.
5. Prepare for safety
Before visiting new countries, don’t forget to monitor its security. When it comes to security, many tourists have been “plagued” whether there is violence, protests or political conflicts. It’s crucial to be careful whether you go to a famous safe country or a place famous for crimes. Your safety is the priority, after all.
Pickpocket is also a ubiquitous situation, so it’s best to keep your wallets and belongings carefully and firmly. Some of the most effective ways to prevent theft are such as using cheap wallets, hiding it carefully and dividing money into many compartments or many hiding places. When travelling to a country or in an area that you are not familiar with, do not go to dark places, bars, or dance floors alone.
No matter how safe the destination is, there are pickpockets in any city. Tourists are often good to target. Therefore, you need a very safe place to store money and credit cards like a belt bag or any bag that is close to your stomach. You should also save the phone number of the card-issuing bank. In case you lose the card, you can immediately report locking the credit card.
Nowadays, since more and more hotels have safe deposit boxes, you should be in the habit of putting money, jewelry, passports and other important items into the safe box. Using a safe box in the hotel is also very simple, you only need to enter 3 or 4 numbers to secure and use it.
On the whole, whether this is not the first time you travel abroad, it doesn’t mean that you will never make any mistakes while preparing. There are some very common mistakes, small things, but if you forget to prepare, it can ruin the whole trip. Check and keep the list above. Hopefully, our sharing can help you to get a safe and wonderful trip abroad. Have fun and enjoy your time.
Author bio: I am Nina Nguyen. I was born in Vietnam – a country with many unknown beaches, historic sites, and tourist attractions. Understanding that Vietnam nowadays is a famous destination, I establish the blog site vina.com to introduce the elegant beauty of Vietnam to friends around the world. If you are planning a trip to Vietnam, our blog will provide you with essential information on where to go and what to do in our country.