Great tips so far!
Got an earlier flight to Tokyo, landed in Narita International a couple hours ago. Finally settled into my hotel room.
Another word of advice from an experience I just had on my 13 hour flight. Don’t eat too much in the air. The pressure already messes with your digestive system, and stuffing yourself with a huge business class meal (while wearing skinny jeans, eek!) doesn’t feel great afterward.
Won’t be doing that again…
I am an infrequent traveller, but I have travelled widely. I travel business class when I travel for more than a couple of hours.
Always have your passport on your person, in a plastic bag. Plastic bags are your friend. That cable? Put it in a bag so it doesn’t catch or tangle. That shoe polish? Put it in a bag in case it leaks. Etc.
Avoid American airlines, especially United Airlines. The level of business-class service is vastly inferior to all other nationalities.
Business-class lounges are wonderful. Decent food, comfortable chairs, and endless tea or coffee.
My dentist gives me a travel sized toothpaste every time I visit. I have a couple saved up the next several years’ trips.
I refuse to carry on luggage. All my vacations are international (with a friend) so I’m checking my bag. We always rent an apartment/house via TripAdvisor so we each have a bedroom and a bath. We pay about $200 per night, so $100 each. Much better than a hotel. Breakfast at the house, one or two nights cook dinner at home. I take one week’s worth of clothes and do a load or 2 at night (we stay wherever we go for 2 weeks). I also travel with what I call disposable clothes. I will throw away socks and t shirts at the end of the trip to give me more luggage space for stuff I bought. I always pack a few plastic bags (from the grocery store) to store leaky stuff. Meds, change of underwear, hand sanitizer, toothbrush, hand lotion, phone charger, and my stuffed moose JJR go in the carry on (small enough bag to stick under the seat). Tray table and every other hard surface on the plane gets wiped down with a Clorox wipe.
Be polite to everyone.
How often do you have trouble with lost luggage? I’ve heard so many nightmare stories that I go the carryon-only route these days.
Never change a significant amount of money at the Currency Exchange at airports (or in town either if you can help it). You’ll get the best rate by using your bank card at an ATM, even if you have to pay an ATM fee. Make sure you notify your bank you will be using your card internationally so they don’t put a hold on it.
I traveled extensively in the past. Part of that was as an employee of the US Department of State, serving at several embassies. Three problems that cropped up more than any others were a) lost/stolen passport b) lost/stolen airline tickets and c) lost/stolen electronics and other possessions.
A lost passport can be a major headache, as the American embassy that you go to will require proof that you are an American citizen. This often entails having you call home and having someone send a copy of your birth cert or other document to the embassy before they will issue you a new temporary passport.
Usually, most of the above problems happened because someone had a rental car and rather than leave items in their hotel room, would lock them in the trunk of the car. Rental cars are easily identified by thieves and it only takes a few seconds to jimmy a trunk.
You should always make a photocopy of your passport and leave it in your room or with the front desk of the hotel. A photocopy is sufficient proof of citizenship for the US consular office. Pack it in your suitcase in case you somehow lose your real passport somewhere in transit.
Stay away from raw vegetables in the third world, unless you have the ability to first wash them in water dosed with bleach.
Do not accept an opened bottle of drinking water in a restaurant in the 3rd world.
Do not accept food or drink from a seemingly well-meaning local person who just wants to “practice my English with you”.
While embassies will try to help you if you’re in trouble, they are not there to lend you money or get you out of jail. The best you can hope for is a wellness check by someone from the consular section. Some embassies have a small pot of money that’s been donated (usually by another American who ran into trouble in the past) to assist someone who is desperate.
Yeah, this is one of the biggest things to know, for me. Exceptions to the ATM might be in countries where there is a thriving black market currency exchange scene (like, for example, when I was in Uzbekistan, we just changed money on the market, as it was 3x the bank rate. Similar sort of thing back in Poland in the 80s, but even moreso.) But that may best be left to more advanced travelers, as there is a risk of getting swindled.
That said, you do have to pay some attention to the ATMs. When I was last in Hungary in March, there were these “Euronet” ATMs in Budapest everywhere that gave a piss-poor exchange rate. Be aware of those. I figured it out the first time I used one and canceled my transaction and went to a local bank ATM instead.
Other than that, a lot has to do with the style you like to travel. I like cheap hotels, I like not checking in luggage if possible, I carry my passport with me all the time just in my front pocket, etc. Oh, yeah, definitely make a photocopy of your passport or, in this day and age, take a picture of it and put send it to your email or put it on the cloud or somewhere that is accessible via the internet.
Also, if you’re a man, and you’re walking around the tourist district of the city you’re visiting, and some very attractive woman approaches you out of the blue, chats you up, and invites you to a bar for drinks, it’s 99% a scam. (Hasn’t happened to me, but was a common scam while I was living/travelling abroad, and has happened to one of my friends.) You’ll be taken to a bar, order drinks, and then get a very high bill. When you protest and refuse to pay, a couple big men will convince you otherwise.
In other words, use common sense and keep your wits about you.
Never. I’ve been on international vacations every year for the last 6 years and my luggage has never been lost.
I have a checking account and Visa with Bank of America just for traveling. BoA has many reciprocal banks across the world so I can use the ATM without a fee. I always leave a copy of my passport and credit cards with my friend’s husband (who stays home to tend to the animals).
Just to clarify:
the OP has offered to share HER tips as a seasoned traveler sort of AMA thread
instead she’s got a flood of tips ( useful as they are) from others …
We got it, thanks. But she probably should have just shared some tips rather than having people ask for them. That’s too open-ended. If you’re an inexperienced traveler, you don’t know what advice you need. We’re not trying to give her tips, just sharing tips in general.
There’s no rule that the rest of us cannot add our own tips. This isn’t some Reddit AMA thread with a celebrity where you can only ask questions.
I pack light, and wash stuff as I go. One thing that does really help is a 13gal plastic garbage bag or two. Good for separating clean from dirty clothes, takes up no room and weighs nothing.
That’s the object I most commonly forget to pack - a plastic bag for my dirty laundry.
How do you prefer to handle visas? In advance, or at the point of entry? Directly through the embassy, or through a third-party company? My mom and uncle went through a third-party company for their latest trip, and it was a nightmare: They ended up having to do everything themselves anyway, except with added delays, mistakes, and fees from the middleman.
I’ve always done visas myself by going to the embassy or consulate. The last visa I had to get in advance was for Brazil, which makes it complicated and expensive for US visitors because we make it hard for them. I had to provide copies of my air tickets (which I had to get before the visa), bank statement, and a bunch of other documents. Still, it only took a few days.
Some countries will give you a visa upon arrival, but you can check on requirements on their website.
I suppose some countries are complicated enough where it might be worthwhile to use an agent, but I haven’t had to deal with them. What country were your relatives going to?
I like to have one in each bag.
Yes, I am with you. None actually* lost * (two broken) but several times delivered up to a day later.
Good thread laurieb.
Have zerox copies of your passport. Get the passport card.
In Some regions, have a decoy wallet with some business cards, a secondary but can afford to lose ID, maybe a reloadable paycard with a few hundred and small bills. Reach for that instead of your regular wallet.
I use the good, old military chevron on all on my luggage, spray painted on when I can get away with it, or made with duct tape if my wife complains that I’m destroying brand new luggage.
Yeah, I should have pointed out “USA” and “Mexico”; I used the first class lounge all the time in China, except when it was a company ticket.
It depends where you’re going, but I like to sort that sort of thing out myself so I know it’s done.
This brings up an excellent point though: Don’t just assume you’ve got automatic entry into whichever country you’re visiting, especially if you’re not there as a tourist. Take a few minutes to check the visa requirements well in advance of your trip so you’ve got time to sort things out if needed.