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- Check Your Travel Documents | 4-6 Months Before Your Trip. Check your ID. Confirm passport validity. Apply for a visa. The first thing to take care of on your international travel checklist?
- Book Your Flights | 3-6 Months Before Your Trip. Book international flights on Sunday to save. Book flights 3-6 months in advance. Use travel hacks to find cheaper flights.
- Choose a Travel Insurance Plan | 3-6 Months Before Your Trip. Browse travel insurance/trip protection plans. Choose coverage that meets your needs for the trip.
- Make a Doctor’s Appointment | 2-4 Weeks Before Your Trip. Ensure your prescriptions will last for your trip. Get a statement documenting your medication dosages.
- Documents
- Medical Preparations For Traveling
- Financial Preparations For Traveling Overseas
- Plan Your Itinerary
- Security While Traveling
- Staying in Touch While You Travel
- Other Things to Prepare Before Traveling Abroad
- More Travel Tips
1. Get a passport.
If you already have a passport, check the expiration date. Most countries won’t let you through immigration if your passport’s expiration date is less than 6 months away. Also check that there are enough blank pages in it for immigration stamps. If you need a passport, apply for one right away. Depending on current demand, they have been known to take as long as 3 months to arrive. But if it’s an emergency and you don’t know how to expedite passport renewal, there are services that can get it...
2. Get your visas.
Not all countries offer visas on arrival.Depending on the passport you carry, you may need to get visas for your intended destinations. Each country has different arrangements, and requirements can change, so always verify. Waiting for a visa can take a month or more, so submit your visa applicationearly. Once it arrives, ensure it will be valid for your entire stay and check that the dates are correct. ⓘ TIP: You can check the visa requirements for your destinationHERE.
3. Check the expiration date on all your documents.
In addition to your passport, make a note of when your driver’s license, IDs, bank cards, and other documents are due to expire. Even if it’ll be good for a few more months after your return, it won’t hurt to renew now. Depending on workloads, documents can take a few weeks to receive. And don’t rely on your mail service to deliver on time. Our son’s driver’s license was “returned to sender” for no reason at all. Took an extra month to get it.
9. Verify country-specific vaccinations.
As we learned during the pandemic, some countries won’t let you enter without proof you’ve been immunized against certain diseases. The most common required ones are yellow fever, malaria, meningococcal disease, and polio. Remember that some vaccines have to be made a few weeks before your trip. Also, often you need to take multiple shots with some days between them. So, you should get vaccinated early. All immunizations must be recorded and presented on an official International Certificate...
10. Check your medications.
If you use medication, ensure you have enough to last throughout the duration of your trip. Luggage can go missing, so don’t pack it. Carry your medications on board. Make certain that your medicine is in its original packaging and carry a copy of your prescription with you, as some medications are regulated differently overseas. Also, if you are undergoing any special treatment, consider carrying a scanned copy of your records or a letter from your doctor detailing your treatment. ⓘ TIP:Your...
11. Research travel fees and taxes.
Some countries require travelers to pay an entrance or departure fee, which can cost as much as $200. These fees are not included in the price of your airline ticket, so budget accordingly.
12. Ensure your credit card will work in the country you’re visiting.
Does your card have a chip? Most foreign banks have switched to chip-and-PIN technology, and fewer businesses abroad accept the outdated magnetic-strip cards. Tap-to-pay is also extremely popular overseas.
13. Alert your credit card company to your travel plans.
Few things are worse than not being able to access funds while overseas! (We speak from personal experience.) Tell your bank when you’ll be traveling and where you will be, and ask them to add the information to your file. If you don’t, your bank’s fraud department may freeze your account, assuming someone’s stolen your number. ⓘ TIP:Add the customer service phone number to your contacts. This will ensure you can quickly call the bank in an emergency.
18. Buy tickets before you arrive.
Tourists can often get special discounts that locals cannot access, and some of these must be purchased before arrival. We’ve seen hefty savings for train tickets in some countries, but they’re only available to overseas customers. They may have to be physically mailed to you at home, so check well before you get on the plane.
19. Book tours ahead of time
Ticket lines can be super long at popular tourist locations. Purchase skip-the-line tickets ahead of time and you’ll breeze right in the door without a wait. This is probably one of our favorite tips for making the best use of your time. When we were at the Louvre, the ticket line was literally halfway around the building—and it’s ahuge building! ⓘ TIP: Many destinations offer acity pass that offers free or discounted admission to major attractions and transportation. Some even include public...
20. Search and download travel apps and maps.
Many apps are available that will help you plan your trip and navigate while there. Our go-tos include TripIt, Google Maps, Waze, and Google Translate. To avoid data charges from your wireless carrier, download all your travel apps before you leave and ensure that any apps you choose can be accessed offline. You can download offline versions of Google Maps here.
21. Check travel advisories and register with your embassy.
A few weeks before you go, keep an eye on the official U.S. Travel Advisories or U.K. Foreign Travel Advicebecause they’ll give out warnings for potentially dangerous countries and warzones. If you’re an American citizen, it would also be a good idea to register with the local U.S. embassybefore going. If there’s an unforeseen problem in the country, your government will know where you are and get you to safety. It’s also smart to print out the address and contact information of the local emb...
22. Arrange digital backup.
Set up an account with a service like DropBox or an internet photo gallery before you leave so you can back up your photos and computer files on the road. It’s peace of mind in the event your electronics are lost or stolen.
23. Protect your home.
Ask a friendly neighbor to keep an eye out for deliveries, and have your local post office hold your mail while you’re gone. Ask someone to check on your place once a week. And if you know your neighbors, you might want to let them know that you’ll be away. Ask them to contact the police if anyone comes snooping around or they see any activity in the house.
28. Check your cell phone and plan
Not all cell phones will work in every country. Your best bet is to carry a quad-band phone or one that operates on the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) network. Verizon and Sprint use CDMA, and if your phone only supports CDMA, it’s highly unlikely to work internationally. Some phones will accept a SIM card while others are locked and won’t. if your phone is unlocked, you have optionsfor using your phone overseas. If you have a locked phone, you’ll have to ask your carrier to ac...
29. Share your travel plans.
Let loved ones know your travel plans so they can contact you. In the unlikely event there’s a news event or catastrophe in one of your destinations, knowing where you actually are may put their minds at ease. When a volcano spewed ash into the air over western Indonesia, our friends didn’t worry. They knew we were far from the action, enjoying Bali’s sunny weather.
30. Check airline luggage restrictions
Check the airline’s policies for checked and carry-on luggage so you don’t exceed the weight or size limits. Also remember to check your connecting flights as well. Depending on the airline, luggage may be an additional fee. Buying it online ahead of time may be a savings over paying for it at the airport.
For more travel inspiration, look for shots of your destination on our photo site. Other travel tips on As We Saw It include: 1. 10 Tips on How to Avoid Jet Lag 2. 21 Helpful Tips for First Time Cruisers 3. 10 Best Ways to Stay Healthy on a Plane 4. 7 Airports That Offer Free Layover Tours 5. Should You Set a Goal to Travel to Every Country? Find o...
- Prepare your travel documents. The most important tip to avoid unnecessary stress is to apply for your passport well in advance. Without your passport or a travel visa, your potential travel radius is limited significantly.
- Research your destination. It is important to invest plenty of time in researching your destination to optimize your experience. While it may seem more fun to travel spontaneously, it is far more practical if you are able to anticipate some of the nuances of your destination country by studying the tips for traveling abroad for the first time.
- Address money matters. Before you set off for your far flung destination, you will need to notify your bank to let them know that you are traveling. That way, your bank doesn’t suspect fraud when they see your card is suddenly being used at a market in Thailand.
- Compare transportation & accommodation options. You are likely to be on the move every day, so be sure to research the most effective way to travel during your trip.
- Make sure you have a valid passport. If you have a passport, check the expiration date of your passport and whether there are any blank pages remaining.
- Check entry and visa requirements. Check to see if the country you are traveling to requires a visa. You can check for visa requirements here. Some countries are not allowing international travelers right now or they might require visitors to be vaccinnated or take a COVID test.
- Research whether you need vaccines or malaria pills. If you are traveling to less developed countries, visit your closest travel clinic to get any vaccines you need for your destination.
- If you plan on driving, get an International Driving Permit. If you plan to rent a car, you might need an International Driving Permit. You can get an international permit from your local AAA office.
- The Ultimate Checklist for Traveling Internationally. In this guide, I’ll walk through the exact international travel checklist that I use when I prepare for travel abroad.
- 9-12 Months Before Traveling Abroad. If you have planned your next international trip at least a year in advance, you are already ahead of the game! If you have a good lead time to plan your next international trip, it will save you plenty of headaches in the long run, since there are a lot of things to do before leaving the country.
- 6 Months Before International Travel. Six months before your overseas trip is the right time to start preparing the rest of your major travel logistics in terms of finances and hotel bookings.
- 3 Months Before Leaving the Country. Next on your international travel checklist? With three months to go before an international trip, it’s time to organize a few of the remaining logistics to prepare for your trip.
Apr 5, 2024 · Help your overseas journey run smoothly — and stay safe too — by completing this international travel checklist before you depart. In 2022, more than 80 million Americans traveled to Canada, Mexico, and overseas — a 64% increase over 2021.
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Oct 5, 2022 · Have an international travel checklist to prepare for trips. From visa requirements to packing tips, check out these things to do before traveling abroad.
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related to: What should I do if I'm traveling abroad?You'll See More & Do More. Unrivaled Support, 24/7. This Is How Travel Should Be. Go Guided! Let Us Manage The Travel Logistics While You Enjoy The Experience.
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