Traveling out of the country is such an exciting privilege to embark on. With more excitement, in this case, comes more responsibility. There can be a lot of moving parts when it comes to planning an international trip and knowing what to do before traveling out of the country. This checklist will help you prepare for every important detail that comes with international travel, so you won’t have to worry about forgetting something important or remembering everything in your head.
For extra travel advice to get you ready for your trip, check out my flight essentials and tips to not overpack. If you’re heading to Mexica, Central America, or South America, you can check out my detailed packing list here. This international travel checklist has everything you need to prepare your payments, phone, passport, and person. I hope you have a wonderful time wherever you are heading!
13 Things to Do Before Traveling to A Different Country
□ 1. Download helpful travel apps.
Just like how you can download Spotify playlists to listen to when you don’t have reception, you can download certain apps to use offline as well. First of all, install Google Translate and Google Maps. Download the language for the country you are visiting on Google Translate. When downloaded, you can look up any new terms you see or would like to use with or without wifi.
On Google Maps, you can select a certain area to download offline. I recommend downloading the cities you are visiting so you can navigate without Wi-Fi. I also recommend downloading a currency exchange app to help you calculate currency differences until you have them memorized.
□ 2. Get a travel phone plan or eSIM.
International phone plans
Chances are, your destination won’t be covered in your current phone plan. Check the travel phone plan that your carrier offers. There are usually long-term and short-term options. See if any of the options make sense for your budget and itinerary. If you need to be reachable anytime throughout the day, you are going to need a plan that mimics your availability at home.
If you are on a budget but will be traveling with other people 24/7, you can get away without an international plan as long as someone else has one for emergencies. You can also use your phone over Wi-Fi for personal use. However, for safety and flexibility, I highly recommend getting some kind of phone plan.
Download WhatsApp, if you haven’t already, to message any number around the world. You can use WhatsApp over Wi-Fi to call, FaceTime, and text. We’re very iPhone-centered in the US, so Whatsapp isn’t very incorporated into our society, but it’s extremely commonly used everywhere else in the world. Let your Android user friends know that you will be traveling but can use WhatsApp to stay in touch if they need to reach you.
What’s an eSIM?
If you are traveling long-term, consider an eSIM. Phone plans get outrageously expensive when you’re traveling for more than a couple of weeks. Luckily, there is an alternative option, but some people are very unfamiliar with the idea and steer clear as a result. eSIMs are a really accessible travel hack that can change the way you travel and open up new opportunities.
SIM cards used to only be available in physical form which you would purchase in person and maybe have to change your phone number to use. In the modern era, you can download a SIM card to your phone, keep your number, and pay a rate to a company just like you do for a phone plan. If an eSIM makes sense for your trip, check out some different options here.
□ 3. Scan your passport and documents
Firstly, make sure that your passport is up to date but not too current! You cannot travel with an expired passport, and additionally, some countries require your passport to be valid for at least six months before visiting.
You will want to bring a second form of ID for any bars or nightlife activities you may want to partake in. It’s best to carry around something less valuable and leave your passport locked up in your room.
Whatever identification or documents you choose to bring, scan them on your phone and save them to your camera roll. If something happens to your documents, you will be able to show proof of them at any security checkpoints. Send the scans to someone else that you can contact in case both your documents and phone go missing.
□ 4. Tell your bank where you are going.
If you don’t tell your bank and credit card company where you are going and on which dates, they could freeze your card. There are various ways to let your bank know your travel plans. You can talk to someone at your bank in person or over the phone. The option I always choose is to use the phone app for my bank and credit card and use their travel planning option to document my destinations. Every bank is different, so check with yours to see how they do it!
□ 5. Get a travel credit card, if possible.
A travel credit card isn’t necessarily an airline card or something that earns you points at a hotel. I consider a travel credit card one that has no foreign transaction fees, because many cards do. Check your debit and credit card to see if there are any fees involved with using them for purchases abroad. Some fees can be up to 5% for each purchase, which will add up VERY quickly.
There are plenty of credit cards with zero foreign transaction fees, but you have to have a decent credit score for a decent amount of time to qualify. If you’ve never had a credit card before, you’ll unfortunately have to get a starter card with all the ugly fees. My dream travel credit card is the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. Explore some options and see if you qualify for any. It’s a switch I’d highly recommend.
□ 6. Learn the basics of the language.
If you are traveling to a place where you don’t speak the native language, you need to familiarize yourself with the basics. Though many people speak English in touristy areas, learning some fundamentals shows respect for the people and place you are visiting. I recommend using Duolingo for a brief language introduction and the internet for other basic phrases. Be sure to know how to say the following things before arriving:
- – hello & goodbye
- – thank you & you’re welcome
- – “Do you speak English?”
- – “How much does this cost?”
- – “Where is the bathroom?”
- – “My name is ___”
- – “Do you know where an ATM is?”
… and then some 🙂
□ 7. Start accustoming to the time change.
Jet lag can be a real pain when it threatens the excitement of your new location. For tips on fighting jet lag, read my blog post here.
□ 8. Confirm travel details.
You don’t want to end up at an airport in El Salvador only to realize you never confirmed your flight. Or to show up at a hostel in Amsterdam thinking you booked a bed only to realize that the time change confused you, and you booked it for the night before. Both are true stories:D
Confirm all of your pre-booked flights, stays, and activities. Make sure you’ve confirmed your seat on all of your flights and that your travel plans align with any time changes you encounter. Keep your confirmation codes, boarding passes, and booking receipts in one Google document or folder. Whenever you need to double-check something, your folder will be a trusted home for all of your important trip information.
Bonus tip: some countries don’t let you enter unless you have proof that you are leaving the country within their visitor time allotment. A round-trip ticket does this automatically. If you book a one-way ticket to a country with this mandate, prepare to show the transportation to your next destination before they let you in the country.
□ 9. Tell someone your travel plans and share your location.
If you are solo traveling, it is very important to tell someone the places you are planning on going and for how long. If anything goes wrong, having a trusted person back home to notice could be very valuable. Share your location with at least that person as well.
If you are traveling with other people, it is also important to share locations. If, for whatever reason, you get split up, or there is an emergency, you will want to be able to track down your group.
□ 10. Get any vaccines you need ahead of time.
Some countries require proof of vaccination before entering. Check the requirements for your destination in advance. If this applies to your destination, get these vaccines as early as you can. If you react to the vaccines in any way, you want to be able to recover before your trip and leave in good health.
□ 11. Research food and water safety
Some countries do not have safe drinking water for tourists. I bring a steripen when I visit these places so I don’t have to buy bottled water. There are also some places where you need to watch out for food poisoning. To see if either of these applies to your destination, just do a Google search for “Is the drinking water/food safe for tourists in ______?”
□ 12. Travel safety tips
Wherever you are living or traveling, your hometown included, it is important to exert reasonable precautions. Use common sense and trust your gut at all times on your trip, especially if you are traveling solo. Safety is even more important when you are far from home and maybe don’t speak the language. Research your destination to get an idea of how safe it is to visit.
Along with my advice in tip #9, you should equip yourself with a safety device or two. I really like birdies because they are a nonviolent tool to aid in protection. Weapons can’t go through security, so don’t try to pack anything dangerous to use for self-defense. I would also pack a flashlight and some pepper spray.
□ 13. Check your adaptors.
Finally, make sure that you have the proper outlet adapter for your destination if needed. If you are traveling within your continent, it is likely that your destination will use the same outlet you use at home. Refer to the map below to double-check what adapter you will need to bring on your trip.
Share this post with your travel companions! Keep up with my travels on the Instagram, and find other travel tips and hacks here. Bon voyage!
