There are unfortunately a few boring – but very important – things you’ll need to get out of the way before you can set off on your adventures abroad. Whether it’s checking your mobile’s roaming settings or getting yourself a local bank account in the country you’re off to, you need to be sure everything’s in place so that you can contact home and pay for things while you’re there! When all of this is out the way, you’ll be free and safe to travel to your heart’s content. Here are the 5 top chores you’ll need to do to prepare for your trip away.
1. Make Sure you can Call your Mum
To do this, you’ll either need to activate roaming on your mobile phone, or get a foreign SIM card for where ever you’re off to. People travel more than ever these days and phone companies know it, so most have pretty simple ways that you can access their services abroad. Go to your phone provider’s website and see what they say about using your phone while out of the country – most will say you’re already covered to use your phone abroad, but best to check and follow their instructions if not, or you could come home to some huge phone bills. Make sure to know how much it’s going to cost you to call home, and what the data charges are to access the internet, as you’ll obviously want to upload all your travel snaps to Instagram as you go.
2. Set Up your Foreign Bank Account
It’s important to know how you’re going to pay for things while traveling. Carrying around loads of cash is not a good idea – there are professional pick-pockets on the loose in most tourist destinations – so setting up a bank account in the country you’re staying in is wise. Useful apps like Pangea Money Transfer allow you to quickly and easily transfer money at a guaranteed flat fee from your home bank account to your new one abroad, all managed from your mobile phone. Pangea enables you to send cash to a list of South American and Asian countries, so you’ll never be stuck for money when you’re far away from home. Also, remember to set your trip budget so you don’t run out of cash.
3. Make a Plan of Action
So, you’re not going in blind, check out as many travel apps and websites as possible that will have insider views of the countries you’re going to, so you can plan where you want to go and what you want to see while you’re there to make sure you don’t miss a thing. Guides like Lonely Planet and TripAdvisor are great for researching the biggest tourist attractions of your chosen country. This is great for before you get there, but just remember to always ask the locals where is best to go for food and sightseeing once you’re there – they’re the ones who know better than anyone.
4. Learn Some Basic Lingo
If you’re going somewhere that you don’t already speak the language, it’s only polite to learn the basics before you get there! Please, thank you, and how to order food are great places to start. The locals will appreciate your efforts and help you out with your pronunciation, and you won’t get very far with buying things or asking for directions with no knowledge of the language. Before you go, you can download useful free apps like Duolingo, which have a wide range of language courses, or search YouTube to learn handy phrases for your arrival.
5. Sort your Travel Insurance
Finally, you must do your research into travel insurance before you leave. This is so important because different policies will cover different lengths of time away from home, and will only pay out for certain things. If you’re taking expensive items with you like iPads, laptops, and cameras (which it’s advised you don’t!) you’ll be paying a lot more for your cover. If you have any medical conditions, you’ll need to check that your insurance will cover any medical bills. Lots of the most popular insurance comparison websites will help you find cover that’s tailored exactly to all your needs.