When I’m not flitting around the globe visiting historical sites, I’m a history professor. Like many of you, work takes up most of my week and leaves little time for the fun things—like travel planning. Over the years, I’ve created a system that makes travel planning very organized and allows me to plan a vacation with relative ease. Here is a breakdown of my system for international travel (I tweak my system for domestic and cruise travel); I think you’ll find it useful whether you’re going on your first vacation abroad or whether you’re an experienced international traveler.
First Things To Do
- Decide where to go, when, and for how long. Are you flexible with dates? Consider stretching the dates as long as you can to maximize money spent on transportation.
- Make a budget. Let this guide your choices and record all expenses as you go along, so you can save/plan accordingly.
- Book your flight after comparing routes/prices on Google Flights or with a flight tracking site like Hopper. I don’t try to “time” buying the flight to get the best price. I’ve found that buying as soon as I know when and where I’m going is generally best. Plus, it’s worth my peace of mind to just have this “big” piece of the planning secured at a price I’m comfortable with.
- As soon as you reserve the first aspect of the trip, even if it’s making a hotel reservation that you later cancel, get travel insurance. I find travel insurance policies to be quite inexpensive but invaluable to cover any medical expenses or trip issues that I may have. If you get your travel insurance right away (usually within a week of making the first vacation deposit), then pre-existing conditions are generally covered. Invaluable. Use Travel Insurance dot com to compare multiple policies and buy through their site directly from insurers with no mark-up. You can always increase your coverage later, if necessary, and the preexisting waiver will still stand.
- Once you know the dates of your flight, you can book lodging. I like to use sites like Trip Advisor, Hotels.com, VRBO, and Expedia to compare various options and find the best place for me. I look for places that are highly rated and have free cancellation.
- When booking lodging, also figure out if you will need to book an airport hotel before or after the trip.
- Make an itinerary. I make a detailed itinerary that has all my confirmation/booking numbers, flight times, hotel information, contact information for all businesses I’m using, list of booked items, frequent flier numbers, travel insurance information, expense list, etc. This is a living document that I add to as I book more aspects of the vacation. When we go on the trip, it is my most-used document throughout the time. Here is a sample of what I do. Sample itinerary
- Apply for a passport, if you don’t have one, or make sure you’re passport isn’t expiring (it’s good to have six months left on expiration before traveling).
Months Before the Trip
- Plan how you will get to and from the airport abroad—even if it is only to note that you will take a taxi from the airport to the hotel. Plan how you will get to and from the airport at home. If you’re driving your own car to the airport, you will want to find the best parking.
- Research what there is to do and what you want to see. Make a list of things to do/see and places to go. Make notes of restaurants you want to try (and their locations), shops to visit, museums, historical sites, landmarks, etc.
- Book important tickets and tours, so you don’t miss out on the reasons you went to that country in the first place.
- Make any special requests you may have of hotels, flights, etc. If you need a special meal on the flight, extra pillows, or any other conveniences, book these requests ahead of time.
- Book train tickets or other transportation you will need while abroad if you’re changing cities, taking a day trip, or getting a driver for a day.
- If you have pets, make sure that you have secured care for them.
- Register with STEP if you’re a U.S. citizen. This is the State Department’s Smart Traveler Program and is helpful for “on the ground” information for the country you’re visiting.
Weeks Leading Up to Trip
- Double check plans. Confirm all reservations for planes, trains, lodging, tours, etc. Confirm check in times with all lodging.
- Make restaurant reservations for any important meals or restaurants you want to visit.
- Make sure that any prescriptions you need are filled so that you don’t run out mid-vacation. You don’t want to leave this to the last minute, as some prescriptions may be restricted and your doctor will need to prescribe them specially to cover your vacation.
- Create a packing list. I like to start this early, because I find that invariably as I’m going about my business over time I will think of things I will need that I won’t necessarily think of if I’m just sitting down and trying to plan. You will want to keep an eye on the weather forecast so try to finish last-minute details just before. Prepare a capsule wardrobe, so that your clothes “go” with one another. Here is a sample list I take (although mine is very detailed with every item of clothing I’m taking).
- Don’t forget to buy any location-specific items you will need when planning for packing, such as power adapters to adapt your electrical devices from your home country’s outlets to the foreign ones. If your electrical devices aren’t dual voltage, you will also need an electrical converter. Many devices these days do automatically convert but you will want to check to avoid frying your electronics.
- Check your phone plan. This is especially important if you are leaving the country. Using your phone abroad can result in an astronomical phone bill. Check out the plans your carrier has for leaving the country. If they’re too costly, consider buying an eSIM card or use Whatsapp via wi-fi. Just make sure that you have turned off your data and roaming, so that there are no nasty surprises.
- Have the postal service hold your mail. This also serves as a security measure as potential thieves won’t see your mailbox overflowing.
- Pause subscription services or other deliveries that may occur while you’re gone. Depending on your circumstances (length of vacation, etc.), some delivery companies will hold your packages free of charge (like USPS), but some charge. It might be easier to just ensure you’re not getting deliveries or have a neighbor/friend pick up.
- Pause streaming services if you will be gone for a while–no sense paying for something if you won’t be using it.
- You may want to let a trusted neighbor know you will be gone and/or tell your alarm company.
- Call your credit card companies and bank. Even if you’re staying within your home country, financial institutions may freeze your card if they see a bunch of charges coming from a location they don’t normally originate from. Ward off this impending problem that can put a huge wrench in your fun by calling the financial institutions whose cards you will be using and let them know what dates you will be traveling and to where. Some institutions don’t care, but some do, so make sure you know who wants to know. Make sure you’re taking a credit card with no foreign transaction fees. If you have a debit card that has no foreign fees, take that too (Charles Schwab reimburses your ATM fees and has no foreign fees, so that is a good one).
- Pay bills or arrange for auto bill pay. Make sure you have banking apps on your phone so you can manage finances from abroad.
Day Before You Leave
- Make sure you have all your travel documents and that you’ve emailed yourself a copy of them. I send myself a copy of my passport and a list of all important numbers, including my credit card companies, bank, hotels, airlines, frequent flier mileage number, etc. I also email myself copies of my airline ticket information, hotel reservations, train tickets, etc., so that I have all my travel confirmations in one place. If your wallet is stolen, you will be happy that you have the information you need. Send yourself your itinerary, things to do list, and packing list (important if your luggage is lost), too.
- Print any necessary copies you will need of travel documents.
- Set your “out of office” email message on work emails.
- Pack. If you’re checking luggage, you may want to take a picture of it in case your luggage is lost and you need to make an insurance claim or show the airline.
- Make sure your phone is uploaded with all the travel apps you will need and bookmark any pertinent travel websites. Before I leave (and when I still have steady wi-fi), I upload all the travel apps (airline, lodging, sightseeing) and download any podcasts I plan to play (I love Rick Steves Europe app), maps I want to access, and any other data I want to use when offline. I also bookmark any cool websites I’ve found detailing sites to see, places to shop, restaurants at which to eat, or adventures to have.
- Check in for your flight; make a screen shot of boarding pass so you’re not dependent on internet for it to load.
- Get cash out, if necessary, but wait until you’re in the country to get foreign currency. It’s more cost effective to get money from an ATM in the local currency, especially if you have a bank that waives ATM fees.
Day of Travel
- Prep home (unplug appliances, lower water heater, set thermostat to reasonable level, turn off lights, close windows, etc.); you will want to make your home as energy efficient as possible while you’re gone.
- Take picture of things you may worry about later, e.g. unplugged iron, stove turned off, etc. You can ward off the dreaded “did I turn it off” fears that happen when traveling by taking pictures of the appliances you worry about most. Whenever you wake up in a panic, just look at the picture of your iron’s cord hanging off the ironing board and you’ll be able to fall right back to sleep.
I hope this system helps you. I know that I love getting to my vacation destination feeling organized and ready for any little issues that may arise. Happy travels!
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