I am definitely not a pro when it comes to international travel, but here's some tips I picked up for our Europe trip. If you can think of any that you've come across, please comment below!
Make sure your passport is still valid. Some countries do not allow you to enter if your passport is going to expire in less than 3 months, so make sure you know all of the regulations for the countries you are traveling to. Click here for info on passports and LOTS of travel info!
Bring a copy of your passport with you - and leave a copy with someone at home that would be able to fax a copy to the Embassy if needed. We just brought copies of the pages with the pic/info and the serial number.
Research the area you are traveling to! You want to know if there is civil unrest or threats to the area. This is a great site to find out info, including any alerts that might be active for the areas you are visiting. Also, the googles are your friend with finding info out.
If you are in the USA, register for the STEP program. This is a free program that registers your trip with the nearest US Embassy on your travels. Oh, and have the nearest US Embassy address written down somewhere - if your passport is stolen, this is where you will need to go. (Tip: I had it written down in a little book I carried, not just in my cell phone, just in case that was stolen too). Here's the link for the US Embassy listings.
If you've got kids, make sure you notify the school/coaches that you’re going out of town, and who to contact while you’re gone. You’ll also want to give the caretakers a notarized letter authorizing them to seek medical assistance if needed. Don’t forget to include a copy of your insurance card!
It would be a good idea to contact your insurance company to ask what to do if you need to seek medical assistance while traveling internationally.
You may want to contact your cell phone provider and activate your phone for international travel. We have Verizon and we were able to do it right in the app. It cost us $10/day per phone. Since we were going to be driving, we opted to have our phones activated so we would be able to use the GPS while away from the hotel’s WiFi. There are also apps you can use for texting/calling/video calls while on wifi - our favorite is WhatsApp.
Notify your bank and credit card companies that you will be traveling. We were able to notify the bank via the app so it was very easy (I'll do anything to not talk on the phone lol). Some credit card companies may not require notification - your card would already be authorized for use.
Cash - we had some cash on us for emergencies or for things that didn't take cards. We withdrew euros from an ATM in the Amsterdam airport. There was also a bank in that airport that would exchange your currency for 4 euros. Both were pretty affordable and convenient choices. You will definitely want to have SOME cash on you, even though card payments are widely accepted nowadays - our taxi in Paris did not accept card payments.
If you use your debit/credit card in another country (or even online at a shop that is located in another country), you may be assessed a foreign transaction fee. It is a percentage of whatever the charge is, most commonly 3%. This fee occurs when there's a charge in another currency... but that means you might not know the exact charge until they actually swipe your card. You can always use a currency converter website/app though. We opted to use our card for purchases instead of having to walk around with a lot of cash on us. The charges were minuscule compared to the stress and anxiety it would have given me otherwise. All in all we paid less than $20 in fees for the whole trip, and I was a swiping fool lol.
When packing for ANY trip, international or domestic, pack one set of clothes in your carry on baggage. In case that your luggage arrives later than you do or gets lost temporarily, you’ll have at least one set of clothes to change in to.
Grab an outlet converter as the outlets will probably be different. There's usually cheap options in multiple places: Walmart, Amazon, etc. This one is a great option as it has USB ports on it also!
Lots of hotels in Europe do not have washcloths - so you’ll need to bring your own. We loved these ones - not only were they strong whole soaking wet but they weren’t scratchy. They never tore and held up so nicely. We even had enough to share with another person in our group who didn’t know about the washcloth thing. Would definitely recommend!
Tipping is not a standard practice in Europe like it is in the US. At restaurants you will probably see a $1-2 euro charge per person, but there wasn't even a line to leave a tip on the card receipt. Now, if the cab driver helped you with your baggage and other such scenarios, its perfectly fine to tip.
If you ask for water at a restaurant, you may have to specify between still water (tap water) and sparkling water. And don’t be surprised if the water is served to you in a 1L bottle, and that there may be a charge for the water. 1L bottle was good for the 2 of us, but on the days we were really thirsty we ended up drinking another bottle.
Do your research on the countries you’re visiting for important info, like dining times. For example, we usually eat around 5p-5:30p, but in Italy the big meal is lunch and all restaurants and shops close from about 3p-7p, so trying to eat at 5p is almost impossible.
You may need an International Drivers Permit to drive in another country. These are available at AAA, and you do not have to be a member. The cost was $20-$40 USD or thereabouts. Check out this AAA site for more info!
If you will be driving in another country, you will want to familiarize yourself with the road signs and such. This was a great site for driving in Italy. This was a great YT video about highways and toll stops. (Shout out to Aunt Elaine for those links before our trip!)
So that's about all I can think of right now - I know this isn't a conclusive list but it was what was right off the top of my head. Please let me know if you've got any more tips to share - I'll be sure to add them!
