"Sure, there is a lot of information out there but what tips do you do every time?" This question was recently posed to me and I had to think about it as a lot of the travel things I do to prepare, I just do, I don't think. What is it that I do out of habit? After thinking hard about it, I came up with:
- After planning the majority of the trip, look for free local walking tours (Red Umbrella & Strawberry Tours usually) for days that I'm wanting to get a lay of the land or when I have some downtime. I then will check prices on things that I can cancel and rebook (ex. hotels) to see if they've gone down or there is a better price. I'll usually clear my cookies and use the incognito setting for chrome or explorer to do this as this will remove any information that I've been to these sites before which can lower the price. I also check out hotels that may have been interesting to me in the research period but were either sold out or too expensive.
- Photocopy my passport, print off all my confirmations, print double copies of my visa's, pack a copy of my marriage license, and make sure that someone not travelling with me has a copy of everything as well so they have the contact info especially. Pack cash in the currency of the country(s) (even airports if need be) I'm going to and usually some USD as a backup as well as two credit cards.
- Make sure that the important papers, cash, passport, and electronics are in the carry on that I'll stow under the seat in front of me and not in my carry on luggage in case that is forced to be checked. Usually I'll have my carry on suit case, a duffle or backpack, and then my purse.
- The purse will have the Visa's, cash I'll need upon arrival, my cell phone, go pro, and passport.
- The duffle or backpack will have the electronics (and charging cables) as well as the extra cash and other things that I'll need to pass the time on the plane plus my neck pillow. Normally I'll shove my purse into this bag during the flight when I don't need to access the items plus this also prevents going over the carry on baggage limits.
- Pack Ziploc bags and wine saver pouches. These both have been huge savers as the Ziplocs are great to stop leaking liquids from getting everywhere, keeping wet clothes separate, keeping things together, and make things waterproof if you are going on a boat. The wine save pouches blow up to protect the bottle of wine or booze you are bringing back but normally I'll only pack them if I'm travelling with a full size suitcase as they take up a lot of space once blown up.
- Sort through everything and pick out what I want to pack. Sleep on it. The next day go back through what I've grabbed and remove items then try to pack the suite case with what I have picked out. Remove more items as usually it's still too much as I still need to pack clothes. About a week out, do laundry and pick out the clothes I want. Sort through everything and see if I can pack it. A couple of days before leaving, remove more items I won't need (usually based on weather reports) and reshuffle things between the suitcase and duffle / backpack. Weigh the suitcase and if everything works then zip it closed, lock it, and leave it until I need to go to the airport.
