A Handy Travel Checklist
With so much to remember when organizing a vacation, it’s pretty easy to forget stuff. Here’s a convenient checklist that will hopefully make it a little easier to remember the important things.
1. Your Passport and Any Visas
Be certain that your passport is current and valid. Arrange for any visas you may required for the countries you’re planning to visit.
2. Have Your Tickets Available – Plane, Bus, Train, Etc.
Even if you have e-tickets, printing them out, including any airline tickets, can be a good idea. At the very least, you’ll want to have the information available on your laptop, tablet or cell phone. By doing that you’ll have your itinerary and other important information readily available should it be required.
3. Hotel Vouchers or Reservations.
Even if you received confirmation of your booking online, it’s smart to have the hotel information and confirmation of the booking with you.
4. International Travel Insurance
Be sure to have your travel insurance and medical insurance documentation with you when traveling. You don’t want to be in a difficult situation when you need them only to realize that they’re still sitting on the dresser at home.
5. Available Cash
Nowadays, most of us like to travel with credit cards and debit cards. A few of us still use travelers checks in addition to our plastic. Nonetheless, it’s good to have some local currency available, as well. Make an effort to obtain some of the local currency before you travel so you can get the best exchange rate.
6. Important Contact Information
If you booked your trip through a travel agent, you should have their contact information with you. Also, ask for any information they have for contacts in your destination country.
Make sure you have the correct phone numbers for your banks and credit cards. You will need to contact them if your cards are lost or stolen.
7. What You Should Have in Your Carry-On Luggage
It seems to be unavoidable at times – lost luggage. Dealing with this kind of inconvenience is bad enough. However, if you arrive at your hotel without so much as a toothbrush or deodorant, it can be very unsettling.
A few hotels will have little toiletries packages available for their guests, but most don’t.
Note: Make sure you keep within the size limitations currently required by the airlines.
8. Cellphone
Take your cell phone along with you if you want to stay in touch. Ask your service provider about coverage where you’re going and about any roaming charges.
9. Other Languages
Sure, we’d all like to have a “universal translator” like they do in Star Trek, but we’re not quite there yet. However, there are several state-of-the-art devices available. And, you can use a low-tech version – a comprehensive phrase book.
10. Medications and Immunization
Before your trip, find out if you need any vaccinations and then, if you do, get them.
Be sure to take essential medications with you on your trip. Also, have the doctor’s prescription should any of these medications be questioned. A lot of countries impose harsh penalties if they suspect you of attempting to smuggle controlled substances.
11. Avoid Over-Packing
Some essential are things like a bathing suit, shorts, t-shirts, dress shirts or blouses, dress pans or skirts/dresses, dress shoes and walking shoes. Choose items that you can mix and match to help prevent over-packing.
12. Take Along Some Reading Material
If you’ll be spending extended periods of time on planes, buses, trains, ships, etc. then take some books, magazines, crosswords puzzles and other reading material.
We hope this checklist helps you plan for a stress-free vacation.
For additional travel tips and suggestions on cheap vacations we suggest that you visit http://www.DirtCheapTravelSecrets.com.
Tags: walking shoes, local currency, airline tickets, difficult situation, e book <BR/>
A List Of European Travel Ideas
Europe is a very popular destination, so it’s only natural that you’d like to go there, too. Here are ten tips to help you get the most from your vacation.
1. Make a Budget.
Your budget should include everything you can think of. Things like accommodation expenses, airfare, train tickets, food expenses (groceries and eating out), currency exchange, any attractions and even souvenirs. It may be hard to come up with every expense you might encounter on your trip, but give it your best shot. Then add a little more for those unexpected expenses that always seem to crop up.
2. Make up your mind when you want to travel.
To be sure you don’t miss out on anything that might be seasonal, check to see if your destination has a specific tourist “season”. Be sure that you’re booking your vacation during a time you can have the best travel experience. Weather can be a factor for your vacation, as well. So include weather with the rest of your research.
3. Check the political climate.
In most cases, countries make every effort to ensure that tourists are safe. Even so, it’s a wise precaution to acquaint yourself with the current situation, especially if that country has had some political unrest in the past.
4. How’s your internal clock?
If sleeping in and having a leisurely breakfast (or brunch) is more your style, then a guided tour that gets everyone loaded up first thing each morning may not be for you. However, a Mediterranean cruise might work well for you. Doing that would still allow you to sleep in and visits all the ports of call without feeling rushed. Most cruise ships travel from port to port at night, arriving early in the morning. Most often they spend the entire day in port and you are free to come and go, just as long as you’re back before they leave for the next port of call.
5. Don’t put it off.
Don’t put off taking your dream vacation by saying things list “someday”. Make sure you do the things you’ve always wanted to so you’re not saying to yourself – “If only I’d done that, or seen that.”
6. Sketch out your plan for each day.
Devote some time to deciding what you’d like to do each day. That doesn’t mean that every day has to be filled with rushing around. If you want to spend a day at the beach doing nothing – great! But, make it part of your plan so you don’t miss out on it.
Try not to over plan either. Sometimes, when going to a new location, the desire to “do it all” can be overwhelming. Decide what is actually important for you to do on this particular trip. Then leave the other stuff for another trip. Don’t forget – this is your holiday. Chill out!
7. Do some research online.
Taking advantage of the internet to get information about your destination is a smart thing to do. You’ll find that there are a lot of free tourist guides available. The internet is becoming our tool-of-choice for finding deals on airfare, rental cars, accommodations, attractions and even travel insurance.
8. Pack the least amount you can get away with.
And, be sure to pack appropriate items for your travel destination. Naturally your decisions will be influenced by the time of year that you plan to travel. Only take items that you will actually need. For longer trips, plan to do laundry during the trip and choose clothing that you can mix and match. Think layering. Think about how to dress up your regular day clothes for a night on the town. Think light. And, if you have forgotten something that you need, you can always pick it up when you get there. This is one of the reasons you put aside some emergency spending money – right?
9. Make sure you have all the important stuff organized.
Confirm that your passport and any other required documents are current. Double check that the travel insurance you purchased adequately covers you for your entire trip. Obtain a small amount of local currency before you leave so you have some cash in your pocket when you arrive.
10. The most important tip we can give you is to have fun!
That’s what it all about. But, if something does go wrong, try to relax. Odds are it will all work out. There’s no such thing as a flawless vacation but encountering something unexpected can make for an amazing adventure and some glorious memories.
Extra tip:
Think about taking packaged tours in Eastern Europe if your budget is limited.
If you’re time is flexible, look into “last minute” trips – you could realize some amazing savings. Also, think about traveling outside of the high seasons to save even more.
For more timely travel advice and news about cheap vacations visit DirtCheapTravelSecrets.com today!
Tags: accommodation expenses, popular destination, double check, Extra tip, Eastern Europe, flawless vacation <BR/>5 Tips For Choosing The Right Kind of Coverage For You
Normally, Travel Insurance isn’t something that you’d give a lot of thought to. But, that changes when you start planning a trip or vacation. Then all the ads you see for travel insurance suddenly take on meaning. Almost immediately the idea of finding the right kind of travel insurance becomes important.
Following are 5 tips to aid with your search:
1. Be careful that your travel insurance policy doesn’t end up costing you more than the premium you pay.
Don’t be swayed by price only when searching for the best policy. Certainly you’ll want to get the best price for your policy. Remember the age-old saying – you only get what you pay for.
Getting the most comprehensive coverage for your situation is what is truly important. Therefore, selecting the least expensive policy may not be your wisest choices. That’s not to say you can’t get the coverage you need at a reasonable price.
If you experience a loss while traveling, that isn’t covered by the policy you chose, then you can be out-of-pocket for a lot more than the little extra premium you would have paid on your travel insurance.
2. What resources are available to you in an emergency?
Make sure your travel insurance company has phone numbers that can be contacted 24/7. The phone numbers should either be toll-free or, at the very least, accept collect calls. You don’t want to find out, when in an emergency situation, that you can only contact your insurance company during normal business hours.
3. What coverage is available in a standard policy?
Some companies will quote a very low rate, then charge separately for each additional item that may be standard with other policies. Be sure you are always comparing apples-to-apples when considering each travel insurance policy. The company should guide you and suggest possible risks that you may not have thought of.
4. Find out who provides support for the insurance company.
Customarily, insurance companies work with certain types of service providers. Learn who would be tasked with providing services for medical emergencies or even emergency evacuation. Find out the procedures for getting such assistance.
5. Does the insurance company you’re looking at supply specialized policies?
Don’t accept at standard one-size-fits-all type of travel insurance policy. It’s possible that you could be paying for coverage that’s not required. Of, you may be missing some coverage that you do need. Search for a company that provides a wide selection of policies that can be specialized for backpackers, golfers, long term travel and more.
To be sure you’re getting the right policy for your needs, read more at Travel Medical Insurance blog.
Tags: International Medical Travel Insurance, Financial services, expensive policy <BR/>