In order to have the best and stress-free times on your travels, you’ll have to plan ahead. Here is a detailed guide to planning your trip abroad to make sure you’re ready for almost anything.
13 Steps In Preparing And Planning For Your Trip Abroad
1 – Get inspiration for where you want to go
Maybe you already have a dream destination, or it’s your first time traveling – you’ll need to get inspired. You can also follow my Pinterest board for destination inspirations.
2 – Decide when your best time to go would be and how long you can spend there
This is also when you should set a budget for your trip. Take into account weather, season, country holidays, and price. Usually it’s high season when it’s good weather of course, and prices are higher during that time so you’ll need to find a good balance that fits your preferences. Also take note of country public holidays as it could be either really busy or everything will be closed for a certain amount of time.
3 – Do research
What are the must-see and must-eat places for the destination you want to visit? Compile a list so it helps you plan out your itinerary easier and prepare for your trip. This will also help you decide where to book your hotel(s). In my experience, I found it was best to stay closer to the city where all the hotspots are. That way you don’t have to spend a really long time walking, or taking transportation every time you need to get food or sight-see. Sometimes, finding transportation is hard depending on where you are as well as due to language barriers. Also, keep in mind that for certain countries, you may need to get a Visa to enter so you’ll need to prepare for this before you leave your home country. Depending on where you go, you can also get a visa upon landing.
4 a) – Search for flights and accommodations
Here are the sites I use when I’m looking for a good price, they compare all airlines and all routes and you can filter your requirements: CheapAir, Skyscanner, FlightHub, CheapOAir, and Just Fly. These are the sites I use when comparing hotels: Hotels.com (you get a free stay after every 10 stays), AirBnB (depending on the location I go it can be hard to find hotels sometimes), and Agoda. During this time, booking agencies, airlines, and/or hotels will offer you the option to purchase insurance with them and to pre-purchase your check-in luggage. Take into consideration how much you intend to bring and pay for this prior to your flight as it is usually cheaper than paying at check-in counter.
4 b) Get travel insurance
If you travel a lot, I would suggest going to a travel insurance broker to find the best deal. You can get a travel insurance package that allow you to fly multiple times for a whole year so you don’t need to buy insurance for every trip you make. If it’s a one-time trip for the year, then you can purchase travel insurance with the booking agency or airline to make things easier (hence why this is part b to the above as you can purchase this at the same time as your flight). Sometimes it is a little more expensive than looking elsewhere, but it is convenient. Don’t forget to read all the fine print and exclusions! Note: you don’t have to book your travel insurance and pre-pay for your luggage right away – as long as you take up their offer before you depart your country it should be okay.
5 – Look for transportation
One your flight is booked, you’ll need to look for transportation from the airport to your accommodations. You can rent a car, pre-book with a transportation company, or just get a taxi when you get there. But try to budget an amount for this to make sure you have enough cash since a lot of taxi companies still don’t accept credit card payments yet.
6 – Do more research
Over the next while before you takeoff, you will have time to do more research in planning for your trip abroad. During this time, you can look up excursions to book and as well as mark down other places you want to visit in addition to the must-see and must-eat places you started with. Organize this and print this out so you don’t miss anything. Something important to keep in mind, is that you should get familiar with your destination country’s culture. There are things that you can do in your home country that’s okay, but is completely forbidden in another. Know the culture so you don’t get into trouble or offend the people there. What’s normal to you may not be normal to them and vice versa. After all, you are the one entering their country and you’ll need to show respect.
7 – Print physical copies
Print physical copies of your hotel, flight reservations, travel insurance, and transportation confirmations. Don’t forget to also make photocopies of your passport and driver’s license to have on hand in addition to having photos of it on your phone. You can never be too safe. Also make sure your passport is not within 6 months of expiring or you’ll need to renew it.
8 – Register your trip
If you’re Canadian, register your trip with ROCA as it allows the government to notify you in case of emergency abroad or a personal emergency at home. This free service also allows you to receive information before or during a natural disaster or civil unrest. They can also send you information on how to stay safe while you travel. In my experience though, I was never contacted so you don’t have to worry about getting unwanted notifications. If you’re American, register your trip with STEP. It is also a free service and does basically the same thing.
9 – Know your country’s embassy information
For extra safety, have handy or at least know the contact information of your country’s embassy as well as where the location is in vicinity to where you will be going. You always want to be prepared, especially in a foreign country.
10 – Let the necessary people (family or friends) know your itinerary
They may not always be able to reach you while traveling but at least they can know your last intended location for peace of mind. We don’t all have a dad like Liam Neeson in “Taken” (or do I?).
11 – Get the required vaccines or shots needed for your destination
You can usually find this on your government’s travel website. Select your destination and it will give you all the travel advice and advisories, including whether you need to get a visa, the vaccines you need, the safety level of your intended country, their customs and culture, and more.
12 – Call your financial institutions
Call your bank (debit card) and credit card companies to notify them of your travel dates so they don’t get frozen when you’re abroad and need access to money.
13 – Take care of your bills while away
Depending on the length of your stay make sure you can either access paying your bills from your new location or set your bills to auto-pay. You don’t want to come home to a pile of unpaid bills (although this most likely will be a lot of unread emails in this day and age).
Next Steps
If you’re traveling during a pandemic or during uncertain times, in addition to the Ultimate Guide To Planning Your Trip Abroad, read How To Travel Safely During a Pandemic to even better prepare yourself when traveling abroad.
Also, I created this free Pre-Trip Planner And Checklist printable download to help make planning your trip easier!
As you get closer to your takeoff date, read about the 10 Important Things To Do Before You Board The Plane. It’s a continuation to planning and preparing for your trip abroad and the next steps you need to take. Here are also the Best Ways To Save Money On Hotels For Your Next Vacation and the Best Ways To Save Money On Flights For Your Next Vacation.