Whether you travel alone or with your whole family (Home Alone style), constantly for work or once a year for a vacation, to the other side of the world or to the capital of your country – traveling can be stressful. When you learn how to prepare for travel, and, better yet, when you have a list of things you need to do to prepare for travel, things get much easier.
Traveling abroad is not always a stress-free experience that we see portrayed on Instagram.
There are days, weeks, if not months of preparation included. That’s why in today’s post I’m sharing with you 16 things you need to do to prepare for travel. Consider this a checklist where you can easily check things off as you go without worrying that you’re forgetting something.
So let’s dive in.
1. Discuss communication expectations with family and close people
If you’re traveling alone, your parents might get worried and want to check in with you multiple times a day.
However, while they’re at home living their usual lives, you’re traveling abroad, filling your life with excitement and new experiences and you just don’t have time to answer calls all day long.
To avoid misunderstandings with your family, decide in advance how often you will get in touch.
Whether you want to contact your parents, kids, partner, or friends back home – the easiest way is to let them know in advance when they can expect to hear from you.
Especially if you’ll be in different time zones and you all have jobs or things to do, you don’t want to try and make it work while you’re away.
Plan that part while you’re at home and when it’s easier to contact everyone.
2. Prepare for travel with an IF-THEN list to avoid stress
I explained what an if-then list is in one of my previous posts about staying mentally healthy while traveling, so I won’t get into details again.
Basically, the goal is to prepare yourself for things that normally cause stress or things you think could happen that would be difficult to deal with.
For instance, if you often get lonely when you don’t see your friends for an extended period of time, you can create an if-then list before your trip that will help you deal with loneliness.
The list can look something like this:
IF I get lonely, THEN I’ll schedule a Zoom call with my friends back home to catch up.
IF I get lonely, THEN I’ll go to a coffee shop. I know I’ll want to be surrounded by people.
IF I get lonely, THEN I’ll book an online session with a therapist to help me deal with loneliness.
By having an if-then list ready, you will be able to focus on the solution and enjoy your trip more.
Listen to an interview I had with Marisa Vogiatzi for tips to stay safe as a female solo traveler and learn how you can build confidence traveling alone. Listen here: EP39: Building Confidence while Traveling Alone & Tips for Solo Budget Travel w/ Marisa Vogiatzi
3. Organize your itinerary in advance to prepare for travel
Wouldn’t you agree that when you plan your day in advance, it’s easier to follow through and you reduce overwhelm that comes with not knowing what to do?
In the same way, it makes sense to plan and organize your travel itinerary in advance, too.
If you travel for work, add all the tasks and meetings in your Google Calendar so that you know what you need to do and where you need to be during the day.
If you have complete freedom to create your schedule according to your own needs and desires, make sure you organize at least the main activities.
Decide where you want to go the next day or make a schedule while you’re at home and have more time to plan your trip.
Organizing your itinerary and scheduling things in advance will help you reduce stress and overwhelm when you’re traveling.
4. Don’t overpack
In retrospect, how many times did you actually use just-in-case items that you packed?
Do you keep bringing 2-3 books with you and end up not having time to read even one? If so, perhaps download some app like Audible or Blinkist so that you don’t overpack but still have something to read in case you’re in the mood to read.
Do you have a tendency to pack clothes you never wear or 5 extra pairs of something – just in case?
There’s no need to create unnecessary clutter in your suitcase just in case something happens.
I mean, bringing pills in case you get a headache? Sure.
But bringing extra 3 dresses and high heels in case you randomly decide to get married? C’mon. (Yes, I’m exaggerating, but you get the point.)
You don’t need to pack like an extreme minimalist. However, I do recommend taking it easy on the just-in-case items.
Also, if the just-in-case item you’re thinking about packing is something that’s going to keep you safe and healthy during your trip, then absolutely bring it.
Talking about safety, things like portable chargers come to mind. Yes, they are there just in case your battery dies, but they are essential when you’re traveling.
Therefore, when you pack those just-in-case items, know the difference between your desire to have multiple options when getting ready versus something that’s actually smart to bring and needed while traveling.
5. Bring essentials that keep you organized at home
What keeps you organized at home?
Is it a to-do list, your planner, Google Calendar, writing checklists? Whatever your go-to tool for organization is – bring it with you.
Unless it’s one of those heavy 90-days planners. In that case, buy a smaller notebook, and use it the same way you use your planner at home.
That way, you have something to rely on to get things in order if you get overwhelmed with tasks.
6. Plan your outfits in advance
Unless, of course, you’re traveling for more than a week or more than a month.
I’ve seen people that go somewhere for a weekend and pack a full suitcase of clothes because they want to have options.
If you’ve been following this blog post so far, you’ve already created an itinerary so you know where you’ll be and you can anticipate what type of outfits you’re going to need.
The best advice I have is to look at your schedule, then look at your closet and pick the best options.
An additional step to prepare for travel when it comes to planning your outfits is to try on the outfits you picked and take a photo of each one so that you don’t have to think about it while you’re traveling.
Genius, right?
That’s the thing about stress-free travel, prepare as much as you can in advance.
Even the minuscule things like your outfits. If you spend half an hour thinking about what you’ll wear when you’re at home – do what you can to avoid that while you’re traveling.
7. Check the weather forecast to avoid unpleasant surprises
Before I went to Budapest a few years ago, I checked the weather forecast and it said it was going to rain.
So, as one does, I brought my high Doc Martens. Not just that, but, I brought ONLY my Doc Martens.
Plot twist – it was the sunniest weather the whole time and it was June so having a pair of lighter sneakers (that I left at home) would be really nice.
The moral of the story is – check the weather so that you can be prepared if it’s going to rain or be insanely windy which can happen in coastal Croatia, for example.
But also know that the weather can be unpredictable. So, to go back to our just-in-case items, you might want to bring a smaller umbrella (remember fun facts about Melbourne) or a pair of lighter sneakers (not those ‘’trendy’’ bulky ones that would fill half of your suitcase) if the forecast turns out to be completely wrong.
8. Purchase essentials to prepare for travel
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while now, you might be familiar with my Vienna story. Long story short, I got lost in Vienna after midnight, I was alone in a not-so-central area, and my phone battery died.
Since then, a portable charger is an absolute essential for all my trips.
Other than that, you might need a convertible adapter if, for instance, you’re going from the US to Europe.
If you have an online business and you’re going somewhere where the wi-fi is not so reliable, you might want to purchase a portable WiFi hotspot.
Last summer, I was traveling in my home country and the wi-fi at the apartment I was staying in was too weak to hold Zoom calls.
Since I had coaching client calls that week, a portable WiFi hotspot was a life-saver.
Based on where you’re going, the essentials to pack will vary. Make sure to research the area so that you know what to prepare for travel.
SAVE FOR LATER 🙂
9. Research things you need to know before going to the country you’re visiting to prepare for travel
“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.”
― Anthony Bourdain
One of the things I always check is if the tap water is safe to drink.
If it’s not, you might want to bring a portable water filter.
Or, as I did in Romania, go out every single day to buy liters of water. #fun
If you’re going to Melbourne in summer and you didn’t even think about bringing an umbrella, you might find out that Melbourne is notorious for unstable weather.
Unexpected rain in the middle of (what was) the sunny day? Sure, why not.
You also want to be familiar with their customs and laws, so that you can be prepared and avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.
10. Learn the basic helpful phrases in the language of the country you’re visiting
Or write them in your notes on your phone so that you’re prepared if you need them.
Helpful phrases:
Where is…?
I don’t speak …
Do you speak English?
Help.
Also, download the Google Translate app on your phone in case you need to translate something while you’re on the go.
11. Get travel insurance
Travel insurance is a smart way to take care of your safety while traveling. It can cover the reimbursement in case of lost luggage or canceled flights, medical expenses in case of illness or injury, etc.
Make sure to check what’s covered with the one you choose.
And, yes, travel insurance is an investment but if you’re traveling abroad – you want to be safe, no matter what.
12. Call your bank and let them know you’re traveling
This is helpful if you’re going, let’s say from Bulgaria to Australia. If your bank notices some unusual activities on your card, they might block it thinking that someone stole your card information.
To avoid unnecessary drama, make a quick phone call to your bank to let them know that you’ll be away – where you’ll be and for how long.
13. Prepare for travel by informing yourself on how to stay safe where you’re going
A lot of countries have different customs, laws, things that are acceptable, and things that are recommended to avoid.
If you’re traveling alone, make sure you research how to stay safe abroad and do what you can for your safety.
If you’re going to use dating apps abroad, here is an article with safety tips for using dating apps.
When we’re traveling, we want to have fun and make our lives more excited, but you also need to take care of yourself which should be a priority.
14. Take photos of your ID, passport, credit cards, and important documents and send them to your email
Or save them as a draft in your email.
This will take you less than 5 minutes and it will be such a relief once you have it.
Some people recommend printing your passport and documents which is also a good idea.
However, I prefer having everything accessible online. That way, you can just sign in to your email account and you have everything in one place in case you lose your physical documents.
15. Save important phone numbers on your email
I heard a story from a guy in his 30s who was standing in front of his accommodation in Barcelona at night, just about to go in and some guys stole his phone and his wallet from his back pocket.
When you have important phone numbers accessible to you at all times, as you do when they’re on your email – it’s easy to contact your family, for instance, just to let them know that you’re okay.
Otherwise, they would call you, you wouldn’t be able to answer, they would get worried, etc.
If you’re traveling alone, this is always a good idea to do. Again, it takes less than 5 minutes and it will make you less stressed because you have important contacts accessible online.
16. Take care of everything at home/work so that you don’t have to think about it while you’re traveling
Things to include:
– pay your bills
– throw out the trash
– clean your apartment so that when you come back home it’s all clean
– do the laundry – you’ll have a pile of extra laundry from your trip and you don’t want to overwhelm yourself with those small tasks
– answer important work emails
– if you’re taking a vacation, set an automatic response on your email that lets the sender know that you’re unavailable
– make sure you’ve taken care of any deadlines
– use up what you can from food in the fridge that could go bad while you’re away
– turn off the appliances such as microwave, TV, washing machine, air conditioner, etc.
Share in the comments below your must-do before your trip. What’s the main thing that helps you prepare for travel?
If you found this post helpful, pin it for later so that you always have this list of things to prepare for travel. It’s a life-saver to just check things off the list instead of worrying if you’ve done everything.
SAVE FOR LATER 🙂
Until the next time,
Ivana
prepare for travel things to do before your trip travel preparation
Great Post ! I have read your other posts which are really informative for any traveler. Thanks for sharing such a beautiful informative information on the blog.
Great tips. If you are a first-time traveler, these tips will certainly help you ease into becoming a pro.
Helpful post. I wouldn’t have thought about some of these things, like putting phone numbers in your Email or helpful phrases in your phone. I’m headed to Hawaii in May, so those tips will come in handy.
I love this list. I love organizing for trips. It’s so exciting for me. I love researching and preparing. Thank you for sharing those ideas 🙂