Things to Know Before You Travel to Europe – If you or a friend are planning to travel to Europe this summer, I’m pretty sure you’ll appreciate any advice to help make your travels go smoother and safer. Europe is one of the busiest places for tourists over the summer months, so hopefully situs slot depo pulsa tanpa potongan, you’ll find these tips helpful! Let me know if you agree, disagree, or would add anything to the list below. And please feel free to share this with any friends, family, or colleagues who plan to travel to Europe this summer
Things to Know Before You Travel to Europe
Make Sure You Have A Valid Passport
If you’re planning to travel out of the country this summer, now is the time to find your passport and make sure it’s valid. Remember that many countries require that your passport be valid for at least six months (some just three months) after your arrival date before they’ll grant entry to their country. It doesn’t matter if you’re only going for a day; if you don’t have at least six months validity, you could, and probably will, be denied entry. Here’s how to renew or apply for a passport. For more, here are 10 passport tips that will save you time, money and headaches.
Pack Light + What Not to Pack
One of my top three travel tips is to pack light. Trust me: It will make your travel experience slot deposit pulsa tanpa potongan so much easier. When my then-girlfriend, now-wife, Natalie, showed up for our first trip together, which was just a weekend trip, she looked like a 1920s transatlantic passenger with the size of her trunk! I had to put on the brakes and show her the light.
I used to pack the same way but I learned the benefits of traveling light, like not having to pay for checked luggage, not having to show up early to the airport, not having to stand in long lines to check your bag or stand around for what seems like an eternity for your bags to come out at baggage claim (if they ever do). You also don’t have to worry about the airline losing your bag, and you’ll be able to switch to an earlier or non-delayed flight more easily and you can take public transportation to get around, which is usually faster and cheaper – especially in Europe.
Then, Natalie figured out how to pack even lighter than me and when I suggested she check a bag for one of our round-the-world trips, she looked at me like I was crazy. Now that we have kids, our carry-on days are behind us but if you can, don’t check a bag. And if you have to, make sure you pop an Apple AirTag or Samsung SmartTag inside so you can always track your own luggage, since the airlines are currently losing record numbers of bags.
Always Pay in Local Currency
One of the biggest scams I find major stores committing overseas is after they swipe my credit card and it registers as U.S., they try and make it sound like they are helping me save money when they say, “Oh, would you like to pay in U.S. dollars or euros/pounds (or whatever their local currency is). Paying in U.S. dollars would seem to be the more convenient option, but in reality, it’s not. In fact, it’s a total rip-off, since the stores that do this charge a higher exchange fee than your bank back home does. So, remember to always pay in the local currency of the country you’re in.
Download Apps like Google Maps & Google Translate
These days, you rarely have to worry about not being able to communicate overseas. People always think I speak multiple languages because I travel so often and don’t have a difficult time doing it. Sadly, I only speak English and I’m not even very good at that. However, I’ve noticed that more and more people are speaking English in the past 15 years (especially the younger generation). During all my travels, I only once ran into a problem not speaking the local language and that was in China. But since then, there’s been a whole slew of technological innovation, including the Google Translate app (Android and iOS). It’s free to download and can translate over 108 languages (you can even translate 59 languages when there’s no Internet), from Afrikaans to Zulu. The app also has instant camera translation: Translate text in images instantly by just pointing situs slot deposit pulsa 10 ribu tanpa potongan your camera. Travelers can translate any text including street signs and menus just by holding up their camera: English to-and-from 94 languages. The translation is suddenly overlaid on the phone screen, just like that.