How to Adult: International Travel

Traveling internationally for most people can be exhausting, a long list of responsibilities that if forgotten, will be detrimental to travel. As fun as exploring new places across the globe seems, the aesthetic that people see on Instagram of hours on airplanes and days in hotels too often becomes a nightmare to another ordinary person.

Here’s some tips and tricks to ensure your international travel fantasies:

Passports and Papers
The expiration dates on passports (yes passports have expiration dates) can be a little deceiving. The U.S. allows travel travelers to use their passport up to the date on the inside of the cover. However, several countries will deny travelers entry to their country if their passport is within six months of expiring. This being said, always ensure you have all of the correct and valid documentation to be able to leave the United States and reenter, but also to enter whichever exotic island you decide. These specific documents needed include: a passport, a visa, a green card (depending on your status), a valid U.S. ID and a driver’s license.

Currency
Depending on the country, the currency will change. Watching the currency exchange rate up to four months before travelling will ensure you get the best bang for your international buck. Before leaving the U.S., make sure you have a little bit of cash for the other country. This ensures that if money comes to be needed for a taxi, or luggage fees on the other end, those fees are easily covered instead of a large international bank charge on your credit card. Along with money, check with your bank before you leave the country and notify them that you will be travelling so that the odd transactions made in Fiji aren’t deemed as fraud or have a tagged-on foreign exchange fee.

Travel Alerts
No matter how safe the country or area traveled to may be deemed, always make sure to check the State Department’s travel warnings and alerts. Print out the address and contact information of the local U.S. Embassy in case of crisis or conflict.

Data Roaming
Everybody loves their cell phone until the international fees kick in. Imagine spending two lovely weeks in Spain and arriving back in the U.S. to an overcharged phone bill. Infrequent travellers may not have international calling and data on their phone plan. With that being said, turning off data roaming while travelling will solidify that no extra costs are being expensed.

Packing and Electronics
The U.S. has a standard plug for electronics. Outside of the U.S., however, the adaptor is different. Make sure to check where you can buy one, preferably before arriving to the airport as prices seem triple compared to the local Target or Walmart. In terms of packing, luggage gets lost all the time. Pack an extra change of clothes in your carry-on bag just in case. In the end, triple check your bags for all the necessities, including medications, insurance cards, weather-favourable clothes and identification.

International travel is an amazing journey that can become increasingly scary in a matter of moments. Make sure to avoid those intimidating encounters by triple-checking all of your necessities and take your confidence all over the globe with you. Enjoy your travels, and have a safe return.