Now that your vacation or honeymoon is booked, My Vacation Lady suggests taking care of a few things before you leave to have a smoother vacation.

  • Check your passport – If your passport will expire within six months of your ticketed date of return, get it renewed now.  You may be denied boarding your flight or denied entrance into the country that you’ll be visiting if you don’t have at least 6 months left on your passport.
  • Take copies of important travel documents with you – We ALWAYS suggest doing.  Make a copy of your passport.  Pack one copy and leave the other with a friend or relative at home, to be faxed or emailed to you in case of an emergency.  Make a digital copy of your rail pass tickets,  itinerary and travel insurance confirmation.
  • Contact your debit- and credit-card companies – Call your bank and credit-card company to advise them that you might be using your credit or debit cards overseas. This will help to  ensure that they don’t decline any purchases thinking that your card was stolen.
  • Find out your credit limits and any currency transaction fees involved in using your cards  – While you have the bank on the phone, confirm your debit card’s daily withdrawal limit, request an increase if you want, and ask about fees for international transactions.
  • Are you renting a car?  In most cases, your US driver’s license will be sufficient  but some countries, including Austria, Greece, Italy, and Spain, also require an International Driving Permit. You can get a international driving permit at your local AAA office for about $15 or 20.  Also, consider renting a GPS from the car rental agency.  Your cell phone navigation apps may not work or will be too expensive if you are out of the country.
  • Make a list of all of your prescriptions and take them with you.  This is also something else that you can keep a digital copy of.   Make sure you bring enough medication for your entire trip and then a few extras just in case.
  • Bring a spare pair of contact lenses and glasses with you.   Seems pretty self explanatory
  • Check with your health insurance company to see if you will be covered for emergency medical care
  • Review your  travel insurance coverage- make sure your policy # and the emergency phone # is readily available.
  • Check with your cell phone provider to see what charges you might incur for international calling, texting or data usage.   You might want to sign up for their international plans to reduce the huge phone bill upon your return.   Download some apps in advance that might come in handy on the road, such as translators, maps, transit schedules, e-books, Internet calling apps, and free audio tours

These tips might help make your vacation a bit more stress free!  These are just a few of the travel tips that My Vacation Lady’s clients receive when they book their vacation or honeymoons with us.  Our goal is for our clients to have a seamless and stress free honeymoon or vacation- and that includes starting with the planning process.