Always being prepared and equipped with essential travel items and wear is important and a need for travelers. Learn how to be prepared for an overseas trip, without smacking your head or losing your nerve when you forget to carry along something you needed…
Traveling overseas is fun and an endeavor that people should take up in order to experience something new and exciting. It can be quite an adventure to explore a new territory and gain so much insight into a new place or culture, depending on where you are heading off to this holiday. You’ve finally got it down to planning your trip after months of anguish over when that much-needed holiday is finally going to roll in.
Being prepared for an overseas journey is important without leaving anything vital behind. It can be quite a frustrating scenario to look for something and not have it on hand. You need to be smart when packing a suitcase, without going overboard when you plan on what to take. There are things of absolute need and there are those that can be left behind – knowing what to take and how to make the most of baggage space should be on your list of priorities.
Preparatory Tips Before Traveling to Your Destination
When going to another place it is important to be prepared when it comes to interacting with the people and how you will maneuver your way around the town or city area. A couple of months before you plan to travel, read up on the place and familiarize yourself with the landmarks around where you will be staying and educate yourself about tourist spots that you must check out. A lot of people have tour guides assigned to them from an agency to help them work their way around the city. I remember when we’d gone to Thailand not knowing the language at all but relying heavily on a tour guide who was able to give us a good chunk of sight-seeing memories.
Prepare yourself for the kind of food available there since your system and palate may be sensitive to change. Try learning basic sentences of the dialect to help yourself around like in convenient stores or at the mall, so that you aren’t completely handicapped when in a country that doesn’t have English as part of their system. Also remember to look up certain traditions and cultural habits so that you aren’t breaking any of these valued beliefs, especially if it is a conservative and traditional country, and most importantly, get a tour guide during your first time there!
Things to Pack for an Overseas Trip
Besides knowing what to pack, it is also crucial to know how to pack light for an overseas trip since the last thing anyone wants, is to be weighed down by unnecessary luggage. You’ll find here a checklist of items to take and pack into your suitcase, where it is important to keep things like your passport, foreign currency, keys, visa (if any) and credit cards in your handbag.
Things to Pack
- Undergarments (carry enough of these to last you the whole trip, buy more if needed once you arrive at your destination)
- Makeup/deodorant/perfume/shower beauty products (these have to go into your luggage and not your handbag)
- At least four pairs of socks (for men who rely on these)
- Home wear (five pieces will do)
- First aid kit (you never know when you may need this)
- Medium-sized flashlight
- Travel guide (a mini guide with maps of your destination, and translation key if necessary.)
- Medication (if any) with a doctor’s prescription (airport officials allow these if you have the prescription or a special cases note from your doctor)
- Raincoat/single warm overcoat (if the weather calls for either)
- Two pairs of shoes (you will inevitably shop for more so go easy on how many of these you carry)
- Outdoor outfits (3 casual and 2 formal; shopping is a given when traveling, so once again go easy on how many outfits you pack)
- Camera and its battery charger (place this in a protective casing before packing it away)
- Cell phone charger
- Sunblock/sunscreen (important when traveling since you’ll be outdoors a lot)
- Shaving accessories (for men; women can carry these too)
- Contact lens case and solution (if you wear these, keep an extra case with solution already in it, in your handbag for long flights where you’ll need to remove these; it would be advisable to carry a pair of glasses for such instances)
- A pack of sanitizer
Once you have everything arranged, ordered and well-placed within your suitcase, make a note once again of everything that’s been packed to be certain that you haven’t missed out on something. Don’t pack in excess since you can shop to heart’s content once you get to your destination. It is better not to come back weighed down by more than one suitcase, so packing a single spacious one before you leave and coming back with the same, would be a smarter move. It takes off the strain from traveling with an overload while also sticking to the minimum baggage weight that you are assigned.
You wouldn’t want to pay a hefty fine for traveling heavy, which I can assure you is not an amusing situation. So pack wisely and take only what you will most definitely require. Travel safe!
