5 useful tips if you are preparing a trip abroad

Many have already planned their summer holidays. Okay, most people prefer the Greek islands, but for those who have arranged or will arrange a holiday abroad I have a few tips if we want to leave the unexpected aside for this year.

I take the passports, tickets and identity cards for granted, and move on. Obviously you've checked in before you go to the airport to save time and you won't have sharp objects (knives, pocket knives, etc.) in your hand luggage.

So I suggest some more specific practices to follow before you set off on a trip abroad.

1. Check the entry requirements for the destination country

In the era of COVID-19, of compulsory certificates, tests and vaccines, we need to be sure that the country we are going to will accept us. This practically means that we need to see what documents we need to travel (regarding COVID-19, because obviously we will have passports and/or ID cards with us).

A very good app with updated information is Re-open EU, which can be used on both mobile and PC. It provides information on travel and health measures in EU and Schengen associated countries (i.e. Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

You can select the country you will visit or even enter your itinerary (e.g. departure from Greece to Germany) and see what you need to bring with you. Available and in Greek.

The personalised nature of the app will help you avoid having to browse through embassy websites to find out what you need for each country.

2. Take care of your health while travelling

I consider this stage to be one of the most important when preparing for a trip and it involves two parts. The first is the personal pharmacy that we should have with us on a trip. In consultation (obviously) with your doctor or pharmacist, the pharmacy bag can include painkillers, antipyretics, poison pills, anti-allergy pills, eye drops and anything else your doctor thinks you should have with you.

Don't forget that in some countries you can't even buy paracetamol without a prescription from a pharmacy!

The second part concerns the European Health Insurance Card. Anyone who is insured in Greece or in another European country is entitled to the European Health Card. It is free, valid in countries within the EU, and can help you save a lot of money if you get sick.

Just make sure you apply in time, as it may take a while before it is issued and sent to you.

3. If the trip is outside the EU or in a country with another currency, inform your bank

Someone had given me this advice when I was preparing for a transatlantic trip and it really did come in handy. Particularly if you are going to a country outside the Eurozone or outside the European Union, it is a good idea to inform your bank that you are going to be trading in another currency for that period of time. This is because, if the bank detects that your card is being used in an unknown location, it may assume that it is being used by someone else and block it.

4. Put the internet on!

It may sound like an exaggeration, but it's not. I realized that the internet is essential on a trip once when I was waiting for a bus in the middle of nowhere on the Swiss-Italian border. The map said I was in the right place, but to be honest there was no bus stop or anyone else waiting with me. And I didn't have internet, so I couldn't double-check.

In the end, I was right and the bus took me around at one point, but fun aside, it's very important to have internet while abroad. You can go from checking out the simplest things like restaurants, museums, cafes, to finding out about more serious things like changes in schedules, pharmacies on call, and more.

Data roaming is valid within the European Union (it's always good to check, depending on the connection or package you have with the company) but for countries outside the EU you will need to get a different package or card with a local number once you arrive at your destination.

5. Take small but life-saving gadgets with you

You're at the airport to check in your baggage and then the fatal thing happens. The flight attendant decides to weigh it... You know beforehand that it's overweight (you've carried all the junk souvenirs, bags, clothes and generally bought as much as you would in Greece in a year) and you try to remove what you can by wearing half your clothes, one on top of the other.

Yes, this is mostly on the return trip, so you can't weigh your suitcase to see if you're within the weight limit. The solution is luggage scales! It takes up no space and will save you the extra cost of excess baggage (it usually pays to pay for extra baggage instead of the cost of excess baggage).

Another gadget you should have with you is the powerbank. Personally, it has saved me many times, since my mobile battery doesn't last beyond certain daily hours of use and the GPS (which I use excessively when travelling abroad) consumes too much battery.

In the secondary gadgets I would include the airplane cushion (depending on flight times and space available), headphones, antiseptics, Suitcase GPS (in case of loss), waterproof camera disposable (for underwater shooting); and socket adapter (depending on where you are travelling to).