I have an incredibly, stupidly detailed list of things to do before leaving home. It's on another computer, but I could post it if you like. Are you really talking about the stuff that needs to be done in order to leave home? I assume all your reservations are made, and you've already researched your destinations. Am I correct in assuming so?

I can use similar help too. The experienced ones can give tips to help others.
Thanks in advance.

Are you asking about things that need to be done to secure your home while you are away? There are differences between houses and apartments. I know I've seen a list here on Fodors that was clearly meant for people living in single-family houses. Half the list was useless for me since I live in an apartment. There are also some differences in needed preparations between a one-week trip and a four-week trip and a three-month trip.

I know people in houses have mentioned turning off the water. Sounds ridiculous for someone in an apartment, since my downstairs neighbours would notice a waterleak very quickly.

For a longer trip you need to make certain your post is taken care of and your bills will be paid on time. If you get a daily newspaper it would be a good idea to stop delivery while you are away unless someone picks it up for you.

If you have lots of flowers in pots they need watering. If you have someone you trust living close it may be a good idea to have them take care of both the flowers and the post. Oh, have them check that the fridge and freezer haven't died, too. The stink from a dead fridge in summer is not fun to come home to. Believe me, I know.

If you live in a house it may be a good idea to have some lamps on timers, although that may be more important in winter than summer.

Can't think of any more tips right now.

passport, credit/debit card, address of any places you are staying in, favorite guide, tiny torch, any tickets, medicine, emergency telephone number and telephone.

I struggle to think of anything else, I normally take a bicycle but not everyone travels with one.

Scan and email to yourself the face page of your passport.

Stop the milk/newspaper deliveries.

Be sure to alert credit card that you will be in Europe and notify your bank where you have your ATM or debit cards also. I print out our itinerary and phone numbers where we can be reached and give copies to our children. Stop your mail until you get back and most of all do not forget your passport.

Don't forget to pack all chargers and plug adaptors needed for any and every electronic device you carry--camera, phone, computer, etc. etc!

And the other stuff above!

Take the phone numbers from the back of your credit cards, both US and collect from Europe. You'll need those if you lose your card(s). Also, if you haven't memorized the account number on your cards, don't write down the entire number, but take only the last four digits. That should be enough should you need to telephone them.

Also, if you're travelling with your spouse, one of you take 1 or 2 cards, the other take 1 or 2 different cards. That way, if one of you loses his cards, the other has cards to use.

I have a packing list [in fact one for each family member and one generic one] that i just print off for every trip and then amend as necessary.

you could expand that to a checklist to incorporate all the above.

or muddle through like the rest of us!

tuscanlifeedit I'd love the checklist! Yes, I have reservations and researched away.

Checklists away!

Thank you all!

Get some euro. My atm card and my husbands is not giving us cash. I had this problem last trip but my one trusted card and husband's atm has ALWAYS given us money until this trip. To make things even worse the grocery wouldn't take my credit card. I think the cashier did not understand it was not a chip and pin. I used it earlier today at E. Dehillerin and it worked fine. I loved that store. But am down to a hundred euro...

Get some euro. My atm card and my husbands is not giving us cash. >>

alternatively keep some from last time. [i know that this doesn't work on a first trip]. we normally have some left over and i now make an effort to keep at least €50 so that we aren't scratting about to find an ATM first thing we arrive.

i also save euro coins in an old 35mm film cannister [remember those?] so i've got change for luggage trolleys, coffees, etc.

Many electrical devices (curling iron, hair dryer, etc.) have dual voltage so all you need are adapter plugs (different ones for different countries). However, if you're taking a device without dual voltage, then you'll need a converter as well as the plugs.

What else? Small notebook and pen/pencil although you can always buy those when you arrive. Not necessary, but often useful, is a battery operated clip-on reading light, along with a book, puzzle, etc.

You guys are goooood! Wrote chargers down and checked all my electrical devices. They all will work! Thank you!

Two months before: make sure your passport and drivers license will be valid until you get home. If you are driving in Italy, go to AAA and get an international driving license. You won't need it unless you are stopped by the police or have an accident. This is a good time to make sure your credit card won't expire while you are gone.

Start breaking in any new shoes you plan to wear.

One month before: Make a clothing checklist for the trip. List all the days and all the clothes and make a wardroble plan for each day so you don't wear the same thing every day and know when you will have to do laundry because the blue shirt won't do a third wearing. Try on the clothes. Buy anything you will need and don't own yet.

Two weeks before, make sure you have enough of your prescription medications to make it until you are home. Buy travel toiletries etc.

One week before: notify your bank and credit card company when and where you will be traveling.

I photograph or scan our passports, drivers licenses, credit cards, health insurance card and ATM cards before we leave. I print one copy for each of our suitcases and keep one on my computer and one in the camera. If I weren't taking a computer, I would email a copy to myself.

Do a dry run packing. Will everything fit? Does it need cleaning or mending? Can you lift the suitcase?

The day before you leave: order taxi to airport or confirm travel arrangements if someone is dropping you off. Check 10 day weather forecast at the places you will be going. Do final packing, adjusting for weather at destinations.

The day you leave: Take all the keys off your keychain except the ones you need to get back into your house and to drive to the airport. Take everything out of your wallet except what you will need on the trip. Turn off your hot water heater. Turn the air conditioning up to 75 or the heat down to 50, depending on the season. Throw out everything in the refrigerator that won't last until you get home. Unplug all your small appliances, check the burners on your stove, lock the windows and back door. Travel worry free.

Wow these are super tips, my question, we arrive in Gatwick on a Thursday,and sail out of Mayflower Terminal ,Southampton on Saturday, may12th@ 4:30pm... HELP, how do we get to the port. Should we book a National Express bus online? The NEsite says it will take 3hrs and about 18 pounds each. A limo about 100 pounds. Suggestions.

where are you going to be between arriving on the thursday [10th?] and Saturday 12th? London?

you don't have to go there. why not try Chichester, or Portsmouth? lots to do and a lot easier [and cheaper] to get to the cruise port afterwards.

Time for one more? Take a washcloth/facecloth/whatever you call it. Now, stop laughing -- many European hotels do not provide this accessory that North Americans expect automatically accompanies the towels. Neatest way is to stuff it in a ZipLock plastic bag so it can be packed when still wet.

Thanks we are arriving Thursday @7am after 9hr flight from Vancouver c
So will probably clear customs , get our bags have lunch and go to our hotel to crash. Got the courtyard marriott for what seemed like a reasonable rate .thought Friday take Gatwick express to victoria station.

ljv - enjoy your trip!

Just in case a translation is needed . . . >>tiny torch<< means a small flashlight.

ljv53: I posted this to the other thread, but just in case, Staying at Gatwick for 2 nights -- especially w/ such an early arrival seems a real waste. You could be in central London by 10AM, checking into a central Hotel, have most of the day Thursday and all day Friday to explore London,then taxi to Waterloo and take a train to Southampton. Much nicer than staying at LGW for 2 nights.

Instead of a facecloth/washcloth, I cut up an old towel in small pieces, use each piece once or twice and throw away. Even though I carefully (I thought) washed and rinsed a facecloth and carried it in a plastic bag, it began to smell sour, so I don't like reusing them more than a couple of times.

I take my old washcloths and throw them out as I use them or else cut up old towels into little pieces and just toss them in trash after each use. Yankee ingenuity!

I used to do the cut-up-a-towel trick that crckwc1 mentions (and still do on some trips), but I found a wonderful washcloth/face flannel at REI that is some sort of microfiber and dries totally in about an hour. It folds into a really small self-envelope. It is one of my favorite travel gadgets.

I haven't read the other posts, so I may be duplicating here. We always turn off the water in our house when we leave town. Turn up (or down) the ac/furnace. Also stop the newspaper and mail or have someone pick them up. Put some lights on timers.

I copy all my credit cards, insurance card, driver's license and passport and leave a copy with my family in case my wallet gets stolen. I take with me a copy of my passport and leave the real one in the hotel safe when we go out. My husband and I each carry separate credit cards (i.e. I have the Visa and he has the Mastercard) and ATM cards (from 2 different banks) so if one of our wallets get stolen we still have access to a credit card and an ATM card. Email yourself any documents that you might need access to.

I always bring a small flashlight and a travel blanket that folds up into a pillow. I also bring the game "Farkle" because it is tiny (fits in a film cartridge). It is easy to carry around and is perfect for killing time when waiting in a train station, etc... Bring a small bottle of hand sanitizer.

Another thing I've done that has proven helpful is to write the name and address of our hotels on index cards before we leave town. Then, when we arrive and need a taxi, I can show the driver the pre-written index card and there is no problem with a language barrier.

For my last trip to Paris, I did extensive research on restaurants, shops, etc... Then I plotted everything on one map that I carried with me. That way, I could plan out our days by general area of town to make sure we got to see and do everything on our list. It was helpful to have the map with me because we could be flexible if we wanted to change our course for that particular day.

I always throw a couple of large ziplock bags into my luggage. One I use to keep all my receipts, ticket stubs, etc... I always get a card from every restaurant we go to. When I get home, I put all of that stuff in a file folder and label it by city and date. It has come in handy if I ever want to go back and remember, for example, the name of the restaurant we ate in in Florence in 2005 ...

Have a great trip!

A

Make sure that you have a pen in your purse or carryon to fill out forms;pack a sweater or scarf for a wrap on that flight and pack a refillable water bottle for the flight.

You guys are amazing! I never even thought of some of this stuff! Thank you! Keep it coming if you got more.

If you have room--I take one of those accordian file folder holders, with "stuff" for each day--any preordered tickets/vouchers, etc., plus pertinent small maps or itinerary details I want to remember--in different, labeled pockets. Then at the end of the day I throw away what is throwawayable and put the day's collection of stubs, receipts, brochures, etc., in the pocket. IT helpls scrapbooking later.

texasbookworm that is a FANTASTIC idea! I love scrapbooking!

A couple more thoughts I had ...

Email yourself the phone numbers/contact information for the customer service number to call if your credit cards get stolen. I also copied both sides of my credit cards and kept that photocopy with our passports in the safe so we could call to cancel if needed. We almost needed that information when we were in Venice because my husband left our credit card in a restaurant. By the time we figured it out - 6 hours later - we had absolutely NO idea where that restaurant was located (if you've been to Venice you understand!) DH took off running through Venice (he is a jogger) to find the restaurant while I went back to the hotel to get online and see if our credit card had been used. Luckily it hadn't, and DH found the restaurant (a stone's throw from our hotel as it turns out!) and the waiter recognized him and pulled the card out of his pocket. He held it for us hoping we would return - so nice!

On another trip to France and Italy, I bought guide books for our journey. The guide books covered a lot more information than we needed (i.e. cities we weren't visiting), and were VERY heavy, so I ripped out just the pages of the places we were visiting. Those pages were easy to fold up and stick in my purse, and I didn't have to lug around a heavy book all day. The rest of the book was left intact at home for future visits to other cities. I did feel kind of guilty ripping up a book, but it actually worked out really well.

atttnymom--As a real book lover, I've been reluctant to tear up books, too. But like you I've torn out pertinent pages and filed them in that file folder thing I mentioned just above--I used older travel guides I picked up at a used book store to "destroy." It made less bulk to transport than the book--although in honesty I usually have taken at least one travel guide, usually a Doris Kinderly or a Fodors, along if I can, but that one stays in the hotel/rooms not in backpack for daily reference on the run like the torn-out pages.

Hearts--remember saline spray, gum, lotion, ear plugs for air travel. Remember ear buds if you want to listen to anything.

And don't forget your sense of adventure, spirit of patience, and expectation of disruptions!

you travellers are amazing! new one for me was for husband and I
to carry different cards and photocopy. love it!
thanks

And one more comment (sorry - I keep remembering things!)

When DH and I went to Europe for an extended vacation a few years ago, I set up an account at a second bank at home so we could each have different ATM cards to carry (see post above).

I just wanted to emphasize that we got ATM cards - not debit cards - from both of our banks to take to Europe. That way, if our wallets got stolen, the thief didn't have debit cards that he/she could use like a credit card (while draining our account) until we got it canceled. An ATM card is useless without the PIN number. The ATM cards were just used to withdraw cash. Every other purchase went on the credit cards.

Have fun!

A

We always pay cash in restaurants in France as it is so easy to forget credit cards on the table after having drinks or being preoccupied as it happened to us in the States. We withdraw enough euros every morning for the day and then I put the ATm card in my bra(have a little pocket in it)! Oh I don't do this in the street of course as DH goes early in the mornimg when he goes out for coffee!

texasbookworm thank you! I sure will!

Attnymom keep remembering away! You got some great ideas!

THANK YOU!