Have I done enough prep?
 

Hello, we leave in 3 days for Europe and I'm so excited! Here is what I've done beforehand, am I missing anything??
Called CC companies to let them know of travel
made passport photo copies
have rail pass/plane tickets
have all bank of america atm locations
changed pin numbers

Is there anything else I should do before I go?

Cancel newspaper deliveries, ( if you have them!)have the mail held, then sit down and have a huge glass of wine!

Hi ad,

Did you arrange for the post office to hold your mail?

Make sure your luggage is identified both inside and outside with your name, etc.
Take CC phone number contacts with you in case you lose one or it is stolen.
Safeguard valuables with either a money belt or some suitable means.
Give someone here a copy of your itinerary in case they need to contact you.

Test the new PINs at a local ATM to make sure you have them memorized correctly. (maybe you can just request a balance).

Did you reconfirm your hotel reservations?

Do you have spare batteries, film etc.?

Take a list of "Important Numbers" which include numbers related to your travel (hotel, airline, etc) and numbers back home (family, work, travel agent, etc).

Pack one day ahead of time - that way you can relax the day of travel, and you have enough time if you realize you need to dash out and buy anything. One more day in the suitcase isn't going to add any extra wrinkles.

Leave for the airport even earlier than you think you should. I once had an accident on the way due to some telephone co. parts falling off a truck that I couldn't avoid running over, damaging the undercarriage, a/c etc. I can't really relax until I'm sitting in the airport waiting area, then I can go 'whoooosh', we're on our way!

You can also email yourself your itinerary and other important information.

I use an address at www.yahoo.com

I change the numbers on financial info so that if someone gets the numbers they can't use them.

Thanks! I have a roommate who will be taking care of the mail situation though. Good idea about labeling my luggage...

Do I need to validate my rail passes in the states? or is that something you do once you are there?

I'm only bringing 5 Euros with me ( it's what I have left over from my last trip) do I need to get some in the states or wait till I'm at the airport? (I've heard it's much more expensive at the airport)

I'll pro'ly think of more questions... Thanks for all your help! :)

Absolutely do NOT validate your rail pass in advance. You must do this at a rail station (or perhaps in a sales office).
Read the instructions that came with the railpass. This is very important.
If you can't find them, then read this:

http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/usingyourrailpass.htm

I always get money at the local airport. I usually get a good exchange rate with my credit card. In my experience, the ATMs have been better than going to a exchange booth at the airport. I only take travelers checks for emergencies and always bring them home.

Monica ((F))

Get the Euros at your arriving airport at the ATM (or at a currency desk there).

Get your Euros out of an ATM machine when you get to Europe, using your debit card. That will get you your best rate. ((b))

I'm staggered, if I had to do all of these things, I'd never ever go on holiday.

Take along the phone number of your bank that you have your ATM card with in case of problems. If your card is refused at a ATM a quick call to the bank can usually get the problem fixed.

Please don't all shout at me, I am genuinely curious and don't mean this to sound 'snotty'... But do you go to all this trouble when you go on holiday/vacation in the US? If not, why the problem with going abroad?

All sounds a bit like hard work to me!

Tallulah, no, we don't need to go through as much when we travel in the US. But then again, when we're visiting other states, we don't have to deal with the major time differences (not easy to call home to check on things if the US is asleep when Europe is awake). Nor is the currency different, or laws different, or language different...you get the idea! Traveling abroad presents an entirely new set of parameters. It's really no trouble at all to run through the check lists once you get used to it, though.

Tallulah my dear, I quite agree, it's an holiday, not some Antarctic expedition.

Why do you bother phoning your credit card companies? By having a MasterCard/VISA/AMEX it automatically works abroad, I've never had these problems. I never photocopy tickets, and somewhere I've passport number noted. Why do you change PIN numbers?

How odious.

"laws different"

My dear, it's just common sense what you can and can't do..

If I travel from London to Paris everything is different, but it's no different from me going to Bognor..

dln:

I live in London so pretty much all my trips are abroad - be it to Continental Europe, the US or elsewhere. I am therefore pretty well clued up on what it involves, thank you!

My point is simply that I'm not at all this organised and never have been...and (once again, not trying to be offensive...I know how these things are misinterpreted!) I really wouldn't want to be. Kind of takes the fun out of it...

Mkingdom, Paris is practically a suburb of London distance- and time-wise. It is no different than going to Bognor Regis in that respect. If anything pressing came up while you were in Paris, you could go home as easy as one-two-three. You wouldn't even miss cocktail hour. For an American visiting Paris, whose home state is Hawaii...not so easy. Get it? As far as informing credit card companies, yes, we all use the same kinds of cards as you, but for various reasons (credit card fraud among them), our companies prefer to be informed if the card is going to be used abroad. I'd rather spend the ten minutes it takes to call my card holder than try to buy something in a foreign company and have my purchase refused. Ditto with our banks; they also like to know where our money is going.

Tallulah, no offence taken! I'm not organized myself, but it does become a habit to do the simple things that the OP has mentioned and it's really no problem, nor does it make the trip less fun. (Though I don't know about the changing pin number part. Never have done that.)

" If anything pressing came up while you were in Paris, you could go home as easy as one-two-three"

It's a plane journey home eitherway, if it's an hour or six hours you still have to go to the airport.


"Paris is practically a suburb of London distance- and time-wise. It is no different than going to Bognor Regis"

It's a foreign land, and as I've said it's still a plane journey away!