A successful itinerary demands lot of planning from you side and it applies to every journey you make. The things become more challenging when you are heading for any foreign country. There are several travel tips that need to be looked after and breaking all those pieces into a well organize list will definitely help you to plan everything in advance. Whether you are an amateur traveler or an experienced one, here we have created a nice list of travel tips to make your journey extremely easy:

• How’s your passport?

It is at the top in entire list of travel tips and there is reason for that. If you are heading for a foreign country, make sure you have a valid passport along with enough pages to process your visa successfully. In case, an expiry date of your passport is approaching then it is recommended to renew it well before the date of your next foreign trip. If you are planning to visit a specific country several times in a year then it is advisable to apply for multiyear visas that will save you lot of money and time. Make sure you always take care of your passport as a family companion. This is because any damage occurred to passport may result in immediate cancellation of your tour and you need to go through several lengthy formalities to return to your home country with damaged passport.  

• Have you informed your bank?

If you are travelling in a foreign country then make sure your credit card provider and bank aware about your journey. This is because most of the banks freeze cards of customers if they observe any transactions conducted in foreign country without giving prior notice. If you are planning to use your plastic cards in foreign country then make sure you aware about all the charges that the banks are going to levy on your transactions. In case, you want a traveler’s check, you can easily get it from your bank after submitting few mandatory documents. It is advisable to avoid carrying chunk of cash along with you while travelling as it may make you extra cautious during your tour and you will not able to enjoy your travel thoroughly.

• Have you stored travel documents properly?

It is highly recommended to carry all your travel documents in both (hardcopy and softcopy) formats. These documents mainly include passport, travel ticket, hotel reservation details, visa copies, photographs and your indentify proofs. Make sure you store digital copy of all these documents in your local device so that you can access them even if you don’t have any internet connection. However, it is advisable to set passwords to all the digital copies of your documents so that no one can access them without your prior permission.

• What about medication?

Whether it is a domestic tour or an overseas one, you need to get yourself vaccinated before the start of your journey as a precautionary measure. If you are on a special medication then make sure you carry enough of those to fulfill entire duration of your travel.  You definitely don’t want to put yourself in a situation when you have to search for medicines in foreign country. Even if you are not on any medication, it is recommended to carry few non-prescribed medicines that will be extremely handy when time comes.

• Do you have universal adapter?

Electronic outlets and sockets have different patterns across the world. So make sure you carry a universal socket that will give you easy access to power within any country across the world. Sometimes, you also need to check the intensity of electric current to check the compatibility of your devices. In case you find lot of fluctuation in the power level, you can use transformer to keep your devices running smoothly. It is also recommended to carry some spare batteries, power bank and wireless mobile chargers so that you can charge multiple devices using one socket. Make sure you fully charge your devices before checking out from the hotel as your journey may become awkward without having your Smartphone or laptop in working condition.

• Can you speak foreign language?

No matter in which country you are travelling, it is advisable to learn some basic words in local language to keep things simple. Though English is considered as a universal language, there are several people in hotel and restaurant who can speak only local language. So knowing regional words for the common phrases such as ‘Thank You’, ‘Sorry’ and ‘Hello’ is always handy. If you have allergic to specific kind of food items then you need to convey this issue to hotel staff in regional language. If you are finding it difficult to by-heart foreign language, you can write down few common sentences on flashcard or paper and carry it during your entire tour.

• Have you checked navigation apps?

If you are travelling to foreign country then there are several regional based navigation apps you can check out to make your travel convenient within the locality. Some of these applications will also provide you useful advice and traffic notifications in the form of audio. These apps are extremely safe to use in public networks and you can use these apps even if you don’t have any internet connection. Most of these apps also feature detailed navigation maps that you can use to reach from one location to other.

• Have you locked your valuables properly?

Though travelling with something highly valuable items is a bad idea, there is one or other thing you need to carry during your travel to make your journey comfortable. However, you can’t afford to get any of your items stolen as finding those again can be an extremely time consuming and challenging task. The best you can do is to lock up your all valuables properly to minimize the possibility of theft. Always keep eye on your belongings which will make impossible for thieves to steal any of your luggages without your knowledge. While checking in the hotel, you can also ask a hotel manager to allocate you a room that is equipped with secured storage system such as digital key locker. It is one of the most important travel tips that people ignore and they end up paying lot of price for it.

• What about travel insurance?

It doesn’t matter how carefully you behave during your travel, there is always a possibility of any mishap or accident that will force you to seek an urgent medication. Sometimes you may end up getting hospitalized that will not only ruin your journey but also put you into unexpected financial loss. Travel insurance is extremely handy in such cases and you can opt for policy depending upon the duration of your travel. Most of the airline companies add travel insurance as an add-on in your flight ticket which means you don’t need to worry about buying travel insurance from anywhere else. It is highly recommended to read all the terms and conditions of your travel insurance policy. This will make you well verse with all the things that are covered under policy and things which are not covered. If you think that there are few factors which your insurance policy is missing then you can get in touch with the insurer to get things sorted before your journey.

• Are you sharing things but strangers?

If you are planning to make your holiday public by sharing your entire itinerary on social media channels then you might be putting yourself in some trouble. Don’t share your entire travel plan or accommodation details with strangers. If an unknown individual in foreign country is asking you about your hotel details then you can simply give a vague answer or tell name of the hotel where you are not staying. If you are getting even a slight hint of susceptibility, small lie won’t hurt at all. If you are seeking advice from local people, make sure you don’t appear to them as you are visiting the country for the first time.

• What about the dressing sense?

If you are planning to visit some temples, historical monuments or pilgrim places in foreign country then make sure you dress like a nice person. Most of the Islamic countries have even set dress code for travelers that you need to abide by. It is recommended to research on clothing etiquettes that different countries follow and plan your clothing accordingly. This way you will not offend anyone in the locality and there won’t be any hostility generated as you are sticking to local customs. In fact, try to match the clothing style of local people as it will also give you feeling of being one of them and you also remember the experience of enjoying foreign dressing.

The above mentioned travel tips are only few of the important ones you need to consider on priority basis. There are still few small things that you need to look after as they play vital part in making your journey successful. So stay cautious and enjoy your upcoming vacation by following all above mentioned travel tips.