Congratulations! At this point, you’ve hopefully booked your flight and your hotels, you know where you’re going and when. You haven’t started packing yet (that’s next week’s post), but you’re starting to get excited about the trip. There’s a couple of things that you’ll want to do to make sure your trip goes smoothly.
Call your bank or credit card company and let them know where you’re going to be traveling to and what dates you’re traveling. If you’ve got layovers in another city, include that information. You don’t want to get stuck in a foreign country with no access to cash or resources. I don’t think this is as important for domestic trips as it is for international trips, but it’s probably a good practice. I usually travel with 2 credit cards and a debit card. One credit card is in my wallet, the other two cards are in my luggage or someplace safe. Some banks let you set up the travel alerts online, so you don’t even have to talk to people if you’re feeling antisocial.
For longer trips, find out where the nearest laundromat and grocery store are to your hotel. You can stock up on snacks and drinks (a gallon or two of bottled water, if you’re me) when you get there, and you’ll know where to go to get your skivvies clean. Just because you’re on vacation, that doesn’t mean that you want to smell like the swamp monster.
For international trips, know where the US Embassy is. I’ve never needed that information, but the embassy can help you with all kinds of things, like lost passports, translation services, and helping you get medical care if you need it. Also, make sure you register with the STEP program with the State Department. In case you’re in an area where trouble breaks out, at least they’ll know that there are Americans in the area and they can try to get you out. Or they’ll know where to look for the body. Either way, it doesn’t hurt to have them aware of your location.
All of this will take you about 20 minutes, but it could make or break your trip. I’ve never had an issue where the bank canceled my card while I was on a trip or I had to go to the embassy, but on that rare occasion that it does happen, you’ll be grateful that you took the extra few minutes to plan for it. And, if you travel with someone else, you’ll look like a genius for having done the prep work that they didn’t think of.
