#TRAVEL HACK – 8 Simple Things To Do Before Your Next International Trip 🌍

Hooray!

Your flight is booked. You found some amazing free walking tours, bookmarked waaaaay too many fantabulous restaurants to try and you’ve started packing. (A carry-on, I hope? More about that here.) You’re excited and can’t wait to go! But there’s a few more things to do before you head out the door to make sure your international trip is more enjoyable, stress-free and more fun! Here’s my checklist of 8 things: to do, to call, to download – before you leave to ensure your next trip is your best trip!

1. Call – or get online – and let your bank and your credit card holders know the dates and country/countries you’re going to. Some banks and credit cards don’t need to know, but most will want to be aware that you’re traveling so they don’t decline your purchase because of potential fraud and don’t deny your attempts to get money from caixa multibancos (that’s ATM in Portuguese!)

It’s a good idea to bring 2 different debit cards and 2 different credit cards in case something happens – and keep them in separate places in case you lose one, you get pickpocketed, or the ATM eats your card (this actually happened to me in Paris – not fun. Nope!)

2. Speaking of debit cards, I strongly suggest you find a bank at home to open an account with that will refund your foreign ATM fees and doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees. My absolute favorite here in the USA is Charles Schwab. Schwab offers unlimited refunds for out-of-network ATM fees, and it doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees. Their customer service is stellar as well. Finding a card like this can save you oodles of money during a trip! Feel free to search for a better card but I don’t think you will find one – most banks charge a percentage for each foreign transaction and I don’t know of any that will refund you the ATM fees. Here’s a link for you to apply for the Schwab card – it gives me and you a small bonus if you open an account (merci beaucoup!)

By the way – read up on DCC – that’s Dynamic Currency Conversion. DCC is a wicked trick that the ATM will try to play on you to convince you to “let” them make the conversion from the  currency of the country you’re traveling in to your home currency. “Just say NO”. They are upcharging you PLUS giving you a crappy conversion rate. Always ALWAYS choose “no” to the DCC option on the ATM screen.

Sometimes I’ve declined the DCC and the ATM spits out my card because I declined the DCC, and ends the transaction. They don’t wanna play. No biggie – I just go on to the next ATM down the street.

Note: although it’s tempting to use the bright blue and yellow EuroNet ATMs you see everywhere you go, don’t. I repeat…DO. NOT. I call them “EuroNOT”!! They are notorious for bad rates and high fees. Find an ATM owned by a bank and use that instead.

Same thing at restaurants and stores – their credit card machine will ask if you want the purchase in their currency or your home currency – choose whatever currency it is for the country you’re in and let your bank do the conversion for you. It’s nearly always going to be a better rate from your home bank and in your favor.

3. Download a currency app – and check it before you walk up to the ATM to make sure you’re getting a good exchange rate. If the rate is not great, try another ATM from a different bank. I like the CurrencyPlus app.

You’ll also find it helpful when you’re shopping to see what the price is in your currency whether you’re in the bazaar in Marrakech or the Champs-Élysées in Paris. For example, in Georgia their currency is the GEL, and $10 US (or 8.83 euros) is 29.80 GEL. In Turkey, it’s Turkish Lira for 136.50 TL.

If you stink at math, you’re gonna love using the converter so you don’t need to do the conversions in your head for Thai Baht or Vietnamese Dong while you’re deciding what to order for dinner!

It’s handy having a conversion app like UnitsPlus or Globe Convert.  You can convert kilometers to miles, inches to centimeters, kilos to pounds, and Fahrenheit to Celsius.

4. Find out what taxi/rideshare apps the country/countries you’re going to use. Here in the US, it’s Uber or Lyft. But in Vietnam, it’s Grab. In Turkey, they use BiTaksi. Ola is the rideshare app in India, Cabify in Spain, and Bolt is popular in Portugal. Download the app(s) you’ll need and you’ll be ready to roll – no pun intended!

5. If you’re planning to take public transport where you’re headed, download the app for the metro there. It will be amazingly helpful to get you around (and I usually take a pic of the metro map at the station so I can look at it more closely.)

6. Whether you’re taking the metro or walking, driving or cabbing, it’s good to know where you’re going – before you leave, download the maps you’ll need on Google Maps. I also download the maps I’ll use on Maps. Me as well – I’ve had times where one of the apps glitched and I was happy to have a backup app to consult. BTW, Google Maps Offline only works for driving directions – not for walking.

7. Another tip – you might need to have a translation app handy. Google Translate is amazing – you can download the language you’ll need beforehand so you don’t need to use data or wifi to access it, and you can use the camera icon on the app and point your camera at a menu or a sign and it will translate it for you.

Amazeballs!!! Game changer, huh? Again, I suggest a second translation app so you aren’t fully reliant on The Google in case it freezes up on you for some odd reason.

8. Speaking of, well, speaking…I firmly believe it’s imperative to know how to say a few key phrases in the language of the country you’re visiting, for a few good reasons.

– it’s just a nice thing to do! After all, you’re in their country. People are flattered and charmed by hearing you say “hello! How are you?” even if you butcher it and say it like a pre-schooler.

– it’s helpful!

And – it’s fun!

You can find the words you need on Google Translate, or download a language-learning app and practice a bit! I’ve got a whole list of language apps, so if you have questions, send me a message and I’ll give you my recommendations! (Hint – it’s not Duollngo!)

I suggest you learn how to say:

1. 1. Hello. 👋🏼
   2. Goodbye👋🏼
   3. Thank you!🙏
   4. Check, please.🧾
   5. Where is the bathroom?🚽
   6. How much is this?💰
   7. Sorry! (You’ll use this a lot!!)

Even if the person answers you in their language, just give ‘em a smile and shrug and let them know that’s all ya got. After all, you’ve got the Google Machine in your pocket and can ask how to say the rest – or just show the screen to the person you’re trying to converse with and they will whip out their phone and reply. It’s fun!

Don’t stress about it – most people speak a smattering of English, and nearly everyone I’ve encountered is happy to play charades and laugh and enjoy the interaction. Sure, you’ll get a surly ticket seller at the train window or a gruff waiter every once in a while, but most people are happy to play along and try to have a bit of conversation with you. Honestly!

And one more thing for your “must do” list before you take off – figure out what to do with your phone. I’ve written an entire blog about this since it’s so important…find it here.

Yes, there’s a bit of prep involved to travel wisely – downloading language apps and currency converters, calling your bank, etc – but I can tell you from experience that the time you spend doing these things before you hop on that plane pays back in rewards of confidence and know-how.

Now go on…get out there and explore and enjoy the wonders of the world around you! You’re ready, you’re prepared and you’re going to have a blast.

Find more helpful travel tips here on my website by searching for #travel hacks – great time and money saving ideas for newbie travelers and seasoned nomads alike!

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See you there! 😉

It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I realize the world to be. The more I become aware of, the more I realize how relatively little I know of it, how many places I have still to go, how much more there is to learn. ~~ Anthony Bourdain