The things worth knowing before any trip

A closing summary of what actually matters, applicable to any destination.

Six to eight weeks before

Check passport validity, including any six-month rule at the destination.

Check visa and entry authorisation requirements for your own passport.

See a travel health clinic about vaccinations and any prophylaxis, since some require a course.

Arrange insurance, checking medical limits, repatriation, pre-existing conditions and any activities you intend.

Book flights and the first night's accommodation.

A month before

Book anything with genuinely limited capacity.

Arrange prescriptions in sufficient quantity, with a prescriber's letter using generic names, and check whether anything is restricted at the destination.

Check whether your cards charge foreign transaction fees and arrange one that does not.

Check the roaming position and arrange a travel data option.

Read your government's travel advice for the destination, including the legal section.

The week before

Photograph or scan passport, cards, insurance and prescriptions, and store them where you can reach them without your devices.

Note the international numbers for reporting cards lost.

Note the consulate location and out-of-hours number.

Give someone at home your itinerary.

Download offline maps, translation packs and any booking confirmations.

Check in online and confirm baggage allowances against your actual bag.

Establish how you are getting from the airport to your accommodation.

And write the accommodation address in the local language.

The things to carry

In hand luggage regardless of anything else.

Medication, documents, a charger and battery, a change of clothes, and anything you could not replace.

Oral rehydration salts, which are the single most useful health item.

A small emergency cash reserve, separate from your wallet.

A second card, from a different network, stored separately.

And an empty water bottle.

The five rules

If everything else is forgotten.

Always decline dynamic currency conversion. Pay in the local currency, every time.

Book connections on a single ticket, or accept that a missed connection is entirely your own cost.

Have insurance, and read the exclusions before rather than after.

Do not carry anything for anyone, and do not assume home drug laws apply anywhere else.

Wear a seatbelt, including in taxis, since road incidents are the leading preventable cause of death among travellers.

The things that improve every trip

Not safety, but the difference between a good trip and a competent one.

Go slower and to fewer places.

Learn twenty words.

Eat where local people eat, at the time they eat.

Walk the neighbourhood in the first hour.

Plan one thing a day.

Take a rest day.

Ask people questions with answers.

And leave time at the end of the trip for the trip to have happened.

The last thing

Most of what goes wrong while travelling is minor, temporary and becomes the story afterwards.

Most of what people remember was not planned.

And the preparation above exists so that when something does go wrong, it remains an inconvenience rather than becoming a problem.

Which is the entire purpose of planning: not to control the trip, but to be able to respond to it.

The things worth checking that people skip

A supplementary list.

Whether your accommodation has a lift, if that matters.

Whether the plug type and voltage require an adapter or a converter, which are different things.

Whether tap water is drinkable.

What the tipping convention is.

Which side of the road traffic uses, if you are crossing streets or driving.

What the emergency number is.

And whether any public holiday during your dates will close things.

The document copies, specifically

Stored in three places: on your phone, in an account you can reach from any computer, and with someone at home.

Passport biographical page, visa, insurance policy and emergency number, card details and their reporting numbers, prescriptions, and accommodation confirmations.

This takes twenty minutes once and is the single arrangement that converts a serious problem into an inconvenience.

General information about travel, not medical, legal or financial advice. Requirements vary by destination and change — consult official sources and qualified professionals about your own circumstances.