I know it can be scary planning a trip on your own to a country you’ve never been to. I’m here to help you travel like an expert so going abroad feels as comfortable as possible for you.
I’ve been lucky enough to travel alone internationally since I was 14. That consistent practice traveling independently has given me so much self-confidence and freedom. Practice really helps! If you have children, I’d strongly encourage you to give them the chance to explore places on their own in small steps. Growing my independence bit by bit helped so much as a child, until going alone to another country was not so intimidating to me. I’ve continued to explore the world ever since!
Here are all the tips I’d like to share with you so you can also find going to a new country exciting and fun- and not overwhelming or intimidating.
Table of Contents
Travel like an expert: Have an unlocked phone
If you’re traveling to another country for at least a week, I highly recommend you get a local SIM card. Your other option would be to have a plan that already includes affordable international data. Google has an international plan, and that might make sense for you if you’re based in the U.S. and paying a similar amount already.
It’s also possible to buy an eSIM in advance, if your phone accepts eSIMs. That was the cheapest and easiest option for my parents visiting the Netherlands (or anywhere in the E.U.), for example. After doing research on the best eSIMs for Europe, I arranged to have my parents use Maya Mobile. That allowed my parents to have a working phone as soon as they landed in the E.U. for about $20 for a whole month of data- and then easily switch back to their U.S. SIM card when they went back home.
For me, living in the Netherlands and paying about €20 a month for my normal phone plan, it made sense to keep that plan- which is valid throughout the E.U.- and leave my SIM card in the Netherlands when I travel outside of the E.U.
To be able to use a local SIM card or accept an eSIM, you need to have an unlocked phone. You’ll need to check with your local phone carrier about whether your phone is unlocked, how much their international data plan would be, and if it is locked, if you can unlock it! You will want some way to use a phone when traveling, and you’ll want it to be affordable.
If you have an unlocked phone, most places you’ll travel to will have local SIM cards for sale at the airport. It might be a few dollars cheaper if you buy a SIM card in town, but the amount of time and hassle that will take will not be worth it! Local phone shops are less likely to have packages designed for tourists anyway, so airports and international train and bus stations will be more helpful for you anyway.
Before you leave, check how much data you use at home, and then double that amount to get an idea of how much you’ll need. Google Maps uses a ton of data, but real time information can be essential if you’re taking public transit or want to look up reviews or call to make reservations on the go. I use about 5 gb per week when traveling, with no videos or games.
Many plans will only have data, no phone calls or texts. That can be fine if you use Whatsapp or another service that allows you to make phone calls and messages- because it is really useful to be able to call a restaurant to make a reservation, or call a company to say you’re running late for a scheduled activity! I always get at least 20 minutes of phone calls in the plan to be able to make and change plans as needed.
Travel like an expert tip:
- Make sure your phone is unlocked
- Buy a tourist package: these are already designed for the amount of time you’ll be there (often 5, 10, or 30 day plans)
- 5 gb per week should be more than enough- if you need to watch videos/play games, use hotel wifi
- If possible, get a plan that includes at least 20 minutes of phone calls
Packing
I can’t stress this enough- you really, really shouldn’t check a bag unless you’re only going to one destination. If you’re going to more than one place, the risk of it getting lost or delayed is really high, plus the extra expense will really add up…and carrying all that stuff is hard! There are so many times when you have to climb up/down stairs, or over sand or dirt, or for longer than expected- sometimes elevators and escalators are out of order or the taxis are on strike or there are stairs you can’t avoid.
If you’re going to one place and staying just there, or if you’re traveling with children or need special equipment etc., then it can make sense to check a bag. If you need to do that, then I’d highly recommend flying only once and making sure your destination has an elevator/escalator or is on the ground floor.
Travel like an expert tip: Check out my article here about how to bring only carryon to reduce stress and make your travels easier!
Google Maps
Google Maps is extremely useful when traveling! If you haven’t used it much, use it a bit before you travel in your home town to get comfortable with how it works in your familiar places. It’s a free app available on all phones.
Before your trip, download all the places you’re going to visit on your phone.
- Type in the city/place you’re going to, like “Amsterdam”
- Scroll to the right until you see where it says, “Download offline map”
- Click on that. Make the rectangle cover anywhere you might be going, and then press “Download”
- Do that for all the places you’re going! Then you will have access to Google Maps offline, which will save you lots of data…and if you go somewhere without good coverage, or you haven’t gotten a phone plan, you’ll still be okay
Travel like an expert tip: Offline maps won’t have directions in real time. To avoid this issue, start your driving/public transit/biking/walking directions when you’re on wifi, and don’t close Google Maps. Then it will keep on working until you get to your destination! For example, if you’re going on a long drive in a rural area, start your driving directions before leaving your hotel’s wifi, and then the directions will keep going even as you lose service!
- Save all the hotels/bed and breakfasts/hostels you’re sleeping in using one symbol. For example, I always save my hotels as the pink hearts. That means I can quickly find the name and location of the hotel I’m staying in to show a taxi or navigate home. I have everyone else I’m traveling with do the same so that if we’re separated, everyone knows how to get home!
- Save any sights you want to see in a different symbol and color. For me, sights are the yellow stars. Again, this helps you navigate quickly to them, and see whether your hotel is actually convenient to what you want to see!
- I love food, so I always do research on the places I want to eat in advance, and make reservations there as needed. I save the restaurants I’d like to go to as green flags. It also helps me know if we’re about to walk by a recommended gelato place, or which lunch place is the closest to where we are when we get hungry!
Google Translate
When you’re going to a country where you don’t speak the language fluently, download the free app Google Translate, and download the language(s) that you’ll need.
- Search for the language you will need, like Dutch
- Click on the download symbol (the arrow pointing down to the horizontal line)
- Don’t forget to download the language you want it translated into as well! For example, if you’re traveling to the Netherlands and you’re a native English speaker, you want to download both Dutch AND English!
Once it’s downloaded, you can use it in so many useful ways!
- Camera: if you click on this, if you just point your camera phone at a sign or piece of paper, it will translate it in real time! So if you are in the grocery store and want to know what a label says, just click on the camera symbol and “Dutch” to “English” for example, and it will translate it for you
- Conversation: If you need to talk with a taxi driver or someone else who doesn’t speak your language, you can try out this feature where both of you talk in your own languages and it translates in real time
- Transcribe: I’ve used this to go on guided tours of museums when they didn’t offer a tour in a language I understood. So the tour guide was speaking in French, for example, and I had transcribe on and the app listened to the tour guide and typed everything up for me in English
- Enter text: Just type in any words you want to understand and it will translate them
- Pen symbol: Write with your finger what you need
- Microphone symbol: Say what you need translated- can be much faster than typing it out
Travel like an expert tip: Make sure you have Google translate app downloaded and the langauges you want downloaded as well- including English!
Uber- or equivalent
When you’re in a foreign country, getting from A to B can be a challenge, especially in countries where you don’t speak the language. It is invaluable to have a taxi-hailing app already downloaded on your phone, connected to a working credit card, before you travel. In many countries, that app will be Uber, but it’s worth googling “ride-hailing app” and whichever country you are going to beforehand. Bolt, Gojek, and Grab are just some of the alternatives in countries we’ve traveled in.
There are several reasons why it’s definitely worth downloading whichever app it is and making sure you have a credit card that it accepts before your trip:
- No language barrier: You can type in your destinations when you’re there and know that the cab driver understands where you want to go
- No haggling! The driver and you both know exactly how much money it will cost beforehand, and there is no negotiation possible. This saves you getting ripped off, as well as any confusion with language/cultural differences
- Safety: You can share your ride (the license plate, destination, etc.) with other people so others know where you are. Especially if you’re a woman traveling alone, I have found this very reassuring compared to before Uber existed
- No visible money: You don’t have to touch your wallet. The driver doesn’t have to see how much money you have or where your wallet is. You just get out at your destination and decide on a tip on your own time, out of sight
If you’re in a city, hopefully there will be clean, safe, efficient and cheap public transit, so most of the time, I’d recommend using that. But when you’re going to/from an airport with tons of luggage, or it’s late at night, or you’re with people who can’t walk far or find it stressful, or the other options are much slower- it’s good to have a taxi easily and safely accessible.
Travel like an expert tip: Download and set up the ride-hailing app of the country you’re going to before traveling there.
TripCoin: Budget Beforehand
Whatever your financial situation, it is a good idea to make a budget for your trip before traveling. My favorite way to ensure we have a plan financially is to use the free app TripCoin. It’s a cleverly designed app that lets you have as many trips as you’d like, enter amounts in any currency you’d like and then translate them into the single currency for that trip you choose, access it offline, sort expenses into categories, and have a clear budget.
How I use it:
- I start by setting a budget for the whole trip, based on how much we have available that we won’t miss at that time (money we don’t need for essentials). Every time we get to $5,000 in savings, we put it in the stock market, and that money we don’t touch. But we don’t do that if we know we have a big vacation coming up or another big expense (and we always keep $5,000 out for emergencies).
- Next, I find the flights/trains/rental car I want, buy them, and enter in that expense.
- Then I figure out how I want to spend our time there. You can use my website to plan out your itinerary!
- After that, I book accommodation, adding each one to TripCoin. Whenever possible, I book refundable, in case the weather is terrible or we really love/hate a place and want to change our plans, or hear about something we’d like to check out while we’re there
- Then I look at my totals so far, and my original budget. I have to leave at least 20% of the total budget available after accommodation and transportation to enjoy eating/drinking and going on adventures when there! If I’m already over budget with accommodation and transportation, then we either have to rethink our budget or rethink going on that vacation!
- When on our trip, I enter in the expenses in the local currency and it converts them into whichever currency I’ve chosen for the trip
Travel like an expert tip: Download TripCoin, set a budget, add your biggest expenses first (transportation and accommodation) and see whether you can actually afford your trip before committing!
Polarsteps: Keep your friends and family informed
When I’m traveling, I use Polarsteps to update all of my friends and family members- and my husband’s friends and family- all at the same time with far more detail than I ever would share on social media. It’s also extremely useful for me to record my thoughts, stories, recommendations, photos, and everything else I want to remember in the future about my trips.
I use my Polarsteps to write the articles about different countries! That’s where I record my impressions of different activities. It’s like a multimedia journal. It keeps track of where you go, the weather that day, the time and place, and you can add links to the restaurants or activities or hotels you’ve stayed in. You can add photos and write all that you want. For example, here is my Polarsteps from our trip to Jordan. I used it to write my post about why you should go to Jordan now.
Polarsteps allows the family/friends who want to follow along on your trip to do so, while making it totally optional for those who don’t- you decide who has the link to see it, and they decide if they want to read it, and if so, how often. It makes it so easy to share stories, photos, and recommendations with everyone at once. Both my husband and I also love looking back over our Polarsteps, as they’re wonderful ways to keep our trips alive.
It’s also useful when people ask me for recommendations. It’s also easy for me to share Polarsteps with them and let them make their own plans based on what I’ve done (if I haven’t yet written the post about it!). It’s free, and you can also pay to print out a book of all that you’ve written with all of the photos.
Travel like an expert tip: Download Polarsteps, and use it to keep track of what you do each day, a few key photos from that day, and any restaurants/hotels/organizations you’d recommend. You’ll love looking back on it, your loved ones can follow your journey, and when people ask you for recommendations, it’s all ready to share!
Airlines
I don’t like having a bunch of different apps on my phone, but…it is worth downloading the apps of whichever airlines you’re going to use, and saving your trip details with notifications on. Not only will you get notified immediately if anything changes with your flight, but it also makes checking in before your flight easy.
While you’re traveling, it’s important to be able to check in on time and without needing a printer. Checking in using their app saves time and stress at the airport, and some airlines will even charge you extra if you don’t check in before getting to the airport. The airlines always like the tickets on their own app, while they might not like the digital tickets in other forms and finding a printer isn’t always easy. If you check in as soon as you’re able, you’re often given a better choice of seats and possibly a better boarding group- worth trying!
When something happens to your flight- a change, a delay, etc., it is often much faster to figure out an alternative using their app than calling or using their website. I’ve had to deal with canceled flights before, and using the airline’s app I was able to figure out a solution before other passengers stuck in the same situation…thus getting one of the few spots available on the best alternative.
Travel like an expert tip: Download the airlines’ apps you’ll be using, and use them to check in online as soon as you can.
Money
Yes, you will need access to money while traveling! Please make sure you have at least 1 credit card and at least 1 debit card with you in your own name when you travel! Of course the name on the cards should match your ID.
You’ll need a credit card if you rent a car in almost all situations. If you will definitely not be renting a car, you could go without this…but some places won’t take a debit card, so it is useful for larger purchases as you don’t want to walk around with too much cash. If you don’t have a credit card, it might be worth getting one before a big trip to have for emergencies. Make sure your credit card company knows you’re traveling (if needed- some companies won’t care).
When paying with a credit card, you might need a pin- ask about whether yours can have one before leaving. You also might be asked whether you want to pay in the local currency or your own. Pay in the local currency to avoid bad exchange rates- but make sure you get a credit card without foreign transaction fees! I use this card, and this is my referral code– if you don’t have a credit card without foreign transaction fees yet, I’d highly recommend this one! If you use this link, we both get a ton of free points (i.e. free money!).
You’ll need a debit card that can withdraw cash from ATMs wherever you’re traveling. Make sure the settings of your card are set so that you can use it in the country you’re going to. Before withdrawing any cash, double check you understand the conversion of the currency you’re using! I have the app Units Plus that converts currencies and measurements to double check my work (it also works offline!). Ideally, you have a debit card that refunds your foreign transaction fees when you withdraw money from ATMs around the world.
If you’re traveling for a long time, like when we were traveling for a year, it’s worthwhile to have backup options. For longer journeys, I’d download and set up both PayPal and Wise. PayPal is accepted on some websites and with some companies that don’t accept your credit card/debit card. Wise allows you to transfer money from any bank account to any other bank account in the world much cheaper than directly from one bank to another. We needed both during our year off. I explain how to take a year off here!
This advice might be obvious, but please don’t put all of your debit/card cards in one place. I keep my passport and 1 debit or credit card together in my hidden money belt, and another credit/debit card in my wallet, and I make sure my husband has two different spots for another two ways of paying. We have just a small amount of cash and the least important card handy to access and the rest well secured.
Travel like an expert tip: Bring at least 1 debit card (ideally that refunds ATM fees), at least 1 credit card (without foreign transaction fees, like this one!), and make sure they are set up to work in whichever country you’re going to. Don’t keep them in the same place in case the wallet/money belt gets stolen.
Photos
You’ll take a lot of photos when you travel! Decide how you want to take the photos and most importantly, how you’re going to back them up before you leave. For us, I have a good phone camera, and back them up using Apple’s cloud. My husband loves taking more serious photos, and has a much better camera with an excellent zoom- but one that is still very portable and easy to travel with. He backs them up on his phone and then into Apple’s cloud. Whatever you do, make sure you can back it up easily, and bring extra storage or make sure you have have plenty already!
Travel like an expert tip: Make sure you have a way to take photos that are the quality you need, a way to back them up, and enough storage space for them!
Music, Podcasts, Books and Sports
Whatever you like to do on long plane rides, train rides, or quiet evenings, download them when you’re on wifi and prepare ahead of time. I love reading, so I download fun books on my Kindle from my local public library beforehand. I also love watching my local baseball and basketball teams (go Giants and Warriors!), so I have apps to be able to watch and listen to those games on my phone as well. Those tend not to work if you’re in an area where it’s available on T.V., so read the restrictions carefully…
If you’d rather listen to podcasts or music, then it’s also really helpful to download them when you’re on wifi before boarding a plane/train/boat or even before your trip, in case the wifi isn’t that strong where you go. It’s fun to download books/music/podcasts about where you’re going! I loved learning about the ancient civilizations of where we were traveling on this podcast, and if I’m in Europe, I always download all of Rick Steves’ wonderful podcasts.
Travel like an expert tip: Download fun music/books/podcasts before your trip for any down time you have, and see if you can access any live events you care about viewing.
If you’re coming from the U.S., and especially like me, from San Francisco, you might think most people have iPhones. They don’t. So sending text messages is not free for most people around the world. To get around this, most people in the world (almost 3 billion!!!) use Whatsapp. If you don’t have it yet, you should probably download it and set it up before leaving.
With Whatsapp, you can keep your normal (home) number even when you change SIM cards or add another SIM card. It will ask you whether you want to when you open it with a new SIM card. You’ll be able to communicate with a large number of businesses and people around the world with it.
In some countries, Facebook messenger provides the same role, and in others, Instagram. You can continue to use iMessage with friends/family with iPhones IF you are on wifi or have a local SIM card with data. Otherwise, sending text messages to anyone will be very expensive!
If you want to make a phone call and you don’t have that included in your local or international data plan, you can call via Whatsapp, Facetime messenger, or FaceTime for free either on wifi or with your local SIM card. Make sure you have some way to communicate with people you meet along the way and businesses.
Travel like an expert tip: Download and set up Whatsapp before you travel.
Weather and World Clock
Your phone probably has a free Weather app and Clock app. These are both really handy when traveling. I’d highly recommend adding the places you’re going (as well as your home city or wherever you have friends/family you want to communicate with).
With the weather app, you can plan ahead what you need to pack in the places you’re going. Sometimes the weather is drastically different than normal, so it’s helpful to have some warning!
With the clock app, you’ll make sure you’re calling friends/family at a reasonable hour, and make sure you get to scheduled events like flights at the right time when planning connections! Sometimes daylight savings time happens a month apart in different countries, so even when you think you know the time difference it’s changed.
Travel like an expert tip: Add the cities you’ll be traveling to (and the cities you have friends/family in!) to your phone’s weather and clock apps.
Touchnote
When you’re traveling, you’ll have a million wonderful memories- and photos. It’s always fun to send postcards, but it can be quite the challenge to find a post office and stamps nowadays! What is much easier and more personal is sending some of your travel photos as a postcard to your friends/family back home. We do that easily and affordably using Touchnote. If you use this link, we both get a discount on our next order- and we’re always placing a next order!
Travel like an expert tip: Use the Touchnote app to send postcards to friends/family with your very own photos from your trip!
Booking.com and Airbnb apps
If you’re traveling to just one or two places, then book directly with the hotel for the best deals and customer service. But if you’re traveling to many places, it will be cheaper, faster, and easier to manage if you use Booking.com and/or Airbnb. For more on how to find the best places to book, check out my article here!
Travel like an expert tip: See my article here on how to book accommodation!
That’s it! Now go plan your next adventure!
You know what to do now before your next trip. Have a wonderful time!
