Tips to Make Your First International Trip – Our Sweet Trip

Us in Skiathos – Greece

Well, who never dreamed of making their first international trip and going around the gringa? Yeah, it was always my dream, but when it's time to go, several questions arise, such as: What do you need to take? What do I need to do? Agency contract or will I go on my own? How much money do I need to bring? That's why I'm going to tell you step by step in this report exactly how to prepare to fulfill your biggest dream of how to make your first international trip! 

First step: Check all documents necessary to enter the country you choose to visit, check that your passport has a minimum expiration date of 6 months.

Visa: check if the place you intend to go needs a visa, some European countries, for example, England, Italy, Spain, among others, your visa is withdrawn when you go through immigration, while others like the United States you need to schedule in your country the application for a visa to enter the country you want.

Entry into the country that takes out a visa upon arrival: I'm going to take this opportunity and put this very important tip here as well, what you basically need to present at immigration is the print or on your cell phone:
1- The reservation of the place where you will be staying;
2- The ticket back to your country of origin;
Immigration asks the reason for your trip, and sometimes how much money are you taking to stay there for the period you are going to stay, I will tell you more later.

 

Photo of our first backpack in Avelino, Italy

 

Second step: I strongly recommend taking out Travel Insurance, we never expect anything to happen to us wherever we go, but for greater safety and ease when finding medical assistance, a hospital, Travel Insurance assures you and recommends where you can be attended without worrying about extra expenses, depending on the value of the policy that they have agreed upon.
I'll mention a personal case that happened to me, I never had any surgery when I lived in Brazil, I moved to England, a few months later I had to have an intimate surgery, I called the insurance, and I didn't have any extra expenses for anything , both with medication and hospital care. Hence the importance of reliable travel insurance.

Third step: Money to spend on the trip, right guys? We usually take money on our international debit card, we have a Monzo account, but there are several other digital banks you can check and whichever you feel more comfortable with, we use Monzo and it never let us down, it's accepted in all countries and ATMs. I'll tell you how we planned: for example, we stayed 7 days at Nepal, we put in our goal to spend 10 pounds per day each, so we withdraw 70 pounds at once (the ATM already delivers the local currency) and we paid the fee, only once, the ace in the hole is that this ATM fee is smaller than if you converted and bought money at a currency exchange shop, so you have a little more to enjoy on your trip!
A note: Our goal of 10 pounds a day is to be spent on: food, transport, souvenirs (only in cheaper countries), we have already left the country where we live with accommodation, tours if you do and flights booked. And you need to check your travel style when setting up yours. itinerary: if you usually go to restaurants, if you travel to shop, I quote an idea I heard from a girl: if you spend on food in a restaurant and pay 15 Brazilian real do the same for the country you want to go and take 15 dollars (per day) to eat in that country.
We are super economy style, we tend to eat in restaurants only if the currency of the country is super cheap and fits the budget, otherwise we will go to the markets and buy our own lunch, breakfast/afternoon or dinner. Hence the importance of your planning before leaving the country.

We on arrival in Iceland

Fourth step: Check where to stay, we usually buy our tickets and accommodation on our own, we don't hire agencies because of the flexibility and freedom to set up our own itinerary, there are several app from hotels, hostel, Airbnb, check the one you like best and location of where you want to stay. Check prices and tickets according to available dates. And voilá!

Fifth step: If you are that person who loves to shop in international stores, you can also check the location, here in Europe the most affordable stores are H&M, Primark, TK Maxx, Zara (yes, here it is very affordable) and here it also has a lot Benefit bazaar, the famous Charity Shops, that if you look closely you will find several super good branded pieces at a very nice price.

We were at the airport waiting for the gate to open to Antalya, Turkey

Sixth and last step: Time to go board! You will go through the X-Ray, treadmills at the airport, go through the Free Shop, on the screen you can check your flight number, gate and time, depending if it is too early and the gate number has not yet been released, you wait until release and follow it until it opens and gets on the plane.
Pay attention to the limits of bags: Check what is already included in your flight, normally hand bags are up to 5kg – where the liquids must be placed in 100ml bottles, all in plastic up to the limit of 1 liter.
 * Don't pay for excess baggage, take a plan before you departure *
Electronics in the handbag and not checked so there is no risk of loss, which unfortunately can occur and if it does, take the violated bag to the airline counter and report it, they will assist you. Important: don't leave the airport and then report it, because the chances of them solving it are almost ZERO!
For those who, as us, love backpacking, check the excess baggage allowed on the plane without having to pay extra baggage!

And basically these are the steps to you take your first international trip! Did I pass up any information that you find useful to share? Tell us here in the comments, you can also help who is going to make this big dream come true!

And would you like to know how to travel more and better? That pdf helped me a lot with the best tips!