If you’re travelling abroad for the first time, you may be a little daunted by the prospect of making your way in a new country. For those who are about to embark overseas for study or vacation, the following are some international travel tips that you can use to make your trip much smoother.

Security and Health

1. Health Check – Before traveling overseas be sure to get a check-up with your doctor and have all the vaccines that you will need before leaving. Make sure you take into consideration the timeframe as to when the effectiveness of the vaccines kicks in and that it correlates with the time abroad.
2. Passport Copies – Before leaving make sure you have copies of your passport with you so if you misplace your original you have copies on hand to show officials.
3. Register with the embassy – Each country will have an embassy or consulate from your home country. Make sure you register with them to say you’re in a specific country. This way you can be located if there is an accident or unforeseen natural or man-made disaster.

Money

1. Conversion Rate – Make sure that you check the conversion rate of the currency before leaving. This will give you an idea of how much you will gain or lose when your money is exchanged into the new currency.
2. Credit Cards – Before leaving for a country make sure that it will accept your credit card. Some places have replaced their machines and may not accept certain credit cards.
3. Visit Banks – When you arrive in your host country go to the bank to convert to local currency. Some airport conversion ATMs tend to charge large fees to change currency.
4. Local Cash – Make sure you have some local cash on hand as some areas may not accept credit cards.

Electronics

1. Charger Adapter – Different countries have different sized plugs and voltages so be certain to bring an adapter that can handle this.
2. Phone Activation – Before leaving overseas make sure you activate the global capabilities on your phone so you can use your phone wherever you are in the world.