Trip Prep Timeline

Trip Preparation Timeline for a European Vacation

Use the following guide as your trip planning checklist for your trip to Europe.  Knowing how to prepare for a trip to Europe will make your travel smoother and less stressful.

12+ Weeks Before your Trip Begins:

• Make sure your passport will be valid for at least 6 months after the END of your trip; if not, apply for a new one.
• Make sure your driver’s license, ATM/debit cards and credit cards will be valid during the entirety of your trip.
• Buy new shoes for your trip unless you already own the shoes you intend to take; make sure to wear these new shoes often enough to break them in for your trip.
• Finalize all air, rail and hotel bookings.  Or at least have an idea for your hotel and rail bookings if you’d rather play those by ear when you arrive in Europe.

6 Weeks Before your Trip Begins:

• Contact your credit card companies and your bank and let them know that you will be traveling; get a confirmation by email.
• Begin to assemble your travel wardrobe, your travel accessories and your luggage.  Make sure to wear and wash your chosen travel clothes a few times to ensure fit and comfort.  Find a good travel checklist to consult - try my Ultimate Men's Packing Checklist for Europe.
• Learn to use your camera; practice uploading photos to your tablet or phone and then to the cloud; if you intend to blog, familiarize yourself with your chosen blog-writing platform.
• Make arrangements to get to the airport on your travel day.
• Figure out whether you will be driving and whether the rental agencies will require an International Driver's Permit -- if so, go to AAA and get one ($15.00).

2 Weeks Before your Trip Begins:

• Suspend mail and newspaper deliveries, effective the day before you leave for your trip.  Or ask a trusted neighbor to take in your papers and mail for you.
• Conduct a test packing – pack your luggage and your day bag.  Use a checklist.  Figure out if you have too much stuff, or if you’re missing anything; buy what you’ve forgotten.

1 Week Before your Trip Begins:

• Get a good haircut.  It always takes a few days after a haircut to get used to it.
• Make sure you have a couple of timers for lights in your home.
• Secure or put away outdoor furniture and accessories.
• Have a new battery put in your watch.
• Change the batteries in your smoke detectors – you don’t want the low battery alarms going off while you’re away, particularly if you live in an apartment building or in a condo complex.
• Arrange for payment of any bills that will come due while you're away, or pay them ahead of time.

3 Days Before your Trip Begins:

• Withdraw emergency cash for the trip.  $300-$500 in $100 bills.  Put some of the money in your travel money belt, and stash $100 or so in a couple of other places among your stuff.
• Wash and dry your travel wardrobe; hang your clothes neatly so they are ready to be packed.
• Put all of your travel accessories and electronics in one place; take an inventory.  Consult your checklist.
• Polish your shoes.  Apply a waterproofing spray.
• Contact your mobile phone carrier to add international voice and/or data plans if desired.  Most carriers allow you to add month-to-month international plans from their websites or directly from within an app on your phone.  Check your billing cycle - if the current cycle closes soon, wait until the new cycle begins before adding the plans.  Don't forget to cancel the monthly plans once you've returned!
• In general, if something comes to mind that you should remember to pack, place it right away in your day bag or in your luggage - you can make the final decision whether to pack it when you do your final packing, covered below.

2 Days Before your Trip Begins:

• Charge your camera batteries.
• Make sure your camera memory cards work.
• Backup your phone and tablet to your home computer or to the cloud.
• Install timers on a couple of lamps in your home; set them and confirm that they work over the next two days.
• Copy your passport, international driver’s permit, driver’s license, health insurance card, and the credit and ATM cards you intend to take with you – front and back.  Email the copy to yourself in an encrypted file.  Give a copy to a trusted family member or friend.  Make an additional copy of your passport and put it in your luggage. Do NOT place a copy of your credit cards in your luggage.
• Print out your itinerary and all booking confirmations.  Place the printouts in your day bag and give a copy to a friend or relative.  Email yourself a copy of the itinerary and confirmations.
• Print out a contact sheet with phone numbers and email and physical addresses for friends and relatives -- if your phone goes missing overseas, who memorizes phone numbers anymore?  Place the contact sheet in your day bag and email yourself a copy.

1 Day Before your Trip Begins:

• Trim your finger- and toenails.  Trim your ear and nose hair.  Perform any other body grooming functions you can think of.
• Pack your main bag.  Leave out the clothes you intend to wear on the plane.
• Check in for your flight(s) online – some airlines don’t let you select a seat for free until 24 hours prior to departure unless you pay a hefty fee.
• Clean your home.  Make sure to take the trash out and don’t leave dirty dishes in the sink or dishwasher.  Discard any food in your fridge that won’t be good when you return from your tip.  A clean home on your return is a welcome sight.
• Confirm your ride to the airport.
• Pack your liquids (shampoo, shaving cream, etc.) into a one-quart clear zipper-style bag.
• Set your travel watch for the local time of your destination.  If your watch has a lot of settings, copy the relevant pages of the instruction booklet and tuck the copies in your day bag.

The Day of your Departure:

• Transfer credit cards, ATM/debit cards, your driver’s license, health insurance card and money to your travel wallet.  Double and triple check that you’re taking all of the cards you plan to take.
• Close and lock all windows in your home.  Lock the garage door if you have one, and lock the door from the garage to your home. Don't forget to lock your front door!
• Hide valuables.
• Shut off water to your home using the main water shutoff.  If you’re traveling in winter and live in a cold place, drain your pipes.  Turn off your refrigerator's icemaker if you have one.
• Set your thermostat appropriately for the time of year.
• Unplug anything that doesn’t need to be on while you’re away.
• Pack your day bag.  It is possible, even if you intend to carry-on all of your luggage, that the airline may insist that you “gate-check” your rollerbag/large backpack as you are boarding the plane, particularly if you are taking a commuter plane to get to the airport from which your plane to Europe will depart.  Gate-checked bags are rarely lost, but you never know.  That means that you should pack your day bag wisely:

1. Your liquids in a one-quart zipper-style clear plastic bag.
2. Any lithium-ion batteries (many rechargeable camera batteries are of this type).  Lithium-ion batteries are not supposed to go in the airplane’s underbelly.
3. Phone/tablet and charger(s); plug adapter for Europe
4. Reading materials, if not stored on your tablet/phone
5. Earphones
6. Camera
7. Neck pillow
8. Travel towel
9. Pen/notebook
10. Itinerary, booking confirmations, tickets and boarding passes, and contact sheet.

You should keep your travel wallet and your passport on your person.

Bon voyage!

Sections:

• Researching your Trip – Where – When – Budgeting
• Finding Cheap Airfare
• Hotels – Location, then Price
• European Train Travel – Spoke-and-Wheel vs. Point-to-Point
• Packing– clothing – Theory and Reality
• Packing– electronics – Theory and Reality
• Packing– accessories – Theory and Reality
• Packing– A Men’s Packing List for Europe
• Trip Preparation Timeline
• Staying Connected While Abroad – Blogging – Facebook – Twitter – Phone
• Travel Websites and Apps