10 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

10 Things to know before you go - airplane

By the time you read this article I should be in Paris.

One night in Bordeaux, 7 night Bordeaux River cruise, 4 nights in Paris, 3 nights in Amsterdam, 7 nights on the Rhine River and 6 nights in Switzerland. Yippee!

Our trip was planned in 2018 for travel in 2020. Then Covid happened. We moved the trips off to 2021 and then again to 2022. We’re holding our breath that we get there safely with no problems with Covid or now of course this terrible war.

If Covid taught me one thing, it’s to go with the flow. I can’t control what the future holds. I can prepare by buying travel insurance and medical transport assist insurance.

Here is my list of “Ten Things to Know Before You Go”.

1. Register with your airline and cruise line and download their APP. Follow their guidelines on travel requirements to the country you are arriving in. The airlines don’t require Covid testing, the countries you are arriving in do. If you do not follow the guidelines exactly, you will be denied boarding.

2. If Covid testing is required, make a reservation 7 to 10 days in advance of your test. Walgreens or CVS offers this service

or for peace of mind, pay a medical lab for Covid testing that will insure you get your results back in time. The time the test is taken must be exact.

3. Make sure your mobile phone is ready for international calls. Call the company you have your service with to do this.

4. Let your credit card companies know when you will be traveling and where.

5. Bring an ATM card to use as needed cash. Do not carry a lot of foreign currency with you.

6. Take photos of your vaccine card and your passport with your smart phone.

7. Bring only one checked luggage and one carry on. (If you can’t carry it, you can’t bring it.) Put your medications in your carry on.

8. Buy travel insurance and medical transport assist insurance.

9. Have a supply of one dollar bills for tipping.

10. Bring an adaptor (not a convertor) for your smart phone and computer or buy one in the airport where you arrive. Don’t bother bringing hair dryers or straighteners unless they are designed to take 220 electrical current. They will burn up.

Feature image of airplane courtesy of Gary Lopater on UnSplash.