Last minute travel checklist

The last few hours before a trip can be a little stressful. Not sure about other couples out there, but we’d often argue on our way to the airport about all the little things that we weren’t sure had gotten done. So, we put together a sanity checklist - now we know for sure we checked everything! Just so we are all on the same page, this is NOT an exhaustive list about all the things you should bring on a trip, it’s just the last minute to-dos that will make your travel experience much easier and that we think everyone needs.

For the most part, we group everything we are checking by categories, except for the following 2:

• Contact your credit card company & debit card and notify them you are traveling - you can call them but it’s easier to do it online. Login to your credit card portal and look for the Travel Notification section. Also, if you are renting a car, and you plan to use your Credit Card’s coverage, bring proof in case the rental company asks.

• Travel insurance - super important! Medical expenses can be a doozy and in this case, it’s definitely better to be safe than sorry. Once you’ve signed up for travel insurance, make the instructions of how to use the policy and the details of the policy, are available offline (maybe download to your phone) or even print a copy. There’s been a few times we forgot to do this and you can do it as late as when being at the airport, although we don’t recommend this strategy for stress free travel.

Medical group

• If you needed shots for the area you’ll be visiting, make sure you have evidence that you do have the shot. Same goes for any pills, like Malaria meds, that you need to take.

• If you are on a lot of medication, it’s safe to being your doctor’s Rx in case customs asks why you have so many meds. Even for epi-pens it’s best to have a Rx.

• Double check you have contact lenses, contact lens carry-case, reading glasses, prescription sunglasses, you get the gist, all that stuff to be able to see.

Country group

• Check for your guidebook or e-guidebook.

• Double check the weather, in case you can throw in an umbrella or make a better last minute footwear choice.

Wallet group

• Drivers license

• International drivers license (if you are renting a car)

• MONEY! preferably small bills so you can easily tip

• Research the exchange rate so you’ll know how much to withdraw. We normally look up how much USD $100 is and go from there.

• Remove unnecessary cards - just in case your wallet is stolen

• Make copies of all the stuff you are bringing - take a photo and leave it on your computer at home or email to yourself, or on an online drive or you could just send it to someone you trust.

Check out our ‘What’s in our wallet’ blog post if you are curious how lean our wallet is.

Technology group

• Phone:

  • if you are going to activate an international plan, make sure it’s on before you leave. If not, turn your roaming off to avoid incurring charges.

  • Alternatively, research how much it would cost to buy a local sim card. Again, we are assuming your phone is unlocked. If you don’t know, make sure you find out before you leave.

  • Double check you have your charger & headphones

• Double check someone packed the charging station & adaptor

• Bring an external battery pack & make sure it’s charged.

• Download the map for the area you are going, in google or maps.me.

• Download google translate AND the language of the country you are going to.

• Don’t forget your eReader or any movies you are planning to watch.

Checkout our ‘Travel Essential’s’ blog post to see what we really, never, ever forget.

Airport group

• Passport, extra photos & a copy of your passport. Make a copy of your passport available offline too - you could email it to yourself, put it in an online drive or you could send it to someone you trust.

• Boarding pass - if you checked in early, and you need a printed boarding (sometimes you can print at the airport).

• Visas - read the instructions to the visa you already have again to make sure you have everything the immigration officer’s will ask for.

• Hotel reservation available offline (or printed) - you might need this for when going through immigration.

Another blog post that’s useful is our ‘Tourist visa requirements’ for all the pre-travel visa prep.

Home group

• Stop your mail - if you live in the US just go to www.USPS.com

• Take out the trash, store any ‘countertop’ food, like bananas, in the fridge & do all the dishes!

• Some people set up light timers, for your lights so your house won’t look empty. Make sure these are working if you are planning to do this.

• Unplug small appliances.

• Set your thermostat to a lower (or higher) temp, unless you have pets.

• If you have an old fashioned alarm clock, make sure it’s off.

Optional

• Register with the department of state, if coming from the US. Some people don’t necessarily like doing this and just mark on the map where the closest embassy/consulate will be.

If you want the PDF version, you can download the checklist here - it’s categorized in the same way.

And if you want to see us chattin’ it up - same content but on YouTube here.

Lastly, we’d love to hear from you, especially if we’ve forgotten anything! Please leave your feedback in the comments below.