Last year this time, I was preparing to head to South Africa for what would be one of the best weeks of my life. But, was I prepared? Absolutely not. It wasn’t the first time I’d left the country, but it was the first time I traveled internationally to a place where I’d be doing more than just lying on the beach and the first time being in the air for over five hours. I learned a ton of tricks in the process that I plan to implement in my next trip.
If you’re heading to a far away destination this holiday season, here are five ways to prepare:
1. Stay charged.
Charge up all electronic devices before takeoff and when possible — like with your cell phone — invest in a backup wireless charger that can work from anywhere. Then, test it out to be sure that it works. I didn’t test my external charger and it turned out to be faulty.
If you’re leaving the Americas, you’ll likely need a charger adapter, too. Each country is different so if you’re headed to multiple countries, it’s wise to lookup each one in an adapter travel guide.
MUST READ: Flight Risk: Tips To Prevent DVT While Traveling
2. Bring a comfortable pillow, your own blanket and snacks for the flight.
Most planes should have blankets and pillows, sure, but they will undoubtedly be thin. Your head will probably need more support during the long flight and the temperature on the plane might require something more than what’s provided. I didn’t bring either. I was freezing and uncomfortable for over 17 hours.
And, although meals are provided on long international flights, airplane meals can be pretty bad since it’s prepackaged, chilled and stored for hours. They’re essentially the equivalent of a frozen dinner because there’s only so much room on a plane for in-flight preparation. Bring your own snacks just in case you’re not a fan of the airline’s options. I brought a few snacks to last me the week, but I totally could’ve packed heartier options that would’ve filled me up more. I ended up just eating fruit the entire way.
3. Check in with your bank.
You’ll want to call your bank to avoid any fraud alert freezes on your account while you swipe away in different cities and countries, but also should ask about their exchange rates. My bank, as it turned out, had a relationship with a South African bank to save its customers exchange charges. So, it was actually cheaper to take local money out of my American bank account using the ATMs in South Africa than to come with cash and exchange it over. I missed that memo and ended up spending more money than I needed to.
4. Break in your new shoes.
New shoes can be uncomfortable, even if you’ve had a similar pair before. Break in new shoes — even flats and sneakers — before you take off. You’ll likely do a lot more walking than you would do on a normal day and it’s not much you can do about it if they start to hurt your feet while you’re there. Unless you can run into a store and buy new ones, you’ll be stuck in an uncomfortable situation.
5. Learn the language.
There’s nothing more pretentious than assuming that everyone in the country you’re headed to will speak English. Sure, it’s likely, especially if you’ll be staying mostly on a resort, but if English is not of the country’s official languages, you should make an effort to learn at least a few phrases to show that you made an effort.
We didn’t really do this. South Africa has 11 official languages, and English just happens to be one of them. But still, as we traveled throughout the country, people spoke different indigenous languages to us. This makes sense: 23 percent of South Africans speak Zulu at home, 16 percent speak Xhosa, 14 percent speak Afrikaans, and less than 10 percent speak English. How beautiful it would have been to have known some phrases!
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