Ms. Zaragoza's Pro Tips for International Travel:
- Before I go on a trip and before I start packing my suitcase, I lay out my outfits and plan in advance what I am going to wear each day. From there, I will usually only pack a max of one extra outfit. This is one of the greatest travel habits I've gotten into, which keeps me from overpacking. It's effective every single time.
- Use an efficient packing technique to keep your clothes from wrinkling and to save space (tutorials are linked below):
- In my earlier travel days, I was quite fond of the "Ranger Roll" method, which is one great option to go with - in fact, it served me quite well on my first London trip with DGN!
- Since then, I have become a bit of a KonMari enthusiast, and I now prefer Marie Kondo's folding methods for travel (and for my closet at home) to make for an extra organized suitcase. It allows me to maximize space, and when you situate things in this way, it's almost like having a ready-to-go dresser when you unzip your suitcase upon arrival.
- Leave some empty room in your suitcase when packing for departure to reserve some space for any souvenirs you might want to purchase along the way!
- Bring a purse that has a strap that goes across your body to help keep it more secure while venturing out and about.
- Wear your "bulkiest" jeans and shoes when traveling on the plane to and from to help free up extra room in your suitcase; alternatively, slip-on shoes make the trip through airport security easier and more efficient. Likewise, consider wearing your London tour jacket and/or winter coat onto the plane so it doesn't take up precious luggage space.
- You may need to call certain phone carriers in advance to notify them that you will be traveling internationally to set up international coverage in advance. Additionally, if you will be using a credit card on the trip, you may need to notify certain credit card companies in advance that you will be traveling so they don't mistakenly flag your card for fraudulent activity.
- To conserve the limited phone data you'll be paying extra for each day with an international plan, you can do a couple things:
- If there are any documents you anticipate you may want digital access to while away from WiFi (i.e. the London Itinerary Book), simply go into your Google Drive/Sheets/Docs app, then click the 3 dots next to the file you want access to, and select "Make Available Offline*. You will now be able to access these files without data.
- Additionally, we have loads of apps on our phones these days that run in the background and provide push notifications, which can chew through your limited data pretty quickly. Go into the settings of your phone on the morning of departure day, and you can go into each app to toggle off "Cellular Data" on the apps you don't need access to outside of WiFi zones (TikTok can wait, fam).
- I like to brush up on cultural norms before visiting a new destination to better blend in and avoid potentially offending anyone from another culture. Here are some tips for the UK (some of these pointers won't apply to this travel situation, but there are certainly some helpful ones included): http://www.ediplomat.com/np/cultural_etiquette/ce_gb.htm
- Lastly, here is an ever-so-brief introduction to the currency in the UK. There are 100 pence (p) to the pound (£). At today's exchange rate, one pound is approximately equivalent to $1.21 (US). Notes come in denominations of £5, £10, £20 and £50. Coins come in 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, £1 and £2.
