I’m going on my first overseas trip with my girlfriend since we started dating. I worked hard all last year to earn and save money for this trip. It will be our first international trip ever, and I want to make it perfect, memorable, and the best trip of our lives.
I’ve read countless articles online to ensure everything is perfect. It felt overwhelming to the point that my head started to hurt. Fortunately, I found an article that provided a detailed guideline, and it seemed like the perfect guide. My girlfriend and I have been following it, and it has been very helpful so far.
However, I decided to come to this community to seek additional guidance, advice, and tips from you all, just in case the article missed something important. My girlfriend and I would greatly appreciate any travel tips, advice, and guidance you have, as this is our first trip abroad together.
Others have said it, but I’ll stress it some more. Don’t overplan. Whenever I go somewhere I make a list of all the places I wanna go to and I only schedule one place/day. Two at most if they’re small things. But don’t plan a museum in the morning and then a second place/museum in the afternoon, for example. You’ll never make it to the second place. Or you will but you’ll be too tired to enjoy it.
1-2 places/day are enough. Trying to cram too much stuff into a day will ruin your trip, really.
In the army they say: “No plan survives first contact with the enemy” I believe, right? I think the same counts for trips abroad. You’ll probably get sick in the first days because of all the built up stress preparing for the trip finally releasing, you will forget something “important” when leaving the airplane, the museum you really wanted to see might be closed that week because of renovations, etc.
What I remember most from my trips are those cafes you stumble upon that afternoon you did not plan anything, that sunset on the edge of the river while walking back to the place you’re staying and the best souvenir is that painting you bought from that friendly guy at that market you came across. So, try to take it slow.
More practical tips: try to follow the local schedule. For instance, in Spain don’t try to eat dinner before 21:00 and in France don’t try to go shopping during lunchtime.
Also, take some emergency food for when you cannot find a nice place to eat that still has a spot for two but you are getting really hangry. A bar of some sorts for instance.
And take pictures, but don’t experience everything through your lense. Also, imagine what you would actually like to view when back home. I only take pictures with people on them and not in any tourist hotspots; I can find enough pictures of those online already.
Enjoy!
Yep. Agreed. Unplanned bits are often very memorable. Took shelter in a random café in Vienna and had amazing cakes. My favourite memory from that trip, I think.
Have a broad plan, but don’t fuss about sticking to it too much.
Except the pictures bit. There I disagree.I like taking pictures of touristy stuff and such. Because It’ll help me remember the way I experienced the place. And pictures of stuff in museums because it’ll help me remember what I enjoyed most. I don’t wanna have to look up a list of all the expositions later on in order to find something I wanna review or share with someone.
Piggybacking to add that it will make you feel disappointed when you plan for 5 things and don’t get to them all, or don’t end up fully enjoying them because you were rushing from place to place. Plan some things, but give yourself room to want to take a lot of extra time at one place, or to explore stuff nearby.
