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.
Make sure you will have internet access. You may need to buy a SIM card at the airport, or buy a plan/package from your provider that supports the country you will be visiting. It may be costly but it will be worth it.
For real. I recently traveled to Europe with my dad and I was going to buy a traveler’s SIM card in the airport when we landed, and he was like “nah those are a scam, we’ll get one from a phone carrier once we are in the city. The ones at the airport price gouge you”. Fast forward to us getting the wrong kind of sim card, blowing like 80 euros on something that doesn’t have mobile data, needing to go to an Orange place in every city we visited to find out why the SIM we bought stopped working after we used it for data for ten minutes (we had burned 50 euros of credits that quickly because it wasn’t meant to be used for data), and going most of the trip desperately attaching ourselves to anywhere with free wifi just to check in with our family back home.
Eventually we gave up and bought the sort of traveler’s SIM they would have sold us in the airport from one of the street kiosks in Paris. The first 2/3 of our trip was other cities around France, which don’t have that sort of kiosk and don’t have as big of an international tourism industry. It worked perfectly.
Just get the ones from the airport. They are specifically for travelers as opposed to just being the local carrier’s prepaid option.
I can buy a lot of travel staff in this sport shop!
From experience: chill out. Do your homework in the background to ensure you understand train stations, airports, city centers. I’m that guy, I try to memorize maps for weeks before a trip. (I enjoy this).
Then when you are there just go with the vibe. Try to make things seem casual and carefree.
If the attraction is too crowded: oh well. Let’s just get coffee and stroll the city center.
If the rental car gets a flat: oh well. Let’s just have a picnic while we handle this little tire thing. (Safety off the road of course)
A little slow at a train station waiting for a connection? Let’s review our photos and pick some favorites.
You can see my thread is: have a plan of how things should go, but then be ready to have a “zero-speed” alternative in your head that boils down to: “I’m spending time with my gf in a new place, and that’s enough”
Where are you from? Where are you going? Can’t really give you advice without knowing those things.
As a general rule: don’t expect perfection. Some things will suck, and if you go in expecting everything to be perfect you’ll be disappointed. Also, wherever you go is still a normal place, filled with normal people, living normal lives. Don’t be a nuisance to the locals, and don’t expect/demand anyone not working in hospitality to go out of their way on your behalf (and even people working in hospitality, the “the customer is always right” mentality isn’t a thing everywhere).
“I want to make it perfect, memorable, and the best trip of our lives”
Lower your expectations and just focus on having a good time and getting closer to each other. If that means spending more time in bed relaxing, that’s ok.
