International Travel Made Easier

Flying is only one small part of your trip. Here are some tips for making your trip easier, so you can concentrate on having fun and getting down to business.

1. Download the lay of the land.
Sure, you want to check out maps and guides before you go. But you can bring all that with you with a quick download and access it whenever you want. Wallpaper City Guides have always been a gorgeous go-to in print, giving highly curated information from travel experts about the best a city has to offer. Now this is available in app form, making it easier to carry around with you. Upgrade from the basic mapping and GPS to something like Navigon--an amazingly detailed mobile GPS that is super user-friendly. For a more social, connected travel helper, try Dopplr--which lets you track your travel, share it with others and tap into a big network of tips and info about different destinations.

2. Send your luggage ahead of you.
Skip the suitcase schlepping and baggage claim! Send your luggage ahead with a service like UPS or FedEx to the hotel or house where you'll be staying. Chances are you'd already have to pay the airline to check the bag, so why not pay a little more to save yourself some hassle? This is also great if you are traveling with gifts or plan to bring a lot of stuff back with you. You 'll even get a tracking number for your belongings. Be sure to have a guarantee your luggage will arrive at least one day before you do and that someone will be there to accept and store it securely. Hotels usually have a locked room for just this purpose. Research where you'll go to send it back home.

3. Diversify your carry-on.
Even if most of your stuff is traveling ahead of you or in your checked bags, be sure to have a small stash of necessities in your carry-on bag. An outfit or two and some toiletries will make you feel a lot better if your luggage is lost or delayed. Anything you'd be absolutely lost without or devastated to lose, carry it with you.

4. Figure out currency and cards beforehand.
Memorize the rough conversion rate for where you're going, so you won't be surprised. Get some money changed before you go, since you could run into some cash-only situations. Even if you're going to be using a credit card, don't make any assumptions. Check with the card issuer about their services while you're abroad and for any additional fees.

5. Bring power converters and adapters.
These can be surprisingly hard to find in other countries. And, if you're like me, you would be lost without all your tech! Skip the multi-country adapters and choose the proper one for where you'll be going. In the long run, it works out much better.

6. Have fun.
In the midst of all the stress, strangeness and potential jetlag, it's easy to forget to enjoy where you are. Maybe bring some little gifts from home for your friends or business associates to get things started on a positive note. On a business trip, pick out one adventurous restaurant experience you'll have or one silly tourist destination you'll make a little time for. On a vacation, set aside some wandering time so you're not so scheduled that you miss out on the surprising little things another country can offer you. We might not think lost luggage is fun ... but apparently Atari thought it was. There's a game for the old Atari 2600 called Lost Luggage. The premise is: You and a friend have to catch flying suitcases (that appear to be coming out of the airplane) before they burst open and spill your "unmentionables" for everyone to see.



What's your crazy travel experience that changed the way you travel?

========================================================================
JEAN AW Founder of NOTCOT: Concept, Content & Creative, Editor-In-Chief of the NotEmpire*. . . Design Addict + UX Designer + Shopaholic + Tech Connoisseur + Design Writer + World Traveler 

*NotEmpire = not an empire, composed of NOTCOT.com, NOTCOT.org, NotCouture.com, and Liqurious.com