Your Guide to Navigating International Travel Smoothly
- fotaquest
- Jun 20, 2024
- 8 min read
Updated: Feb 4
Your Guide to Navigating International Travel Smoothly:
By Lars Guo
Published: June 20, 2024
Opening message: Hi Folks! I hope you are doing well! I hope you have been enjoying the blog posts! Thank you so much for reading them! This blog post is about how to travel internationally. It will go through the type of people who should solo travel, planning process, the plane ride, arrival and departure days, during the trip, and the pros and cons of the trip. There will be personal experiences, advice, and tips weaved into this article. As noted, this is based on my experience as a solo traveler who never went internationally by myself until November 2023. You can see the post about my Japan trip through this link: https://fotaquest.wixsite.com/lgjinsei/post/japan-trip I hope you enjoy the blog and learn a lot about how to solo travel.
Who should solo travel?: I think the best candidates who would be good for solo traveling internationally is someone who can endure lack of sleep, has mental, physical, and emotional stamina, is good with money, calm in the face of emergencies especially getting lost, having good spatial awareness is great but not required, responsible, can go with the flow, and has patience. A bonus trait will be your willingness to be open minded. The reason for the lack of sleep is that it is hard to sleep in beds that you are not used to. Having stamina in all three categories is important because it is taxing and there is a lot to think about from what you are doing, how long you are doing it, keeping yourself responsible on what your doing, and being able to interact with locals and other people with respect and patience, especially if there is a language barrier. Being calm is important during travel because there will be times where you run into an unexpected issue and it leaves one uncomfortable and/or panicked. It is important to be able to be calm enough to think through the situation in a calm and logical way. Spatial awareness is great when it comes to finding your destinations and returning to your hotel. Going with the flow is important because things will not go as planned all of the time. You must be responsible because being careless and irresponsible will leave you in trouble in how to properly handle the situation. Being open minded to new cultures, ways of life, and customs will get you a long way and opens you to the possibility of making friends in a foreign country. Also, panicking makes you an easy target for thieves as well because it makes it obvious that you are not around the area. If you are going in a group, it doesn’t matter as much so long as one of you embodies those traits and/or a combination of traits that make the group a whole when traveling internationally and/or domestically.
Wix snapped the photo that you see above.
Planning: First you must map out your activities and their locations in order to decide where your hotel is going to be. Second, you must know whether you are using public transit, Ubers/Lyfts/taxis, and/or a rental car as a way to get yourself from one place to another. Third, you must make sure that you don't need a visa in order to travel to that country. Fourth, book hotels and flights according to where you plan to start and end your trip. If you have travel miles, use them. For flights, make sure you can have a free carry on bag and/or check bag. Make sure it is close to where you are staying. Have a plan and learn what routes you are going to go to. Also, try to learn some of the language of the foreign country you are going to in order to be respectful. It will also make your life a lot easier. Make sure you get any shots that are needed for foreign travel. Not every place will need it but some of them will need it. Figure out your trip budget and make sure you leave some wiggle room in your budget for unexpected costs. I would leave a 500-1000 dollar buffer. My budgeting blog will be linked here if you are interested in learning more about budgeting: https://fotaquest.wixsite.com/lgjinsei/post/budgeting
Packing: If you plan on going for a week, don't bother with laundry. Anything in the close to 2 weeks or higher mark, you should plan on doing laundry. In that case bring a week's worth of clothing, toiletries, and absolutely space for souvenirs. I would recommend checking a bag for a big suitcase. For your carry on bag, make sure you have entertainment. Personally, I like listening to music so I bring my MP3 player. Link to my article on music players is here if you are interested in reading up about them: https://fotaquest.wixsite.com/lgjinsei/post/music-players I also like to read my Kindle during trip as well as a way to get off my phone and relax as well. Link to my Kindle article will be here: https://fotaquest.wixsite.com/lgjinsei/post/kindle-paperwhite Depending on the person's age, maybe a game console. Also have a portable battery with you in case you run out of battery because it will be a pain to find an outlet to charge your devices. It is important to have snacks and bring a water bottle that you can pack that can squeeze to a small size. You cannot have liquids. However, be careful on what expensive items you bring because people are known to pickpocket you. Make sure you dress as if you don't have money so you are less vulnerable to people stealing your possessions. It is always important to have a specialized sling close to your body where you can put your passport, wallet, your currency of your native country and the destination, and license/photo ID. For currency, check your bank to see if they give you a good exchange rate so you can make the most out of your money. Some of them have fees attached to it when converting from your native currency to the foreign country's destination. It is always important to have the documents you need to get any passes such as transit, internet, sim card, etc. and make sure you have that at all times. This is true especially with your passport because if you lose it, it is a complete headache trying to be able to get a new passport. Pack that in a safe area. Personally, before I go on the trip, I put it in my carry on backpack until the day of and after preparing myself, I put it on and double check that I have my phone, passport, wallet, license, etc. Make sure you get a credit card that has no foreign transaction fees in order to prevent your money being drained because of international charges. Also, tell your bank(s) when you are traveling in order to avoid theft in the states while you are traveling. Have a device that allows you to snap photos which could be your tablet, camera, phone, or other devices. It is important to have masks in case you are sick and do not want to spread germs and/or reduce the risk of having COVID and/or other illnesses. It will not be fun to contend with while traveling whether you are doing an international trip and/or a domestic trip.
Plane ride: Be ready to try to get some shut eye if your flight is long. Be ready to use any entertainment you have and eat on the plane. Once you pass security, fill your water bottle. Try not to buy anything on the plane because it is overpriced. Entertainment like movies are available on the plane, but they may not have the movies/TV shows you like and keep that in mind. It isn't always a bad idea to chat with your fellow passenger mates on the flight because you never know who you will meet that is important. Do not leave any belongings unattended unless you legitimately want it to be stolen internationally or not.
Arrival: When you arrive, be prepared to be tired and exhausted. Make sure you prioritize anything that has a time limit on getting your item. In my case, it was the Japan rail pass. I also needed to get my pocket WiFi for communication purposes. Make sure your phone is accustomed to the time difference. You will need to go through customs. When going through customs, you have to declare your items, get a fingerprint scan/or blood drawn, state your name, address you are stating, passport information, etc. If you are traveling in a group, you can split up and complete the various tasks minus customs in order to make the process a lot faster and more efficient. Otherwise if you are a solo traveler, you have to do that by yourself and it takes longer to do overall.
During the trip: Make sure you plan out a couple of activities a day. Try to account for a chill day because traveling is tiring especially when you are going alone. You want to be able to enjoy your trip. It is okay to have a day where you do not have anything planned. During my Japan trip, I had a day where I just relaxed and did nothing. I did a mini photoshoot in the hotel and went out for dinner. I relaxed and caught up with my friends and family that day and watched some anime. For example, I planned on going to Universal Studios and that is the only thing planned that day. Another example is when I decided to spend my day at Tokyo Character Street and explore Akihabara. I took my time and had plenty of time to chill and enjoy the scenery. Keep your doors locked at all times because you can’t trust everyone to not steal your belongings. Snap photos and perhaps write a journal of your trip because those memories will always be treasured that much more. I still read my journal from my first Japan trip and other mini trips within the country as well. Perhaps hold enough photos to have a photo album for long term treasures.
Last day: Make sure you have everything. Like the day before your trip, place everything in your bag and double check that you have everything. Remember to read the instructions on how to return anything that you have borrowed. In my case, that was the pocket WiFi. Make sure you bought snacks outside of the airport and pack it in your backpack. Drink lots of water. Repeat the plane section. Make sure your devices are charged.
After the trip: Jet-lag is very real. Take it easy and ease back into your daily routine. Rushing it will result in no productivity. It took me a week to get my sleep schedule back in order. It felt like I stayed up all night when I went to Japan. I did play Pokemon Scarlet in Japanese. It was a bit lonely since everyone was in a completely different time zone and there was nothing to do since I was in a 13-14 hour ahead time zone.
Pros: You learn a lot about yourself if you are alone. For traveling with people, you get to see a lot of sights that are special to that country. The exposure to other languages will be great and inspirational. You will learn a lot about the culture in that country and examine how life is different in that country compared to yours. It could potentially help you be open minded about others. There are simply sights that you have to go to in order to have an unforgettable experience.
Cons: It is exhausting to travel. It is also pretty expensive as well so financially you have to be prepared as well. Jet-lag is something you are likely going to have to contend with. While I did like Japan, I did find myself extremely exhausted and needed time off. It took me a long time to get my sleep schedule in order. My bank account was quite a bit drained as well.
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Closing message: I hope this blog helps you with your international traveling. I hope you do end up traveling internationally and that you stay safe and smart about how you go about it. I look forward to you reading my next blog. Have a wonderful day!
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