Avoid frustration and needless expense with this 10 point checklist of things to do/take when you are planning a trip abroad. It is written with Menorca in mind but the points relate pretty well to most warm weather holiday destinations:
- Driving license: In Spain it is a legal requirement to carry this document if you are driving, and if you are planning on hiring a car you will need it anyway.
- Travel Insurance. Well prepared travelers will make sure they have their European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) AND Private Travel Insurance. An annual travel insurance policy makes sense for frequent travelers. In the event of an accident, private travel insurance will often get you speedier treatment, and will include cover to get you back to the UK.
- Medicines to cover your stay abroad. Running out of blood pressure pills or other medicines halfway through your trip needlessly adds stress and hassle, so make sure you have supplies to see you through your whole holiday.
- Phone, charger and 2-pin plug adaptor. Also check with your service provider that you will be able to use your phone abroad, usually there will be a restriction that will need lifting, and it will be easier to do this from the UK than from abroad.
- Let you bank know you which countries you are visiting. Increasingly, the banks require prior notification so that debit or credit cards can be used abroad.
- Those euros left over from your last visit abroad. They might not add up to much, but they are more use in Spain than on the shelf back home, so go grab ‘em now!
- A good book. Holidays are a great time to catch up on reading. Most airports have bookshops, but if you are flying early morning or late at night these might be shut, so grab a reserve book now just in case…
- Spectacles / spare contact lenses. You were intending upon reading that book, right? If you have different glasses for reading or driving, remember these too. A backup pair of glasses can really save your trip.
- Suitable UV protection. Even if you don’t intend on being outside for long, always limit your exposure to harmful rays by using high factor sunscreen. Buying in the UK is usually cheaper and will save you time and hassle when you arrive.
- Tea bags – cheap and plentiful in the UK, overpriced or unavailable in Menorca. You won’t regret throwing a box in your suitcase…