Traveling tips?

[Krissy]

DH and I are leaving for Ireland in less than 3 weeks. I've never left the country and he hasn't since he was 13. Plus we've never left home for longer than a week and this time we'll be gone 16 days!

Any tips for traveling that I might not think of? Whether it's something we might forget to pack or need on the plane, lemme know!

k, thanks.

[Kiki]

Wow, how exciting Krissy!!! I went to Europe in '94 and it was great!!

My one recommendation...pack something for your stomach. You never know how you might react to the food unless you have a cast iron stomach. Invest in one of those nice neck pillows for the plane. Pack at least one change of clothes in your carryon luggage, just in case, heaven forbid, they lose your luggage.

If I can think of anything else, I'll come back with more.

[Kristy]

Take an aspirin before you get on the plane so it prevents blood clots in your legs from sitting for so long. I was given this advice and while I doubt I would have gotten any, I did it just in case :)

When you pack, don't pack all your stuff in one suitcase and DH's in another. Mix it up in case one suitcase gets lost. MAke sure you have travel insurance!!!

[*meghan*]

Don't forget your passport!! I know, common sense, right? :) Take only credit cards or travelers checks that you need - leave everything else at home.

If you have troubles with your ears not popping on the plane, take a Sudafed about 30 minutes before you board the plane. I agree with Kiki and Kristy - take stomach medicine (Imodium, Pepcid, etc) and aspirin (helps with hangovers too!).

I would invest in the headphones that the airline sells for like $5. They really come in handy when the in-flight movies are playing! :)

[Krissy]

Thanks so much girls...these are great suggestions!

[*heather*]

The best advice I ever got was to lay everything out and take half the clothes and twice the money. ;)

[Aramelle]

If you plan to use credit cards (including check cards with Visa or MC logo), be sure to notify the bank that you will be traveling abroad. I've heard way too many stories of banks putting holds on the cards because of suspicious activity.

[*Diane*]

Make sure your ATM card has only a four digit PIN.

Pack your underwear in a ziploc bag so if your bag is searched, they are not pawing through your delicates.

If you are driving, go to viamichelin.com and print off driving directions for each day. Trust me, this is a lifesaver in Ireland. Signs are unpredictable.

Take a duffel bag that folds up very small. Then you can use to check your dirty clothes coming home and carry on all your new goodies. :)

[~Tala~]

Ooohhh, how exciting!!

Bring one of those small little mini purse type things. Not sure what they are called...they aren't purses...but you wear it under your clothes so it's low profile...keeps your passport and any money you would want to carry. When we went to Portugal we each had one and it was nice not having to worry about leaving our purse/wallet somewhere! Plus, no one knows you have it on!

Also, make sure to leave a copy of your passports with someone at home...you never know what could happen to yours when you're in Ireland and you want to make sure someone has a backup!

I also agree with the tylenol/advil. I got really sick from eating too much seafood while on our honeymoon and came down with a really high fever. We had meds from menstrual cramps I had had earlier..however we had to call our front desk for help with the portugese on the label. :) It's better if you know exactly what you are taking!

I don't know how it is in Ireland...but I can't tell you how many bathrooms I went in that did not have toilet paper! Bring some! :lolroll:

I hope you have an awesome trip!

[SueMartin]

if you are taking medication, make sure that you take the boxes they come in so customs can see what they are & that they are for you.

mix up yours & DH's clothing, and take an extra copy of your passport, tickets etc with you & leave a copy at home too.

in case of clots, you can get those long stockings that are great, I usually take a pair of slip on scuffs so I dont have to wear shoes on the flight.

[Michelle]

Bring something to wash your clothes in the sink. You'd be surprised how many times you can re-wear something while traveling. It's not worth traveling heavily!

Also, my best advice from going to Europe for a few weeks at a time, is to bring your older underwear, socks, and t-shirts that you can unload while you're there to make room in your suitcase for suiveniers and stuff! It really helps.

ETA: Pack a ton of dryer sheets. It will keep your clothes in your suitcase smelling nice, and also if you put them in your drawers if you unpack it helps keep them from smelling like the nasty hotel places!

[*Diane*]

If you were going to a country where they still smoked in restaurants and pubs, I would recommend Febreeze. That saved us from having to pack the entire closet the first time we went to Ireland. Now they don't smoke in the pubs so it wasn't an issue.

If you are going to send postcards home, make labels before you go.

[walleye3]

Possibly bring some motion sickness medicine of some type, for the flight, even if you don't normally get motion sickness, it is still a problem. I have never been motion sick before, but on my flight over to South Africa a couple of year back I got pretty sick on the flight over, it was very fun to go through.

[Krissy]

These are great suggestions! you guys rock!

So, we're definitely going to bring tavel size versions of tylenol and some tums/pepcid stuff.

And I am DEFINITELY going to pack my undies in a ziplock bag!

Mrslevy - Do you know where I would find one of those small nonpurse things? Sounds like a great idea. I did end up getting a small purse to put over my shoulder though.

Ok, on the Dramamine note....I do get a weird stomach on flights. Nothing major, I just usually make sure to bring crackers or something. Our flight is 6 hours long...we leave at 8pm (EST) and arrive at about 7am (Ireland time). I'm afraid that I won't sleep at all on the plane, will taking Dramamine knock me out to where I'm a zombie the next day? (Keeping in mind I might get 5 hours of sleep if I'm lucky)

[JerAndKathy]

Carry on all medication.

[JerAndKathy]

There's a few of those wallets on this page (http://www.luggageonline.com/productlist.cfm?catID=173&sortBy=mostPopular&sortDir=desc&startNum=13&startpage=1&narrowNum=0&selectNum=4&brand_ID=0&collection_ID=0&productsperrow=4&productsperpage=12). I just googled for travel wallet. :)

[Krissy]

There's a few of those wallets on this page (http://www.luggageonline.com/productlist.cfm?catID=173&sortBy=mostPopular&sortDir=desc&startNum=13&startpage=1&narrowNum=0&selectNum=4&brand_ID=0&collection_ID=0&productsperrow=4&productsperpage=12). I just googled for travel wallet. :)


Thanks Jer! You rock, I hadn't even gotten to googling it yet.

[JerAndKathy]

There's also this one (http://www.eaglecreek.com/40329.html)...This one (http://www.landsend.com/cd/fp/prod/0,,1_2_1930_67321_136107_114518_5:view=-1,00.html?CM_MERCH=PAGE_58184) also looks promising. :) They all are pretty much alike, just a matter of which looks more like it would be comfortable. :)

[*Diane*]

Don't take any Ambien! :crazy: How do you normally react to Benadryl? If it knocks you out, I wouldn't take it. I have a horrible time sleeping on planes but it never bothered me once I got to Ireland. Mark has had really good luck with Tylenol PM. It gives him just enough of a push to help him sleep without dragging him down the next day.

[Krissy]

Oh that's good to know, I rarely take any medication so I don't know how I react, but we do have an unopened bottle of tylenol PM in the medicine cabinet.

[*meghan*]

Ok, on the Dramamine note....I do get a weird stomach on flights. Nothing major, I just usually make sure to bring crackers or something. Our flight is 6 hours long...we leave at 8pm (EST) and arrive at about 7am (Ireland time). I'm afraid that I won't sleep at all on the plane, will taking Dramamine knock me out to where I'm a zombie the next day? (Keeping in mind I might get 5 hours of sleep if I'm lucky)


Take less-drowsy Dramamine (it says less-drowsy on the package and contains meclizine). The drowsy one will make you feel high as a kite :)

[walleye3]

If you do want to force yourself to sleep you can take like a tylonel PM or something. It all depends how thoses things affect you. I took a nitol on my flight from South Africa to Amsterdam it only made me sleep like 2 hours.....it all depends on your body.

[curlgirl]

Hey there,

I used to take dramamine on flight more to get some sleep then for nausea but I found an herbal thing that works better. You can get melatonin herbal capsules at a natural/health food store. If you take then about 5 hrs before you want to sleep (pre-flight) you should be fine and perfectly awake & alert when you wake up - no dopey-ness (I know that's not a word) at all :heee:
I've never had a problem with this at all.

Good luck!

Sam :)

[smiles]

I've never been to Europe, but have travel to Australia. I'm sure you'll have so much fun on your trip. I recomend packing all your clothes in ziplock bags, and pack outfits together so that everything is easy to find. Make sure you take the orginal containers for persription medications, becaue many countries really check, and some place you can't get those medications. I recomend taking an eye mask. It's useful to help sleep on the plane or in a strange place. Pack as light as possible. Pack a change of clothes in your carry on bag. Pack a few packaged snacks in your carry on, but know that sometimes they don't allow certain fresh foods in certain countries.

Make sure you don't have any metal on you going through airport metal detectors. Limit wearing jewelry. Once my bra hooks made the metal detector go off and it took them hand searching me for 10 minutes before they figured out what it was. From then on I wore a sports bra with no metal when I fly.

When I travel I have a bra pocket which I carry ID in and a few extra travelers checks. Noone goes and robs a bra.

[walleye3]

Another good tip, is try to where shoes that do not have any metal on them or in them. Or you will get padded down like you wouldn't believe!

[*Diane*]

You leave tomorrow??? :twirl: I am sure you already have your clothes packed and know what you are going to wear. It is great if you can layer up in clothes that don't wrinkle for the flight over. Shoes that are easy to get on and off, a camisole with a built in bra and if you dont' wear socks, at least carry some on.

[Krissy]

LOL actually, I'm NOT packed yet! I will most likely wait and do it tomorrow morning since we won't leave for the airport until 3pm. Since it's hot as heck here I'll probably wear yoga capris, a tank top and flip flops to the airport.

I leave tomorrow holy crap!