You’re excited! You just booked plane tickets for that trip that you’ve been dreaming about!

Okay? So, what’s next?

Here are the 10 Most Important Things to Do to Prepare for Your Dream Trip!

Buy Travel Insurance

Get Travel Insurance – Research different travel insurance and their deductibles and coverage. Make sure it covers you for the types of activity you plan on engaging in. Going scuba diving? Make sure they cover you for this. Furthermore, make sure you get cancelation insurance. It would be a nightmare to book a trip, get sick, and then not get any refunds.

Learn more about Travel Insurance here.

Get Vaccinated

Get your vaccinations and medications ready. Make sure you make an appointment with a Travel Medicine Doctor. Ideally, you want to get vaccinated at least one month in advance, so your body has time to adjust. You may have a strong reaction and you don’t want to have to board a plane not feeling well.

Also, contact your pharmacy and tell them you plan on traveling and will need extra medication. Sometimes the medical insurance won’t pay for extra medication in advance, so you may have to pay out-of-pocket for additional medication.

Make sure you check the CDC website to check for any disease warnings if you are traveling to developing countries and get vaccinated as needed. If you’re immunocompromised, you’ll need to take extra precautions. Make sure to read my article “Travel for Immunocompromised Travelers” for more tips

Hire a House and Pet Sitter

Have a furry friend? You can ask a friend to check on both your house and pet. They can feed your pets, pick up your mail, take deliveries, and water plants. Just give them a little money, take them out to dinner, and offer to help out whenever they need it.

If you can’t find anyone willing to help out, then consider hiring a Pet Sitter. Websites like Rover, Wag, and Trusted House Sitters have professional house sitters who can pet sit for a fee and sometimes free

Contact Your Bank

Contact your bank and credit card companies and give them the dates you’ll be out of the country and what countries you are traveling to.

Also, See if your card has 0% foreign transaction fees. Try to use your credit card when withdrawing money instead of using a currency exchange which usually has very high rates. If your credit card doesn’t have 0% foreign transaction fees, consider getting a WISE account. You can use WISE to transfer money from your own account and pick up the cash at a bank. It has low fees.

I usually only carry about $300 cash on me. The rest, I get from ATMs or transfer out of my WISE account for the best exchange rate.

Order the Correct Country Plug-ins.

Research what plug-ins you will need for your electronics. There are a variety of international plug-ins on Amazon.

Make Copies of Your Passport and Important Documents.

Scan your ID, passport, travel insurance, medication list, itinerary, emergency phone numbers, tour confirmations, and hotel list. Keep 2 paper copies and then additional copies on a cloud. I keep mine on my Google Docs so I can easily access them. For smaller documents and IDs, try taking a picture of them with your smartphone.

Book your Tickets in Advance

The best tours often sell out, so book your tours in advance and coordinate the tours around your schedule. I usually book only one tour a day. I like to have some downtime to wander around and enjoy hanging out with locals; Plan your trip and create an itinerary that is interesting, but too exhausting and allows you to relax and absorb in the culture. It’s important to give yourself some time to relax. You just traveled across the world and that’s no little feat, your body is tired, so don’t feel guilty for getting a massage or taking a long bath. You deserve it!

Research the Country

Study your destination in advance. Learn about the history, cuisine, major attractions. Buy a well-written travel guide such as Frommers. It’s packed with practical information and insights. I like to spend most of the flight reading my travel books getting ready for my adventure.

Learn Some Phrases

Learn a few phrases. At the very least, learn some conversational words such as ‘thank you’, ‘yes’ or ‘no, thank you’ etc. You can sign up for Babble and install Google Translate on your phone.