Five Practical Things You Can Do to Improve Your Holiday
Is this the ultimate guide to not ending up in prison while you’re far away from home? No.
Is this photography-related? Mmmhmm.
Life-related? You bet.
Hopefully some of these little reminders that keep me sane improve you’re time on the road too!
The first time I ever left North America was five or so years ago. I set out for Iceland then England then France. Five years and 10 new countries later, each time leaving home becomes easier and easier. What gives?
I now employ some quick-saves to make each ride flow more smoothly.
If you’re a first or second timer maybe some of these hot tips or reminders can help you chill out on your hop away from home too!
1. Nab a SIM card
I opt to buy a local SIM card when traveling. In short, if you’re staying for even a few days, a SIM card is the cheaper option for *better, faster data access while you’re away.
When I’m walking several miles a day + exclusively utilizing public transportation in an unknown place, I want neither Google nor Google Maps on a short leash.
And, in truth, you may find yourself on a bus and want to search restaurant options, stream music on a long walk, or gasp check out Instagram without being throttled. Make no apologies for wanting to stay informed.
How do you get one? You can purchase SIMs from kiosks in the airport or use the airport’s wifi to map to a nearby shop/magazine counter/supermarket that probably can sell you more robust SIM card packages at much better prices. When finished, toss the SIM as there is no commitment/most cards expire after 30 days.
I just had a flawless experience recently using Three in the UK/EU. I also recently learned about My UK SIM Card which serves the United Kingdom + 34 European countries AND it ships to your home in the US and Canada for free! SIM cards also equip you with a local number if you need to call your Airbnb host, tour companies, or a local friend you’re meeting (although this shouldn’t be as big of an issue if you’re equipped with #3).
Can anyone use it? See if your phone is unlocked before you leave home. If you purchased your phone outright or you’ve paid it off, you should be golden. And even if you haven’t, currently most newer Verizon phones come unlocked. If your device is unlocked you are ready to use a SIM card! If your device is not unlocked, this is a choose your own adventure moment; go off the grid, fork over the extra cash, or bum the wifi from all the shops!
*International Roaming either included in your monthly package (T-Mobile) or purchased for $10/day through a provider’s Travel Pass (AT&T, Verizon) both reduce you to 2G after the first .5GB used. Boo.
2. You want image quality good enough to print from but you also want those images shareable from your phone. Have this device delivered to your door before you leave.
I’m here to say, photograph what you want, when you want, and with whatever you want. I love my big-bodied camera, but sometimes my iPhone can do a similarly great job for IG stories AND quickly catch cinnamon roll dogs matching their owners matching their surroundings in what you see gracing the cover photo for this blog post. Roll with it.
What cannot be compromised though is image quality if you want prints to remember your trip by. You need something better than a phone to do that with. And you should, btw. You should have tangible art that you’ve seen and spoken into existence. I do not believe printing is dead.
What to do when you have the reverse issue? You have taken images on your camera but you want them on your phone for blogging, for IG, for living in the modern age but your camera doesn’t have wifi/you didn’t bring your laptop/etc.
This helps. It’s also a terribly thoughtful gift you could give to a blogger who edits her images on her device.
3. This sounds so silly, but don’t walk around on 1x praying to the connection gods to bump you up to 4G.
Restart and emerge from the dark ages. Upon arrival into each new country, you can prompt your device to refresh and connect to the best network by turning off/turning on your phone. It’s a no-brainer, but I know sometimes we forget and then we walk around weary and hungry for the first 25 mins, frustrated that we can’t map to the Métro station literally right around the corner. No, the other corner. This corner? You’ll find it eventually.
3. Download Whatsapp before you go so you don’t skip a beat in communication with your people!
Whatsapp is definitely how my go-to for communicating with friends outside of the US. If you’ve never used Whatsapp I would say it’s an experience similar to iMessage (messages/calls/video calls can be sent over wifi connection; typing notifications are displayed; delivery and read receipts are standard issue) but it works on devices beyond iPhone. Unlike FB Messenger (similar idea) WhatsApp employs end-to-end encryption and all participants need not be FB users.
4. What do you know about that money, honey?
You’re going to want to see things AND buy things!
This should be exciting and the last thing that intimidates you.
You don’t need to pull out your phone every five minutes to check the x to $ conversion— you are prepared and Mister Beard selling you the donut may even bestow a wave upon your ultra-touristy photo for the effort.
Cheeky!
Find out if your credit card charges foreign transaction fees. Typical transaction fees are 3% which, in truth, isn’t horrific but there are many cards that save you the FX fees. Do you have one? Maybe you are traveling with a friend who doesn’t have FX fees and can easily repay them (see #5)! You can visit your bank and withdraw pounds or euros before leaving the states or simply withdraw local currency upon arrival.
Cash can be useful, but no need to carry around more than you’re comfortable losing each day.
My harrowing tale is as follows: I got too comfortable in Paris. My backpack was a juicy target for a badass teen posse. The kid began unsnapping my backpack for a fast grab-n-go. Other than yours truly accosting a child, I think the situation ended pretty favorably.
Ensure your wallet and wad of cash, phone, camera (with not-yet-downloaded photos), etc. are not available for fast, sticky hands to swipe. I was using a stylish backpack with snaps (I know) but I’d do it all over again with a standard zipping backpack. I did, however, find these $4.95 zipper locks for your consideration if this situation particularly did not spark joy for you to read.
Having your phone stowed somewhere other than your hand, choosing zippers over snaps, clips, or flaps, and even opting for cross-body over single-shoulder purses all make you a much less interesting a target.
5. Get Splitwise! It even takes care of the currency conversions for you!
If you’re traveling with friends and planning to do some bundling of transactions, Splitwise is a no-brainer. I took the Eurostar from London to Paris with my friend and before we left, we purchased a 6 am train snack, coffee, and smoothie for £15 (for two). 2 hours and 20 mins later, when landed in Paris we bought train tickets 15€ (for two).
These two small transactions are close but not equal and if you’re in the company of someone who cares about even splits, you’ll want the app doing the work for you. In the states we’ve become so comfy Venmoing one another when splitting a bill, but at the end of your trip the last activity you want to partake in is converting a bunch of minute transactions back and forth from £ to $ and € to $ while you’re on your 5th load of suitcase laundry. Also, keep in mind, if you’re traveling with a local, you may PayPal, but Venmo does not allow international money transfers. Let Splitwise work for you.
That’s all she wrote! Kind of. I hope these small reminders help you feel even more sassy and prepared in your travels!
• • •
If you’re down for some bonus reading…
Food. When I visited London for the first time, I found the food to be pretty underwhelming. That was my fault! I think it was a little too much flex on spontaneity driving these impromptu decisions. We had just hopped into spots around the corner and hoped for the best, which wasn’t the worst, but I wasn’t getting a true sample of what the city had to offer.
I hate to encourage you to be on your phone, but this is exactly the time when having the ability to quickly search for some true gold mines in the neighborhood you’ve found yourself is just so nice!
Ask around! Bre and I received some insane recommendations from friends that changed the game! I follow food writers and chefs and I scoured some of their go-tos before I left home. I definitely used the little map on Instagram to discover novel places to visit too. Sorry, not sorry ‘bout it.
Planning. One of the best things I did to prep for this trip was create a shared e-note with my travel companion. Far superior to back and forth emails.
As we found things that interested us, we dropped it in the note and the app alerted the other of a change.
The Apple Notes and OneNote apps both have the capability to create lists, add hyperlinks, annotate, etc.
Bre and I didn’t overbook ourselves, rather we ranked the must-dos, grouped by neighborhood, and we left room for unexpected events like rain pouring down and cancelling an afternoon.
Don’t worry though, jet lag means you will be passing out by 9 pm and Googling things to do for the next day at 4 am.
Say it like you mean it. This was my second time in Paris and during round one I would try Bonjour! and I was immediately responded to in English. They sniffed me out! This time I was able to greet people and politely ask for what I wanted— the chocolate eclair/croissant/donut please, no, not the white chocolate, the dark chocolate, thank you— ask for the bill and say goodbye in French without (hopefully) annoying people as much as last time. Look up common phrases and practice aloud. Deeply satisfying.
People. If you travel with absolute gems of humans, you can’t go wrong. Start there.
A local gentleman, but more importantly, my long-time friend of 18 years was my first stop! The first message I received upon landing was, “Are you here yet? Hurry up! I have pancakes and berries waiting for you.” Oh hullo! Frank showed me all the super secret photo spots and indulged the parts of my heart that just want to nosh on breakfast, then get a brownie from the coffee shop, then sample the market… I am so thankful he always encourages me to stay with his family when I visit. I also learned my American accent is sometimes too fick for tinier English gentlemen (his nephews). I weep over their cuteness. xoxo.
Day three I met up with Breanna and we took our long-time PNW adventuring dynamic outside of the states. Usually we’re hiking trails, but here we were drinking from the Roman baths (do not recommend) and getting weird in dance clubs where only early 2000s US hits played (DO recommend). We found casual torture at the Tower of London and when the rain came pouring down we ran into a pub/entered the Twilight Zone; there were 50 male patrons and we discovered we were the only women (see photo below). I hope we made the news that night. On a Tuesday we put in 28,000 steps with impractical footwear and instead of getting cranky with each other, we declared Wednesday an athleisure-realness day. I also decided Bre must only surround herself with the best people, because we stayed with her friend, Becca, who donned a stunning Jean-Raphio tee the first night and sometimes that’s all that needs to be done to trust someone with your life.
Bre and I discover The Walrus & The Carpenter in London as we dodge the rain. This establishment, however, has yet to discover women.
I hope you make no rules for yourself on holiday.
Talk to strangers. Eavesdrop on trains.
Do not be afraid to be extra with your camera.
DO NOT be afraid to put the camera down and just see things too.
We are all doing things. All the time.
