10 Things To Do Before You Travel

The few days before you go away can often feel a bit stressful and overwhelming. There's so much to do and remember isn't there? Especially so when you're going away as a family. The more holidays and breaks away that we go on the better I feel I am getting at feeling organised, but even so, I often find my head is full of things and I'm running around until the very last minute, ticking things off just as we're heading out of the door. Today I am sharing 10 of the most important things to remember to do before you travel. So if you're off away anytime soon I hope this is helpful.

1. Check your passport - It might seem like an obvious one, but I've heard many stories of people leaving checking passport expiry dates too late and having to pay to get a passport fast-tracked just before they go away. We check our passports regularly, 1. so that we always know where they are and 2. to keep an eye on the dates that they expire. Another thing that you could do is to set an alert on your phone to tell you when a passport is due to expire. It can also be a good idea to make copies of your passports before you travel just in case you lose one of them.

2. Contact the pet sitter - If you've got pets then make sure that you give enough notice to whoever it is that looks after your pets whilst you're away before you go. Get your dates booked in and send over any instructions/arrangments.

3. Make sure that you have your medical travel insurance in place - Accidents can happen at any time and anywhere, so make sure that you've got medical bills covered. I read that 1 in 4 people don't take out medical insurance yet travel insurance providers paid out £370m in 591,000 claims in one year alone, which is huge! So always make sure that you're covered to avoid hefty medical bills. For medical travel advice including travelling with asthma then it's worth taking having a read of some of the advice over at medicaltravelinsurance.co.uk.

4. Check the weather before you go - Always keep an eye on the weather reports for wherever it is that you're heading to. It'll help you determine what to pack as well as keeping you in the loop regarding things like storms that could cause potential travel delays.

5. Write a packing list and go over it - Write a packing list either on a notepad or on your reminders app on your phone and go over it several times to ensure that you've got everything that you're going to need on there. Remember to add things like a first aid kit and hand sanitiser also. I usually write two lists, one main packing list and then another for things that we need to get in the morning such as chargers and toothbrushes etc.

6. Check that you've got all of the prescriptions you need and whether you might need any vaccinations - Before travelling ensure that you've collected any prescriptions that you might need from your GP and also check whether it's recommended to get any vaccinations before travelling to the country that you are going to.

7. Get a credit card with no foreign transaction fees - We used to get all of the money that we wanted to take with us on holiday out and converted before travelling, but instead, we now take a Monzo card with us that uses Apple Pay and works all around the world. They don't charge any fees for foreign transactions and we prefer it as then we don't have to worry about losing large amounts of cash. You can track your spending via the app, top up your card, set spending budgets and receive notifications. We now only take a small amount of currency with us when we travel for things like tips and other things that you can only pay with cash for.

8. Plan out your itinerary - I always think that it's a good idea to have a rough plan of what exactly you're going to be doing whilst you're away and in what order. Some holidays like resort holidays don't require much planning if any at all. But some, where you intend on seeing sights or doing multiple activities are usually best planned out in advance so that everyone knows what they're doing just so that things go as smoothly as possible.

9. Check your car insurance policy - If you're planning on driving in another country then check that your policy covers you for this and also that you have met the right requirements for things that you need to have in your car in different countries. For example, if you're going to be driving in France then you must carry certain things in the car with you, you can find out what here.

10. Stock up on snacks - We find this saves us quite a bit of money, especially so if we are travelling with the boys! We stock up on snacks for the airport and the flight and we also take snacks in our main suitcases as well for throughout the holiday. This is great if you fancy a snack whilst you're in your hotel room or if you're out for the day, as you can pop some snacks in your bag and not have to worry about finding a shop desperately or overpaying for a quick bite to eat. As a rule we usually are never without snacks if we go out anywhere with our boys haha!

I hope this is helpful. What would you add to this list?

Thank you for reading. 

Alex xo 

*This post is in collaboration with medicaltravelinsurance.co.uk.