Travelling overseas checklist: how to plan for a big trip

An overseas holiday should be about fun, adventure and relaxation, and there’s nothing fun about arriving at the airport and wondering if you’ve forgotten something important at home. The weeks before a trip can be busy, but it’s important to make sure you’ll have the things you need for your destination, and your important life admin is taken care of. With that in mind, Canstar’s travelling overseas checklist can help you keep track of important things to do before travelling.

Planning an international trip checklist: what do you need to do?

The excitement of planning an overseas trip could lead to you overlooking something important. To help simplify things, this checklist of things to do before going overseas covers the important bases:

1. Check your passport is current and apply for a visa
2. Get travel insurance
3. Get a travel money card, travel debit card, or travel credit card
4. Create an itinerary
5. Budget for your trip and start saving
6. Know the current climate of your destination
7. Research your destination
8. Make copies of important documents
9. Let people know and register your trip
10. Set up international roaming on your mobile phone
11. Get a health check and vaccinations before you go
12. Tie up loose ends

1. Check your passport is current and apply for a visa

Your passport is absolutely essential to travel; you can’t go overseas without one. Your passport should be valid for at least 6 months before entering another country, and many travel guides recommend it being valid for 6 months after arriving back home too, to ensure that you don’t get stuck overseas. If you lose your passport while overseas, it is possible to obtain an emergency replacement passport, although this can be costly.

Many countries also require a visa for entry. Some countries such as New Zealand have agreements that mean you can travel there on an Australian passport without the need to apply for a visa – but you shouldn’t assume anything. You can find out whether you will need a visa or not for specific countries by visiting their tourism websites. Get more information about travel visas on the DFAT (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) website or the SmartTraveller.gov.au page about that country.

2. Get travel insurance

Travel insurance  is extremely important to take out before setting off on an overseas trip, as it can protect you from significant financial strain, especially in the event of a medical emergency, and can also provide you some much-needed peace of mind. In addition to medical or dental emergencies, travel insurance can cover you for things including:

• Repatriation
• Lost or stolen luggage
• Cancelling your trip
• Legal liability

If you’re looking for a good deal, you can compare travel insurance policies on the Canstar website.

3. Get a travel money card, travel debit card, or travel credit card

To avoid hefty fees from your debit or credit card provider, it may be worth considering a travel card, which can be either a travel money card, or a travel credit card or debit card. Travel cards in their various forms are now often a preferred method for spending money overseas by many Australians, as they offer easy and secure access to your money without requiring you to carry around wads of cash.

With travel cards, you can convert your money into several different currencies instead of just one like you would with cash. Travel cards are also designed to have fewer currency conversion fees and international transaction fees than your standard credit card or debit card. Some cards can also be preloaded and topped up with cash from your own bank account at home via BPAY from your existing banking app, making it easier to keep track of your finances while overseas.

4. Create an itinerary

It’s hard to create a budget for your trip and start saving money for it (the next step) until you’ve decided how you’ll get there, what you’ll be doing, and where you’ll be staying the night along the way. Do you need a rental car at any point during your trip? It’s cheapest to book this ahead of time.

If you are hiring a rental car, find out whether the country you’re visiting requires you to have an international driver’s licence. Some countries such as New Zealand have an agreement with Australia so that you can use your normal Australian driver’s licence over there.

5. Budget for your trip and start saving

Unless you’re someone who loves numbers, budgeting for your trip isn’t something that you’re going to enjoy, but it is a necessary step. A lack of a budget can leave you short of money halfway through your trip, which can lead to some embarrassing and potentially frustrating situations. To avoid being stuck in a foreign country without cash, do a simple budget.

Start with the big things first: plane tickets, accommodation, and insurance. These will take the biggest chunk out of your bank account, so it’s important to know how much you’ll need straight away. You can then consider how much you might spend on eating, drinking, entertainment, shopping and other activities, and allocate a certain amount per day.

Doing so could leave you with some surplus spending money, but also help ensure you’re not caught short.

6. Know the current climate of your destination

One of the biggest mistakes people make when packing is underestimating (or over-estimating) the weather. Obviously, if it’s winter over there at the moment then pack warm clothes, but don’t exclusively pack one type of clothing – layers are always a winner. Temperatures can vary, and a summer in Japan isn’t the same as a summer in Australia. If it comes down to it, you can always buy the right clothes while over there – if you’ve budgeted for unexpected extras, that is!

7. Research your destination

The current climate doesn’t only refer to the weather. Political landscapes are constantly changing across the globe, and a country that was safe one year might not be safe the next. Make sure you avoid countries and regions labelled “Do Not Travel” by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) on the SmartTraveller.gov.au website. It’s also important to understand etiquette and cultural norms in your destination country – for example, how to be respectful if viewing temples in South-East Asia, or how tipping culture works in the US.

8. Make copies of important documents

After making sure that they’re up-to-date, be sure to make several copies of your passport, visa, travel insurance policy, and driver’s license, and keep them in several places. Ideally, you want to keep:

• 1 copy with you
• 1 copy at home
• 1 copy online in the cloud (e.g. Dropbox, Google Drive, or similar file-sharing services) in case you lose the physical copies
• 1 copy with your loved ones

9. Let people know and register your trip

It’s obviously nice to let your loved ones know your itinerary, but you should also register your trip with DFAT online on the SmartTraveller.gov.au website. You can provide DFAT with information about your itinerary, your contact details while you are away, and more.

This means if anything goes wrong while you are away, like a natural disaster, civil disturbance, or a family issue back home, DFAT can contact you to let you know. It also means DFAT can let your emergency contacts know if something happens to you.

10. Set up international roaming on your mobile phone

Data is extremely expensive when roaming overseas using an Australian carrier; there are horror stories on the internet of people returning home to tens of thousands of dollars in charging, all because they didn’t set up international roaming. To avoid this, its important to remember to set up international roaming on your phone.

There are plenty of providers that offer international roaming services; visit the Canstar Blue website to find out more. Or if you’re happy with your current carrier’s plans, ask them about how to set up international roaming and how much it will cost.

11. Get a health check and vaccinations before you go

Travelling to certain countries can bring specific health risks. Some countries require immunisation shots for diseases like polio, malaria, and yellow fever. The last thing that you want while travelling overseas is to get stuck in a foreign country with an illness. For this reason, it’s important to check if your destination of choice requires any shots from websites such as Travel Doctor or Travel Vaccination Clinic.

You should book an appointment to get the vaccinations you need as soon as you decide on your itinerary. Some common vaccinations require multiple shots spread out over a series of weeks, or they may not take effect immediately, so a lot of health professionals recommend seeing them at least 4-6 weeks before setting off.

12. Tie up loose ends

There are various other life admin tasks that you may need to take care of when travelling overseas. It can be important to:

• Contact your bank by phone or via app to avoid your cards getting frozen if you plan to use them
• Find someone to look after your pets
• Inform your place of employment of your planned holiday with exact dates
• Put a hold on your mail so that thieves don’t know you’re not at home
• Cancel or suspend your gym membership if your overseas trip is a long one
• Suspend your health insurance if your overseas trip is a long one
• Inform your landlord or real estate agent
• Obtain some local cash in case you need it

How can you find the best travel insurance?

The best travel insurance policy for you will be one that suits your particular needs and budget, but if you’re in the market, you can start by comparing travel insurance with Canstar. You can search by destination and age, and filter results by the maximum limits they offer for overseas medical coverage, loss or theft of luggage and cancellation to find a policy that’s suitable for you.

Whether or not travel insurance is worth the cost is a personal decision, but one that should be seriously considered when deciding to travel. The Australian Government’s Smartraveller website stresses the importance of travel insurance for Aussies heading abroad, saying that it’s “as important as a passport”, and warning that you could find yourself in financial strife if things go wrong.

Cover image source: gpointstudio/Shutterstock.com