International travel checklist
Do the slow things first. A visa or passport problem can take weeks to fix, and a missing charger takes five minutes.
Key points
- Check passport, visa and insurance first, since they take longest to fix.
- Keep copies of key documents where you can open them offline.
- Make sure you can still log in to email and banking if your phone is lost.
Several weeks before
- Check your passport expiry date against your destination's entry rules.
- Find out whether you need a visa or an electronic travel authorisation, and apply through the official government site.
- Buy travel insurance that covers where you're going and what you plan to do.
- Check whether you need vaccinations or other health preparations. Your national health service or doctor can tell you.
A week before
- Photograph or scan your passport, tickets, hotel bookings and insurance policy.
- Check baggage allowances again, because airlines change them.
- Tell your bank or card provider which countries you'll be in.
- Decide how you'll get mobile data. Our eSIM guide explains the options.
The day before
- Check in online if you can and save your boarding pass offline.
- Charge your phone and power bank.
- Pack medication, chargers, a change of clothes and valuables in hand luggage.
- Write your first night's address and a contact number on paper.
When you land
- Switch your data on as soon as you can.
- Arrange transport you've researched in advance.
- Let someone at home know you have arrived.
Money
- Carry two ways to pay, kept in different places.
- Check what your bank charges for card use and cash withdrawals abroad.
- Take a small amount of local currency for the first few hours.
- If a shop asks whether you'd like to pay in your home currency, it usually costs you more to say yes.
Your phone and accounts
- Make sure you can still log in to your email and bank if the phone is lost. Authentication codes that only go to that phone are a classic trap.
- Update your apps and download offline maps at home.
- Turn off data roaming on your home SIM if you're using another plan, so you don't pay twice.
Before you lock the door
- Leave a spare key and your itinerary with someone you trust.
- Put the heating, lights and appliances on a sensible setting.
- Check the date on your passport one more time. Everyone should.
Keep reading
Official sources
We link to these because they set the rules or publish the current details.