Thread: International Travel

kygirl, how long do you plan on staying for? You may want to go to a travel agent but keep in mind, most likely they will charge you some fees. Ask up in advance what their fees are.

You need to obviously figure out what airport you want to fly in to and if you want to keep down costs, try to return home from the same airport. Also play with the days of the week if you are flexable. Sometimes middle of the week travel is less expensive than weekend travel. Depending on how much of Italy you want to see, a Europass train pass may be something you want to think of purchasing.

Also you should look into trip insurance. You never know what could happen oversees and if anything, it would give you health insurance if you may end up needing it. Also if you get delayed because of the airlines, trip insurance can help you also.

You may want to plan out your vacation in advance. It is up to you but if you do, it may also be easier to plan your hotels in advance. Once again a travel agent could help you with that but if you do it on your own, go online. But make sure you check for some reviews to make sure the place is not a complete dump. Also make sure the hotel has a private bath. DO NOT ASSUME THAT. In the US, yes you could but in Europe, shared bath is not out of the question.

Go on the US government website, they should be able to tell you about security issues. But as everyone else said, watch out for pickpockets. I was in Barcelona and my friend did get mugged. Unfortunately it does happen.

Another thing, it may or may not help you, but it can't hurt. You should make photocopies of your passport. Keep one home and keep another copy in another part of your luggage, in case you loose the original or it gets stolen.

Murren. But eventually I'd come back.