Best Travel Tips for First-Time Travelers

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Are you planning your first trip? Do you have the pre-travel jitters? If you answered yes to either of those questions, you’ve come to the right place. Traveling is a fantastic experience. It allows us to experience new things, meet new people, and broaden our horizons. However, preparing for your first trip can be overwhelming and even scary.

There’s no need to panic; we’re here to help. To prepare you for your first trip, whether an international vacation or a domestic adventure, we’ve compiled a list of the 12 best travel tips for first-time travelers. These tips will help you avoid silly mistakes and ensure an enjoyable, hassle-free trip.

Prepare Your Travel Documents

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One of the most important things you must remember to do before your first trip is to organize your travel documents. Failure to prepare the correct travel documents could see you stranded at the airport before you’ve had the chance to board a plane. Luckily, there aren’t many travel documents to prepare.

Generally, a passport is the only travel document you need to visit another country. However, some countries will also require you to apply for a visa. You should check the validity of your passport and visa well before your trip. That way, you won’t be pressured if there is a delay. It’s also worth noting that many countries require passports to have at least six months of validity remaining.

Make Copies of Your Important Documents

Once you’ve prepared your travel documents, we strongly recommend making copies. This is an excellent idea because it gives you cover and protection if your original documents are lost or stolen. There’s nothing worse than being stranded in a foreign country without a copy of your passport, ID, or visa.

Copying your documents will allow you to seek help and get home easier. For example, if you lose your passport, you’ll find it easier to get an Emergency Travel Document (ETD) from an embassy with a copy of your passport. We recommend keeping physical and digital copies of your travel documents, just in case.

Do Your Research

Research is vital to an enjoyable, organized, and safe trip. Organizing your adventure is necessary for you to avoid mistakes. Spontaneous travel is excellent fun, but it leaves you vulnerable to errors. For your first trip, we recommend carefully researching everything you want to see and do.

This way, you can avoid disappointment and guarantee you can do everything you want. Furthermore, putting time into researching your destination ensures you know what to expect. It will allow you to identify the best areas to stay, places to avoid, and what is and isn’t legal at your final destination. You can also find helpful information, such as if you can drink tap water.

Book Everything in Advance

Once you’ve done your research, booking all your trip details in advance is a good idea. This will allow you to stay organized and build a solid itinerary that’s easy to follow. It will also ensure you don’t miss out on any significant attractions you want to see.

While having the freedom to make last-minute decisions is nice, don’t be surprised if accommodation is scarce and attractions are booked. To avoid disappointment, we recommend booking your transport, accommodation, activities, and attractions as soon as you have the money and commitment to specific travel dates. Having the peace of mind of having your itinerary organized is excellent.

Don’t Try To Do Too Much

One of the biggest mistakes first-time travelers often make is trying to do too much in one go. The world is exciting, filled with unique places, fascinating attractions, and unique experiences. As such, doing as much as humanly possible during your trip can be tempting.

However, that would be an enormous mistake. By planning to do too much, you’ll spend less time visiting some of the world’s most beautiful places, you’ll miss out on attractions, and you’ll quickly feel travel fatigue. Together, these three things can soon spoil your trip. Instead, allow plenty of time to explore, relax, and enjoy life at a slower pace.

Prioritize Your Safety

Backpacking Through Europe Make the Most of Freebies — © peampath / Adobe Stock

While you shouldn’t sit and worry about your health and safety during your trip or what could go wrong, prioritizing your safety is essential. For obvious reasons, you want to avoid trouble and make sure you stay safe during your adventure. Luckily, there are many things you can do to ensure you stay safe during your first trip.

Firstly, you should always follow your gut instincts. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Secondly, always keep your belongings close and don’t flash luxury items in public. This exposes you to pickpockets. Finally, let family and friends know your plans so they can keep track of your whereabouts.

Take Out Travel Insurance

Mystical Caves Around the World Ice Cave, Skaftafell, Iceland — © Peter Adams/Danita Delimont / Adobe Stock

Taking out travel insurance is one of our least favorite things to do when planning a trip. It’s time-consuming and tedious and usually feels like a waste of time, as we rarely, if ever, use it. However, that doesn’t stop it from being incredibly important, so you must take it out in case something goes wrong.

Travel insurance provides financial cover and protection when things go wrong. It usually covers things like property theft, missing luggage, electrical damage, and medical treatment. We recommend purchasing travel insurance through Safety Wings. This insurance provider caters to travelers globally, offering affordable, flexible, and comprehensive protection. It also provides 24/7 support.

Invest in High-Quality Equipment

Backpacking Through Europe Purchase Travel Insurance — © biletskiyevgeniy.com / Adobe Stock

We appreciate that not everyone can invest in the best travel equipment, especially if they’re traveling on a budget. However, saving that extra money for a higher-quality piece of equipment can be a game changer in some scenarios. Take a backpack, for example.

If you’re visiting multiple places, you’ll need a reliable backpack that’s comfortable to wear, durable, and waterproof. Unfortunately, budget-friendly backpacks don’t always offer these things, so investing in a higher-quality backpack is worthwhile. Another good example would be a comfortable pair of shoes. If you’re planning a hiking trip, you’ll need a solid pair of walking boots instead of affordable trainers.

Set Yourself a Budget

Setting yourself a budget is crucial in planning the perfect vacation itinerary. Admittedly, creating a budget isn’t easy, but it’s vital if you’re going to have an enjoyable and stress-free trip. You might overspend, waste money, and miss out on things you’ve dreamed of seeing without a budget.

To set a budget, you must determine how much money you can spend on essentials, such as accommodation, transport, food, and activities. You should consider what’s important to you, how much you ideally want to spend, and your limit. By setting a budget, you can limit your spending, better plan your itinerary, and avoid spending all your money before your trip ends.

Pack Light

Biggest Money Mistakes You Make When Traveling Taking Checked-in Luggage — © Davide Angelini / Adobe Stock

This next tip is handy for backpackers. While it can be tempting to pack everything but the kitchen sink for your backpacking adventure, doing so is a huge mistake you’ll regret later. During a backpacking trip, you’ll likely have to carry your backpack for multiple hours, if not all day.

Therefore, you want it to be light so you don’t get tired and sore. On top of that, you likely won’t need most of the things you pack. Part of the backpacking adventure is traveling with fewer things, going without luxury amenities, and washing your clothes in a local laundrette because you have nothing clean to wear. Besides, cutting unnecessary weight might save you money on luggage fees.

Write Down the Address of Your Accommodation

Considering we live in a world dominated by smartphones, writing down the address of your accommodation might seem unnecessary. However, just because we always have GPS and WiFi where we live, that doesn’t mean everywhere else does. Sometimes, you won’t have an internet or GPS connection, so noting down your accommodation address can be a lifesaver.

Imagine coming out of an airport and trying to reach your accommodation, but you have no signal and can’t find where you’re going. By writing the address down, you can still easily find your accommodation. All you have to do is show a taxi driver the address, and they’ll do the rest for you.

Don’t Keep All Your Money in One Place

Instagrammable Places in Europe Santorini Greece — © Maridav / Adobe Stock

Unfortunately, travelers do sometimes misplace their money or fall victim to pickpockets. While this can dampen your trip, it doesn’t have to drown it completely. By simply keeping your money in more than one place, you won’t lose all of your money if your wallet or purse goes missing or gets stolen.

So, where should you leave your money? We recommend splitting your cash, debit, and credit cards between three places. First, keep most of your daily funds in your main purse or wallet. Then, keep a reserve in a small travel wallet or your partner’s purse. Finally, leave some of your money in the safe at your hotel. That way, you’ll always have an emergency backup should anything go wrong.