Even after years of international travel, the week before a trip always feels a little chaotic.
There are bags to pack, reservations to double-check and approximately 100 things competing for my attention before I walk out the door.
But there are a handful of things I check before every international trip.
Some of these take less than five minutes, but they can save a lot of frustration once you arrive. Flight changes, new entry requirements, unexpected weather and discovering that your phone doesn’t work when you land can all put a damper on the beginning of a trip.
So before I zip up my suitcase, these are seven things I check.
1. Passport and Entry Requirements
This is always number one.
Hopefully you checked your passport expiry date long before the week of your trip, but I still physically look at everyone’s passports before we leave.
Do not assume that having a passport that is valid for the dates of your trip is enough. Some destinations require your passport to remain valid for a certain period beyond your trip.
I also check the current entry requirements for our destination.
Do we need a visa or electronic travel authorization? Is there an arrival form that can be completed online? Are there any requirements that have changed since I originally booked the trip?
These are things I want to discover from my couch, not at the airport check-in counter.
Always use the official government website for your destination to confirm entry requirements rather than relying solely on something you saw on social media or read in an old blog post.
2. My Flights and Seat Assignments
About a week before departure, I open the airline app and look at our reservation again.
I check departure times, connections, seat assignments and baggage allowances.
Airlines make schedule changes, and even relatively small ones can affect the rest of your plans.
If we are connecting, I want to know how much time we have between flights. If we are arriving late at night, I make sure our airport transportation and hotel know when to expect us.
I also check our seats. Most airlines will seat families together, but othertimes, when it is just me, I often check for better seats to open up before check in time and try to move to them. I have status with Air Canada so its easy to move around as often as I like.
3. What’s Happening in the Travel Industry
I also do a quick check to see whether anything is happening that could affect our trip.
That could be an airline strike, airport disruption, new entry requirement, major weather event or transportation issue at our destination.
You don’t need to spend hours reading everything happening in tourism, but checking travel industry news today can flag something that might affect your flights, cruise, hotel or destination.
If I see something potentially relevant, I then go directly to the airline, airport, government or other official source to find out exactly what it means for our trip.
There is a big difference between knowing about a possible problem several days before you leave and finding out about it when you arrive at the airport.
4. The Weather
Obviously I check the weather before I pack.
But I have learned not to rely too heavily on what I think the weather should be like somewhere.
Weather doesn’t care that Google told you September was usually sunny.
I check the forecast for each place we are visiting, particularly on trips where we are changing locations or elevations.
This is especially important for adventure trips. Hiking, skiing, surfing and boat trips can all require completely different clothing than wandering around a city.
It also gives me one last chance to rethink what is going into my suitcase.
If it is going to rain for three days, I want the waterproof jacket.
If there is an unexpected heat wave, I don’t need three sweaters.
And if we are going somewhere with big temperature swings between morning and afternoon, layers are usually the answer.
5. How My Phone Will Work When I Arrive
I don’t want to land in another country and then start figuring out how I am going to get online.
Before leaving, I check what I am doing for mobile data.
Depending on the destination, that might mean using my regular carrier’s roaming plan, buying a local SIM card or setting up an eSIM before departure.
If I am using an eSIM, I prefer to have it downloaded and set up before I leave home. Then I can switch it on when I arrive rather than trying to figure it out using airport Wi-Fi after an overnight flight.
Having data as soon as I land is important to me.
I want to be able to pull up directions, contact our accommodation, check transportation, access reservations and message home without hunting for Wi-Fi.
It is one of those small travel details that makes the first hour in a new destination much easier.
6. My First 24 Hours
I don’t plan every minute of every trip.
But I like to know exactly what is happening for the first 24 hours.
How are we getting from the airport to our hotel?
Do I have the hotel address saved somewhere?
What time can we check in?
Do we need cash immediately?
Is there somewhere nearby to eat if we arrive late?
Do we have anything booked the next morning?
The first day of an international trip is not when I want complicated logistics.
Everyone is tired. Someone is usually hungry. If I am traveling with my kids, there is a good chance at least one person has slept terribly on the plane.
Knowing exactly how we are getting from the airport to our accommodation eliminates one decision when everyone’s brains are operating at half capacity.
I also take screenshots of important information in case I cannot immediately get online.
7. My Reservations and Important Documents
Finally, I go through the trip from beginning to end and make sure I can access everything I’ve booked.
Flights.
Hotels.
Tours.
Rental cars.
Train tickets.
Event tickets.
Restaurant reservations.
Travel insurance.
I keep most things digitally, but I don’t rely on having perfect internet access everywhere we go.
Anything I absolutely need gets downloaded or screenshotted before departure.
I also make sure someone at home has enough information to know where we are supposed to be, particularly on longer international trips.
A Few Things I Download Before I Leave
While I am doing my final checks, I also download anything I might want offline.
That usually includes Google Maps for the places we are visiting, airline apps, transportation apps and entertainment for the flight.
If I know we have a long travel day, I make sure everyone has whatever they want to watch or listen to downloaded before we leave the house.
Do not wait until you are sitting at the gate to discover your teenager’s entire Netflix library requires Wi-Fi.
The Week Before a Trip Doesn’t Need to Be Stressful
There will always be last-minute things to do before an international trip.
I don’t think I have ever reached the night before a flight and thought, Well, absolutely everything is done. I guess I’ll just relax.
But having the same basic routine before each trip means I am much less likely to forget something important.
Check the passports.
Check the flights.
Find out whether anything has changed.
Look at the weather.
Sort out your phone.
Know what happens when you land.
Download your reservations.
Then pack the bags and go.
Because once I get to the airport, I want the trip to feel like it has started, not like I am still trying to organize it.