Vacation Guide to Good Holiday Preparation - A Greensleeves Page

This hubpage is the third in a trilogy of pages devoted to the subject of holiday preparation. The first two concentrate on luggage and packing advice, and a checklist of things to take with you. This one details all the other things to consider before you go away - things which, if forgotten, could otherwise ruin the holiday experience. After all, when you're lying on a palm-fringed coral beach, you don't really want to be thinking 'did I turn the tap off when I went to the bathroom just before leaving for the airport?' do you?

1. Generally it is a good idea to book early for the best deals. Maybe 6 months ahead. This gives you plenty of time to shop around, to plan and to organise. It enables you to choose the best time of year to fly, and the best airline to fly by, the hotels in the right location and right price range, and the ideal tour package. Of course if you're free to hop on a plane at the very last minute, you might be able to get a great last minute deal, but for most people this is not so practical, and it can lead to rushed - and bad - decisions.
2. Check your passport is up to date. Bear in mind it's usually advised to have a passport that's valid for at least six months after your projected date of return. Normally in the UK a passport can be obtained within 3 or 4 weeks, but this is not guaranteed. You can get a passport at much shorter notice using a fast track service, but of course this will cost considerably more.
3. Ensure your vaccinations are up to date. If not find out what is required, which may depend not only on the destination country, but also the precise locality and type of accommodation you will be using. In my experience, the advised innoculations and medicines may cause side effects and are not always necessary. For instance in many countries where malaria is endemic, the disease may only be a problem in one small wilderness area hundreds of kilometres from your resort. Having said that, the last thing you want is to go down with some serious illness or fever on holiday, so find out the facts, and maybe arrange a visit to a health centre. Vaccinations and drug regimes may need to be started some weeks before you travel for maximum effectiveness.
4. Check if you need a visa. Usually visas can be obtained in only a week or two, but this will depend on the country you're coming from and the country you're going to, as well as the length of your stay there. Find out the length of time you require to get your visa well in advance of travel.

1. Make sure you have travel insurance. This can be arranged at the last moment, but you may as well give yourself time to shop around for the best deals. You can always date the start of insurance from just before your departure date if you wish, though this may seriously backfire if the holiday has to be cancelled for any reason (see the next point).
2. Just pray your holiday idyll doesn't make the international news headlines in the weeks before you leave! Bombings, floodings and plagues and military coups are not really good tourist attractions to experience. If any doubts arise in the weeks before you travel, check out your relevant Government website for travel advice and if necessary, find out what your insurance situation is, if you have to cancel your holiday.
3. Make sure you have suitable bags for your trip. This is covered in my first hubpage, Greensleeves Vacation Guide to Effective Holiday Packing.
4. Having decided on your destination, you now want to plan your holiday, and probably the best way to do this is online. OK, if you just want to spend every day on the beach or by the pool, and every night in a night club, maybe you don't need to plan, but even then you may find on an internet websearch an idyllic deserted beach unknown to most visitors, or a livelier, or cheaper, or safer nightclub in another part of town. Alternatively you may find local tours, places of historic or architectural interest, the best restaurants, nearby theme parks, areas of outstanding natural beauty, or great local travel deals, or just some words of wisdom from travellers who have already made the mistakes so that you don't have to.
5. Check out your checklist! If you haven't already done so, make yourself a list of things to take (see my second hubpage, Greensleeves Vacation Checklist for an example of such a list). Do this early and then you'll know what you need to buy in the weeks before you leave.
6. Having sorted out what you need to buy, start buying!
7. Check out the electricity supply at your destination - the most common plug types (2-pin flat or round / 3-pin etc) and voltages (110V / 230V etc). You may need to buy plug adaptors for your equipment to work.
8. If you're a resident of the European Union, order a free European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) which will give reduced or free hospital care in many European countries. In the UK, it should take one to three weeks to process.

1. Arrange for someone to feed the pets or water the plants. If someone is also trustworthy enough and willing to do things like open / close the curtains, remove piled up mail from the doormat, and generally make the house looked lived in, then so much the better.
2. Speaking of mail piling up on the mat, your mail delivery company may provide a service whereby for a small fee they hold your mail back until your return. But do stop the newspaper or milk, or any other deliveries you'd normally expect.
3. Inform your bank card company of your destination. Some banks, for card fraud security reasons, will stop transactions originating in foreign countries, unless they know the transaction is bona fide.
4. Get foreign cash or travellers cheques. Cash may of course be collectable at your home airport, but however you get it, make sure you have some in your pocket when you arrive at your destination to pay for taxis, a meal etc.
5. Photocopy your documents. In my first hubpage I emphasise the value of taking with you photocopies of important documents. Alternatively put copies on a web based e-mail address.
6. If you're going to hire a car, think about the country you're going to be driving in. How easy is it going to be to get help if you break down? Do you know the local rules of the road? You don't want to be stranded in a foreign country where no one speaks the lingo, and you don't want to have an accident, because you didn't know whether you or the 30 ton truck had right of way. So check out the motoring rules. (Of course If you're taking your own car on your vacation, now is the time to check it out - the tyres, the oil etc. Make sure you've got tools, maps, and other essentials for a driving holiday.)

1. If you're planning on driving to the airport, it will probably be cheaper to pre-book car parking at the airport, so do this some days before you depart. However you intend travelling, you may want to organise your travel - and know how long the journey to the airport will take - well in advance.
2. Check out phone information. Make sure your phone can be used in the country you're visiting, make sure you have not inadvertantly installed international call barring on the phone, and make sure you know the costs of using your phone abroad.
3. Leave an itinerary of your holiday with someone (in case you need to be contacted). Include telephone numbers or e-mail addresses for the places you will be staying. This may also enable you to avoid some very expensive mobile calls home.
4. Write out and take with you a list of phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and the number to call to cancel your bank cards in the event of theft or loss.
5. If you have special needs, (disabled passengers etc) check with your airline / tour operator well in advance. Vegetarian meals may be requested 24 hours before departure. (If you have special needs, you may also be requested to check-in early).
6. Get fresh batteries for anything that requires them.
7. It's getting close now, so assemble on a table, or a bed, all the things you want to take on holiday, and tick them off on your checklist.
8. Pack!

1. Put an ID into your suitcase. Not your home address, but an e-mail address, or a hotel destination, or at least your own home airport. That way, if your luggage gets lost, you may one day be reunited with it.
2. Throw out perishable food from the refridgerator. You don't want to come back to smelly curdled milk, out-of-date meat or moldy fruit.
3. Water the plants.
4. Set automatic timers to switch on some lights in the house in the evening. This will help make the house look inhabited and may deter burglars.
5. Turn down the thermostat heating in the house.

1. If it's an early departure, get everything sorted well in advance and get a good night's sleep. If the first day is a nightmare of panic and sleep deprivation, it may not auger well for the rest of the vacation (or the people you're travelling with.)
2. For peace of mind make a quick tour of the house (or a long tour if you're neurotic like me!) Make sure all the lights are off, the gas cooker's off, the taps are turned off, the doors are locked.
3. If you're travelling a distance, leave early to allow for traffic jams etc, and get to the airport in plenty of time to allow for check-in and Customs.
4. Unless you're with friends who are seeing you off, check in as soon as you arrive at the airport and go through to departures where most of the shops and restaurants are.
5. Relax! If there's something you've not done, it's too late to worry, so just enjoy the flight (does anyone ever enjoy a long-haul flight?) Enjoy the holiday, and worry about the problems you've left behind when you return. Did you leave that tap on? Relax! Have a good holiday!