Love Traveling? Here’s How to Prepare for Your Next Trip
It should come as no surprise that 2020 has drastically changed up what travel looks like for most wanderlust souls. The new precautions and regulations don’t mean you can’t travel, but they do mean you need to be a little more prepared when you do. The following will explore some of the things you need to keep in mind if you want to be fully prepared for your next trip.
Read Travel Advisories
Both the country you live in and the country you intend to visit will have a website. On these websites, there will be information about travel advisories and recommendations. Your home country will likely suggest people don’t travel to war-torn areas or places with disease outbreaks or something dangerous like that.
Have a look through all this information on a regular as it can change up quite quickly depending on the travel destination you’re looking at. It will also help you avoid propaganda and misinformation as your own country has far less money at stake when recommending where its citizens should travel. If a country makes money off of tourism, they might be more likely to suggest you visit even if it’s not the best-case scenario when you arrive.
This being said, you’ll want to also check your destination country’s website as this will contain useful information about which countries they allow visitors from and recommendations for smooth travel depending on where you’re coming from. Sometimes, even for a short visit, a visa is required. Some nations and provinces are also now turning to vaccine passports as an entry requirement. Again, you’re going to want to check back regularly leading up to your trip just in case any information has changed. Rapidly governments are altering laws to suit new coronavirus information so staying up to date is a must.
Sanitation and Protection
You’re also going to want to take the extra steps to be sure that you’re ready to keep yourself safe from airborne viruses. This means having plenty of masks (still required by law in most places), soap and water (remember, proper handwashing is the most effective line of protection against viruses), and hand sanitizer so you can keep your hands clean when you’re away from a handwashing station (especially after being in heavy traffic areas like the airport or public transit). You’ll also want an awareness of social distancing laws in the place you’re visiting.
Understand Legal Requirements
Whenever traveling, it’s a good idea to get a handle on the laws. Some countries might have serious punishments for something that is completely legal and accepted where you live. Many nations still have not legalized same-sex relationships, for example. Others have the death penalty for any drug use at all. Beyond these standard questions, it’s a good idea to look up what the previous coronavirus requirements were as well—if lockdowns, curfews, or self-isolation periods are required or expected to be required in the near future.
Even if these steps aren’t required, you can expect basic things to take longer due to social distancing and sanitization steps. You’ll want to be prepared for long waits with an extra book or a deck of cards or something to keep you occupied. Seasoned travelers are used to waiting for a while, but these new standards might challenge some people’s patience.
Figure Out on the Ground Travel
Again, things might be slightly more complicated than they were on your previous trips. You could stumble out of the Zurich airport until you find a Taxi that is going to the city center from where you could wander around until you found a hotel that looked cool and clean.
It’s a bit harder to get away with less planning in recent months. Take into account how you’re going to get anywhere and book in advance if and when possible. For example, if you’re traveling to Bratislava, Slovakia, you’re going to want to figure out how you’re getting to your hotel and the sites during the day. In this case, https://blog.bratislava-airport-taxi.com/2018/10/do-you-plan-trip-to-bratislava-dont.html recommends using the local taxi service. Of course, in different destinations, different options will be better suited to travel.
The above tips should help you get prepared for your next big trip. Of course, the above information is only the tip of the iceberg. It’s always a good idea to get a grip on the culture (and what is considered inappropriate), the currency you’ll be using (no one likes having no idea how much money they’re actually spending), and the language (hello, thank you, do you speak English? no thank you, and help are pretty solid basics to work with). Bon voyage!
