| You have your tickets, your hotel or vacation | | | | those places are in your carry-ons. |
| rental reservations, passports are up to date, and | | | | A high tech way to keep track of your passport |
| you are ready to go. Not yet! Here are four | | | | info and other important documents in case of |
| important things to add to your preparation list: | | | | loss is to scan them in and email the scanned |
| 1. Prepare Your Bank | | | | document to yourself at an email address you |
| Exchanging money in Europe is usually easiest and | | | | can access from anywhere. For example, one of |
| least expensive through an automated teller | | | | our guests in an apartment in Florence found |
| machines in Europe. Be careful to withdraw using | | | | herself locked out of her apartment, so she went |
| your bank ATM card rather than your credit card. | | | | to a nearby internet point, retrieved the electronic |
| If you use your credit card for withdrawing cash, | | | | copy of her apartment information from her email |
| you may find yourself taking out a high interest | | | | and made the call to be let back in. |
| loan. | | | | 3. Buy a Good Map |
| Must dos with your bank: | | | | If you are visiting only major cities, your guide |
| - Check to see what charges your bank imposes | | | | books and the inexpensive maps you can obtain |
| for use of your bank card for currency exchange; | | | | at tourist offices will be all you need. But, if you |
| there are a few that impose stunningly high | | | | are driving, you need a good, detailed regional |
| charges, so know ahead and prepare or be | | | | map. |
| shocked when you see your statement. | | | | If you wait till you get to the region you are |
| - Change your PIN to four numbers, some | | | | visiting, I guarantee that you will waste time |
| automated tellers, such as those in Italy, accept | | | | looking for your map and the only one you will be |
| only four number PINs, not letters (i.e. there are | | | | able to find for your region will be in Swedish. A |
| no letters printed on the keypad, so if you think | | | | map of the whole country is not detailed enough |
| of your PIN in terms of letters, there may be | | | | for driving, get a regional map. |
| some mental gymnastics when you are coping | | | | 4. Buy a New Guidebook |
| with a lot of other things, too). | | | | Be sure to take recently published guidebooks |
| - Advise your bank that you will be traveling in | | | | with you. Sights open and close, hours change, |
| Europe so when their fraud detection software | | | | phone numbers change, and they move things |
| notes transactions in multiple countries in a short | | | | around in museums. You will experience |
| period of time, it doesn't block them waiting for | | | | frustration and lose time if you take an old |
| you to respond to a phone call to your home. | | | | guidebook; take my word for it. |
| - If you have a withdrawal limit on your card, | | | | To avoid having to carry a whole book, pull out |
| ensure it is adequate for your travel needs. If you | | | | and take just the pages for the places you will |
| have to make a lot of small withdrawals, you can | | | | visit. You can do this for the trip and for the day. |
| rack up lots of little per-transaction service and | | | | Don't count on finding a good guidebook when |
| exchange charges. | | | | you arrive. I find the English language guides |
| 2. Safeguard Your Documents | | | | published in non-English countries are often hard to |
| Photocopy your passports and airline tickets and | | | | read and filled with stuffy direct translations from |
| stick them in a few places in case something gets | | | | the original language. |
| lost and you need to recover. Ensure some of | | | | |