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The boring checklist that saves your holiday

Passport, charger, copies of everything and telling someone where you are. Dull, and worth every minute.

The short answer: check your passport, your insurance and your phone charger a week before you go, not the night before.

Keep a copy of your documents somewhere other than the bag they are in.

In the EU, the emergency number is 112.

Nobody got excited about a checklist. But nobody ever stood at a check-in desk with the wrong passport and said, “Well, this is great.”

A week before

  • Passport: check it is in date and that the rules for where you are going are met. Some countries need it to be valid for a certain time after you arrive, so check the entry rules for your destination.
  • Insurance: make sure it covers what you plan to do. An EHIC or GHIC card covers state healthcare in many countries, but it is not a replacement for travel insurance.
  • Booking details: have the confirmation for flights, accommodation and anything you have booked in advance.
  • Medication: bring enough for the trip, in its original packaging.

The night before

  1. Check in online and save the boarding pass.
  2. Charge the phone and the power bank.
  3. Put the passport somewhere you will not forget it, and tell yourself where.
  4. Take a photo of your passport and your booking details.
  5. Tell someone at home where you are staying.

Money

Bring a card you can use abroad and a small amount of cash for the first day. Keep a backup card somewhere separate from your main one. If you are heading outside the euro area, find out what the local currency is before you go.

Seven things nobody tells you

  1. Write down one phone number from home on paper. Phones die.
  2. Save the address of where you are staying on your phone, in the local spelling.
  3. Know how you are getting from the airport to the hotel before you land.
  4. Keep your passport somewhere safe at the hotel, if it is safe to do so, and carry a photo of it instead.
  5. Tell your bank if they ask you to. Many don’t need it, but check.
  6. The queue at passport control is the best place to check the entry rules, so check them before.
  7. Everyone forgets something. Make it the sun hat and not the passport.

Did you lock the back door? Go on, I’ll wait.

General advice only. Entry rules, health cover and emergency numbers can change, so check the official government and health service pages for your destination before you travel.

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