Travel takes research, and especially International Travel, requires you to understand a city or destination before heading there.  Sure, you could jump on a plane and just show up, but without doing the research or understanding the layout of the destination you won’t be organized and therefore won’t be able to see everything you want to.  So when you’re planning International travel, you’ll most likely turn to travel guides to get a hold on the information you’ll need to not only plan your trip but also to make the most of your time while on the ground at your destination.  But… there are so many different travel guides out there, so which to use and which are the best?  Well as a frequent traveler, here are the guides that I go to when planning my International travel and what I like about each one!

Land of Marvels Travel Guides

I couldn’t have a list of travel guides without mentioning my own Land of Marvels Travel Guides in my LOM Shop!  I offer guides for several cities and destinations around the world based on my personal experience exploring those places.  And the best part, they are only $5!

Streetwise Maps

For maps, these are my fave!  They are a great size and easy to read, they are laminated so still easy to use even when it’s raining and they show streets and public transport really easily together.  I have been using the Streetwise Maps for years and they are definitely my favorite!  And while their collection sticks mostly to large cities, they also have smaller Subway and Metro maps for cities like New York and London.

LUXE City Guides

I was turned on to the LUXE city guides years ago and I still buy one for every city we go to.  They are compact and easy to travel with, but they are also super hip and offer great advice for the millennial traveler.  From shopping to dining to great general tips, I’m a fan of the LUXE city guides.  They also are all beautifully designed and look great sitting on a shelf at home.

DK Eyewitness Travel TOP 10 Guides

Sometimes we’ll be heading to a place where I can’t find a Streetwise map for it or I want a little more info than I was able to get from other sources – when that happens I head to the DK Eyewitness Travel TOP 10 guide books.  My favorite thing about these: the foldable map at the back of the guide.  I also love these for the easy size and lots of photos!

Frommer’s Day by Day Guides

As an alternative to the TOP 10 Guide books above, I also love the Frommer’s Day by Day guide books.  These are great for destinations that you’d like to just use someone else’s itinerary or if you have a specific time frame in a destination and don’t want to have to do a ton of work figuring out what to do.

If you’re coming up to needing to renew your Global Entry account, today we’re going over everything you need to know about renewing Global Entry accounts.  Since the program was brand new 5 years ago and I was in the first batch of people to sign up for it, that first batch of people is now just starting to renew the program.  Due to that, there isn’t a lot of clear information out there on the renewal process, so I help I can help since I’m just going through it recently.  I ran into a few snags regarding information when renewing recently, so here’s any helpful advice I can offer!

Last Fall, I needed to get a new passport due to running out of pages.  So after I got my new passport, I went into the Global Entry office to have them link my new passport with my Global Entry account.  (If you don’t know anything about Global Entry, check out my overview post here.)  When I was there, I asked about when I need to renew my Global Entry account since it expires during Summer 2017.  They told me I’d need to come in for another interview and since those interviews book up months in advance, I’d need to start the renewal process in February.  So fast forward to a few weeks ago when I went to my GOES account online and renewed.  During the process (which ended up being pretty easy other than lack of information from Customs and Border Patrol), I realized a few things, so here is what I learned!

1. You’ll renew through your GOES account online.  

You’ll go through the Manage Account button in your GOES account and follow the steps to renew.  You’ll need to confirm all your information and have a list of countries that you’ve visited in the past 5 years.  It took me a while to list all of them as I’ve visited a lot of places in the past 5 years, but just go through the list and you’ll be fine!

2. Once you submit your renewal online, wait until you get an email from the system.

I was notified about a week and a half later that my account had been updated.  Then you’ll have to log back into your GOES Account to read the message.

3.  1 of 3 things will occur: A) You’ll get approved.  B) You’ll be conditionally approved.  C) You’ll be denied.

If you get Approved, you don’t need to schedule another interview.  Now since I had renewed so early because they told me that I’d have to have another interview, when I received my status as Approved, I was confused.  There was no place to schedule an interview and no mention of an interview in my approval letter.  I called Customs and Border Patrol to inquire about this and 3 people gave me 3 different answers (in the end, none of them were right).  I ended up searching online for people who had run into the same problem and found out that if you get Approved, you do NOT need to go in for another interview!

If you get Conditionally Approved, you’ll need to schedule an interview.

If you get Denied, then you’ll need to inquire further and find out why.

4. Once complete, you’ll receive a new Global Entry card in the mail.  Once you receive it (mine took about a week), you’ll want to log into your GOES account and activate it.

When you receive your card, log into your GOES account and click on the “Activate Membership Card” button.  From there, you’ll enter the security code on the back of your card and follow the prompts.  This only take a few seconds and then you’re good to go!

As someone who travels Internationally quite a bit, I’ve had a lot of practice preparing for international travel.  There are certain things you need to think about more for International travel over domestic and often it can end up being a lot more work.  But if you’re organized and know what you need to do – the work becomes fun in anticipation for your big trip.  So here’s how to prepare for an International trip and actually be excited about it!

Get currency from your local bank.

We try to pay with almost everything with cash when we travel for a number of reasons.  First, a lot of places around the world still only take cash or prefer it.  Second, it’s easier to manage our costs while traveling if you know exactly how much your spending.  Third, it’s super nice not to come home to a big credit card bill when the trip is done!  So before we leave for an international trip, I get currency for whatever place we’re going from my local bank at home.  That way when you land, you can hit the ground running and not having to change a bunch of money at the destination.  Also – you’ll save lots in currency changing fees by using your local bank.

Do this 1-2 weeks before leaving.

Set up cell phone data plans.

We stay pretty connected while traveling so we usually set up International data plans on our cell phones for our trips.  We both still answer emails and such while gone, so it’s important we have easy access when don’t have wifi.  We have ATT so we do this all online and set up each phone for whatever data plan we need.

Do this 3-4 days before leaving.

Call credit cards for travel locations.

Something that can really mess you up when you get to your location is if your credit cards don’t work!  Credit card companies (depending which you have) will often think charges abroad are fraudulent unless you let them know where you’ll be prior to your trip.  I call the 3-4 major credit cards I travel with before leaving to let them know which countries we’ll be in so that when we land, we’re good to go!

Do this 3-4 days before leaving.

Get out your Passports and confirm all visa requirements.

You can’t travel internationally without your passport and all necessary visas.  Be sure your passport is valid for at least six months from your travel date as some countries require that.  Also be sure you have any visas necessary for your country of destination.  Depending on where you’re going, you might need a visa or you might not, and some are available on arrival and some aren’t.  So do the research and confirm what you need.

Bring specific items for your destination.

Certain destinations require certain items specific to the location.  When we went to Machu Picchu, I had to bring certain items like toilet paper and heavy duty bug spray verses when we went to India I brought Pepto-Bismal tablets and lots of sunblock.  Each location will have specific items you’ll need to get through your trip so do your research and know what to bring.

Pack all of these 2-3 days before leaving.