International travel for dummies— what’s something that, even if it seems obvious, someone should know?

Hello! Dumb American here, planning to travel internationally for the first time next summer.

The farthest I’ve gone so far is from New York to Alabama, and now I am going to Europe!

I already did the passport application. Hopefully the six month validity thing should be set (going in July).

What other obvious but necessary things do I need to know? What’s the deal with cell phones? Do American credit cards work overseas? Do I need a special card? What else do I need to make sure I do beforehand?

No one in my family really travels much— especially internationally. I’ve looked through a bunch of threads and can’t help but worry that people aren’t saying the obvious things because everyone should know them already.

Ideally this will be a very helpful thread for everyone as lost and confused as I am!

(Though it would be nice if this is a general thread, I’m specifically going to Germany, but I want to hop around while there :) )

Submitted October 18, 2023 at 11:54PM by ohsopoor https://ift.tt/htGNyzk