Travelling is one of the most fulfilling things you can do with your time, whether you are doing it alone, with a partner or with a whole group of friends, you will find yourself returning home with a bunch of new memories and a new love for the world. However, travel preparations can sometimes be a little stressful.

To make sure you are fully ready for your up coming adventure, here are five last-minute travel preparations you should do before you hit the road.

1. Contact your bank

If you are going out of the country and plan to use your credit or debit card, you need to contact your bank to let them know and ensure that the card will still work while you are abroad, be it in countries that still use magnetic swipes or even pin-based chip transactions at kiosks. Otherwise, your banks may assume that it’s a case of fraud and block your card. This is not what you want to happen!

Make sure you have a good spread of cash, cards, and or travellers’ cheques, and keep them in separate places just in case.

2. Check, check and double check

A few days before you are due to fly, make sure you go through all your paperwork and itineraries and make sure they’re all in order. Don’t just assume you know your flight times – double check!

Have an extra copy of everything from your travel insurance documents to your boarding passes, hotel addresses, and that you know exactly where they are kept. The more preparation you do now, the less you will have to stress and worry when you get to your destination.

3. Download an offline map

There are so many useful apps out there that will make your travels a whole lot easier and certainly more efficient. So make sure you download them before you head off as you might not have internet access when you land. 

Citymapper is a fantastic free tool that is available for download on both Google Play and App Store that works in cities such as Hamburg, Paris, London, Milan, Moscow, Singapore, Sydney, Boston and lots more! It will help you find the best form of transport to get to anywhere in those cities, and best of all, it works without an internet connection once you have downloaded it.

4. Book your activities in advance

Some activities are best to be pre-booked before you arrive. Not only will you get to skip the queue, you may also get a special discount through online bookings rather than on your visiting day at the ticket counter.

Choose a few things that you really want to do and pre-book these activities. Pen them down on your itinerary so that you know you have enough time to fully enjoy these activities. Don’t overstuff your itinerary as this will cause you lots of unnecessary strain and stress rushing from one place to another. Be sure to leave some days for rest and hanging out with friends.

5. Check your phone tariff

You don’t want to be surprised by any hidden charges when you use your phone abroad. Thus, do your research before you go. Talk to your mobile phone service provider to see if they have any deals or offers as some destination allow you use your normal sms-es and roaming calls.

If your phone network does not work in another country, you may want to buy a pay-as-you-go prepaid sim card from a local service provider when you reach your destination. However, it is advisable to use this only on a spare device with a hotspot ability to ensure your personal phone number is still operable and can receive sms-es or calls in case of emergencies. 

Once you’ve ticked all these things off, it’s time to get ready for the excitement and adventure! Have an early night, triple check your luggage and before you know it, it’ll be time to go! If you have any other tips for last-minute preparations, leave them in the comment box below.

This is a Collaborative Post from 1Cover on behalf of Calysta Hannah.