10 Days Away from Takeoff!!!

I’ll be traveling to Italy next week for 16 days, visiting Florence, Sienna, Pisa, Lucca, Cinque Terra (my favorite), Venice, Montepulciano and Rome. This trip will be a completely different experience for me than all my previous European journeys. This time I’ll be accompanying a college class that met one day each week this semester discussing Italian art and architecture, literature, photography and travel etiquette (my teaching part was the last two).
Now that I’m about 10 days out from my departure day, there should be a few things to be starting to think about and checking off a list – lists by the way are a great invention for backpackers, travelers, tourists, or however you want to define yourself. In no particular order, hopefully you have done most of this, or will be doing it ASAP before you arrive at the airport.

- Request off work
 - Print all tickets or conformation numbers for flights and print or write down any confirmations for first hostel/hotel or two.
 - Acquire some sort of luggage. Backpacks for those of us who want to travel as light and be as mobile as possible, or bags on wheels (which is 95% of the class that I will be accompanying are using)
- Get some Euros, about 50-100. The rest can be withdrawn from ATM’s when you’re there. Just have enough for the first meal, bus faire and something in case of emergency.
- Do a pre-pack and see what fits in your bag and what you can leave at home. Remember that if the baggage limit is 50 pounds, you’ll want to leave some pounds for souvenirs to bring home. Our class had an assignment to bring their luggage packed and we walked about ½ a mile with plenty of stairs in the way to see how everyone would cope with their luggage choices. Everyone did surprisingly well.
- Call your bank and credit card company to let them know you will be overseas. They will ask what dates you will be there and also the countries. Give yourself a couple day window on either side in case a plane is delayed. The last thing you want is on the return journey for your flight to be cancelled and you can’t withdraw Euros for a good night’s sleep in the neighboring hostel. Also tell your bank the country you have a layover in, even if you don’t plan on going there. For instance, I have an eight hour layover in Germany before I get to Italy, if I don’t tell my bank I’m going to be in Germany and I use my card there, it will send up red flags and I might have to waste precious time on the phone trying to get my card working again.
- Right down all your friends and family’s phone numbers and addresses in case you want to send them a post card. - Make three copies of your passport. Leave one with a trusted family member or friend, put one in your bag and keep the other in a travel buddy’s bag in case yours gets lost.
- Book the first hostel or two
- If you’re leaving for more than a month, be sure to pay any bills so your apartment hasn’t been leased out from under you.

I know it’s fun to leave room for spontaneity, but always do some planning so you get the most out of your trip as possible.

Please post comments as to any items I may have forgotten that you did about a week before your plane took off.