Are you planning on leaving the country for a vacation or work travel? If so, here are some tips and tricks you should consider before you leave.
Hold your mail. Go to USPS.com to create your mail and package hold less than 30 days before you leave. Unless you live in an apartment with a nice concierge service, you need to hold your mail and packages. This will prevent mail or packages from piling up at your door. Please know it does not cover deliveries from UPS, Fedex, DHS or Amazon.
Check the expiration date of your passport. Is it more than 90 days after your return ticket date? If not, renew your passport ASAP to ensure you are not denied boarding as you try to get on the airplane for your international flight. I have three recent stories of people who had travel issues or needed an expedited passport renewal because they did not check their passport when booking travel.
Check the entry requirements for the countries you are visiting. The ETIAS program for U.S. citizens traveling to Europe will be required starting in the last quarter of 2026. Plan accordingly.
Purchase Travel Insurance. Trip insurance costs less than $200 per person, and can make or break your trip. I wish I had bought it before my trip to Morocco where my luggage was left in the Lisbon airport (where I connected flights) for the duration of my trip, and I had to purchase clothes at Zara to wear in the middle of Ramadan. Not a good life choice.
Register your trip with the U.S. State Department. Use the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program to ensure if there are any issues in the country you are visiting you get immediate assistance. I wish we had registered before our trip to Paris in 2018 so we would have known about the yellow vest protests before running into them and police in riot gear.
Check for recommended vaccines. Going to a more remote or adventurous trip? If so, check the CDC’s Travel Destination Page to see if you need Malaria, Yellow Fever or other vaccines to keep you safe.
Do you have the right travel gear for your trip? Check out my page of must-have travel items.