While traveling to England twice now, there are a few tips that we learned (some the easy way, some the hard way).
- Salad = lettuce on a burger/sandwich. Dressing = condiment that goes on said burger/sandwich
- It’s a rare occasion when a drink will be refilled without an additional fee. It’s always best to get tap water.
- Don’t expect the same type of service in restaurants as you receive in America. Servers are paid well and do not expect tips. Basically, they can give you shitty service since they aren’t working for a tip. There were several times that I just had to go up to the server to ask for our check and pay right on the spot, or else we would have been sitting there for another 20 minutes or more.
- You must pack an umbrella or two and ALWAYS have it on your person. Also, it wouldn’t hurt to have rain coats as well.
- Be sure to notify your bank/credit card companies that you will be out of the country. Luckily we’ve never been flagged but I can imagine the horror! Also, make sure you know about any additional fees associated with conversion rates. There are many credit cards that offer zero percentage, unfortunately we don’t have one of those gems.
- Along the same lines as knowing the fees associated, make sure you know the exact conversion rate. I had checked it about a week before we left but it looks like I went to a site that was out of date. It was a shock when looking at our bank account and seeing that a £100 = $171. YIKES!!!
- If traveling throughout London, get an Oyster card for every member traveling. Then once you know you’re finished traveling, turn that card back in. They will return all monies on it + the £5 deposit in whatever way you paid. One of our cards had cash, the other credit. When we got to Heathrow, we thought we were doing well on getting rid of paper+coins. We now have at least £10 just hanging out in the drawer.
- Never, never, never forget nail clippers. I have a pair in many bags, toiletries, my car even, but we somehow didn’t have a pair when we got there this year. The pair we bought were way too expensive but it was a necessary item for both of us. Stupid mistake!
- We’ve ended up staying at many different kinds of hotels, B&Bs, and apartments. It doesn’t matter where you stay, they do not believe in sheets or wash clothes. I feel like neither exist. This go round, I made sure to pack a few wash clothes. Lesson learned.
- If you can, I’d bring along at least two convertors. We luckily have multiple friends that we are able to borrow them from and it makes charging phones at night a breeze!
- As a photographer, and one that travels with my camera equipment, I found that the Lowepro Photo Hatchback 22L
*, was the perfect bag for our travels. It held my Canon 5DM3, the 85L + the 16-35L with no problems. There is so much room in the front to hold wallets, rain jacket, mints, etc. + there are two side pockets to hold water + the umbrella. My favorite part (that I didn’t realize would be until we got there!!!) is the storm-flap closure. This came in great handy at Stonehenge in the sideways rain!!!
- We never paid for Wi-Fi. Typically I kept an eye on the location of the nearest McDonald’s. There is also a service called “The Cloud” that if you register an email address, you very well may get 30 minutes up to a few hours at a location (at underground stops, bus stops, etc.).
Do you have any tips or experiences while traveling abroad? Please share in the comments!
*link is affiliate.
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