Checklist for traveling to Europe

After forgetting my power adapters during my last business trip to Germany, I became determined to never let that kind of oversight happen to me again! Here’s a checklist to read before traveling to Europe.

Things to bring

• Your passport
• Your International Driving Permit (IDP) for driving rental cars (if applicable)
• A debit card that you can use to withdraw sterling or euros at an ATM (in the UK they are known as “cash machines”)
• Either one Visa card or one Mastercard
• A European wallet
  • Euros and sterling banknotes are taller than U.S. dollar bills, so it’s best to take
• Power plug adapters
  • Continental Europe: Europlugs
  • Great Britain and Ireland: British-style BS1363
• Permitted medications in original prescription bottles

Things not to bring

• Weapons of any kind
• Marijuana
• Depending on the country you are flying to, medication prohibited in your destination airport
  • Note that each EU country still has different regulations on what medications they permit. This isn’t legal advice, but if you want lax customs checks, fly into France rather than Germany or the Netherlands, for instance.

Things to do before boarding your plane

• If you are a member of Global Entry, NEXUS, or SENTRI, make sure your passport number is added to your profile
• If you have an unlocked phone that supports eSIMs, get an eSIM through Nomad.
  • I have found Nomad to have the best speeds in Europe while also being easy on the wallet.
• Look at how often you’ll be taking the train, then do one of the following:
  • Buy a Eurail pass at their official website: https://www.eurail.com/en
  • Purchase your tickets a la carte through the official SNCF, Deutsche Bahn, ÖBB, SBB, Trenitalia, etc. websites
• If you aren’t familiar with the train system in Europe, visit Seat61.com to get a crash course