Where do I even begin?
Where do I even begin?
Well, not everyone can be or is the get up and go type of person or the spontaneous, I will just figure it out later kind of person. So here are some travel tips for the average working person, whether that be in an office setting or in your home taking care of your family. These helping tidbits of information can help start the process of travel planning and if you have more detailed questions please feel free to ask Half Pint!
Make sure your documentation is in order, such as IDs and passports well in advance. Certain states, in the near future, are changing the type of ID you can use in the airport (at least to travel domestically if you don’t have a passport), so check airport websites to stay up to date and in the know and remember that passports do expire so double check that passport expiration date to ensure that you are good to fly or need to renew your passport. Lastly, children’s passports expire in half the time as adults and the US government is encountering passport backlogs so allow extra time for processing.
Pack Like You Know What You’re Doing.
When deciding what to pack I check the average weather in that area for the time of year you plan on going, the current weather and rule of thumb: Better to have and not need than need and not have. That’s probably my husband’s favorite saying in the entire world, but I must say very practical.
Determine whether you will have access to laundry while on vacation. Ask yourself, will I have laundry on site, through the hotel or is there a laundromat nearby. That should help you determine if you can get away with packing less clothes if you can wash and reuse. Also, determine if there will be a dryer as many place is Europe don’t have dryers and will take longer to try “on the line”.
Trust me on this. One large suitcase and is sooooo much easier to handle than multiple 🙂
No place like home
Depending on what you want to do throughout your trip and what type of scenery you want to experience will depend on where you stay and how many places you decide to book.
Rent a home away from home
Most of the time I rent a place through Airbnb or VRBO. There are many reasons I do this and everyone will have their own, but the main reasons I have found are the following:
To have the feel of home and have more space and multiple bedrooms (as well as TVs – because sometimes you just want to veg out and watch your own show). Also, there is just something to be said for having your own hot tub or pool.
I can’t tell you how many times when my kids were little we would have a shared pool at a hotel and having to create this balance of adults in the pool who didn’t want to get wet from the neck up and kids wanting to splash in the pool and be kids. It creates a stressful situation to say the least. Final thought on this is there are more times than not that you don’t want to be judged in your bathing suit by the general public. Just saying.
Hotel
Sometimes you just want room service, housekeeping, a restaurant on site or the amenities of a hotel and I completely understand that. I will just throw out there that not many airports have this feature, but the Orlando International Airport (pic above) has a hotel INSIDE of the airport so you can just take the elevator from the hotel to the airline check in and TSA security line and completely bypass rushing to the airport to catch your flight . Another bonus that involves food is that you have the entire airport food court as your dining establishment in addition to the hotel restaurant. Being 100% honest, my family was split between Moes and Sbarro so we got both. Boom!
Maybe I could see myself staying here
Take a look at some pretty cool places near and far
Always Be Prepared
Before Traveling
Fresh as a daisy
Try to find a place with a washing machine or laundry facility so that you can pack light and wash as needed. There is nothing worse than having to lug around a ton of luggage because you couldn’t decide and packed everything in your closet.
In Iceland, like much of Europe, not every place has a washing machine and it is even rarer that you find a dryer. We ended up renting some places with washing machines (no dryer) and was truly a godsend to be able to have clean and fresh smelling clothes after long hikes, but we did have to put clothes on either a drying rack (supplied by the owners) or over the deck on nice days so account for the time it will take to dry and always check the weather before putting clothes outside to dry (seems obvious, but an easy oversight).
In the Bahamas we used a laundromat to wash and dry clothes. Keeping in mind that we needed to account for about 2 hours to do this and needed cash to exchange for laundry tokens and laundry detergent. But it was all part of the experience and felt like a local!
In the United States it is pretty easy to find places that have both a washing machine and dyer, but always make sure to double check and if using Airbnb or VRBO add those amenities to your filter before searching your potential home away from home.
sharing = caring
If you are travelling with others, including kids, make sure to plan things with everyone in mind. Not everyone is going to love everything on the itinerary, but it can help when there are places on the list that were specifically planned with others in mind. For example. My oldest son really likes intense waves so I planned some stops along jagged coastlines and beaches known for their big waves. My younger son loves video games, so we went to a Viking museum that has a virtual reality game where you engage in a Viking battle (and let me tell you it was so awesome)!!
Freedom to let your hair dowN
I typically rent a car when going to other places in the United States and abroad so I have more freedom to roam, can cover more distance and change plans if I want. However, sometimes tours are worthwhile, in my opinion, and can help to reduce the burden of driving some days so look into renting a car for the trip, but including one or two tours where they pick you up and do the driving.
I will say though in Europe, traveling from Italy to England I did not rent a car. I relied on trains to from country to country and within Switzerland. I also relied on buses, taxis, Uber, trams and the metro (subway). Please refer to my blogs for exact travel details and tickets.
Familiarize yourself with the history and customs of the country you are traveling. I learned recently that if you hit a sheep in Iceland then you must report it to the police or chance being fined. The police can then help locate the owner to advise them as the sheep roam extremely freely in Iceland. You know, things like that.
In Europe be aware of pickpockets and make sure in big cities to keep your valuables close and yes, your passport is considered a valuable. I bought a purse on Amazon that is slash resistant, RFID blocking card and locking zip pockets. I kept everything in there and it was always in front of my body and there with me while I ate at restaurants. Make sure to not put your phone in your pockets as thieves are clever and be aware when you are in crowded areas such as the subway or buses as this is an ideal place for pickpocketing to happen. Luckily we didn’t have any incidents but we came prepared.
credit cards
Regarding credit cards to use while on vacation make sure to use cards that have some type of reward. For instance you can use your credit card to make purchases while on vacation and then pay the card off when you get back because we all know that vacations cost money so you might as well get something else out of paying for the vacation. I use my American Airlines card and/or my Southwest credit card to earn miles/points for free flights. Next, make sure if traveling internationally, that you are using a card that does not have foreign transaction fees because you will be charged something like 3% for each purchase and that adds up. I would recommend using a credit card, but if you use a debit card check for bank fees as well. Finally create a PIN for your card in case you are not able to sign for your purchase.
Included below is a link to safetravel.is. This is a really useful and important site because weather and nature change quickly in Iceland. So before you hit the road check out this site for the areas you will be traveling to ensure safe travels. You can also sign up for SMS alerts through the site. Helpful information that can be found is the current status of the active volcano in the southern peninsula and trail accessibility along with live feed of the volcano. You will also find status of roads and if they flooded, as well as what type of vehicle is needed to pass these roads. In Iceland they have F roads which are only accessible with very specific AWD vehicles. So look into whether this is a type of vehicle you would like to rent depending on how adventurous you are!
A guide to Icelandic road signs is available along with tips for traveling in different regions. Camping information and weather advisories are also provided on this site.
Below is a preview of some warnings on safetravel.is.
gas stations in iceland
A real treat they are. Orkan was our favorite. Pretty in pink! There are things to know about gas stations in Iceland so here are the top need to know facts: First, make sure you create a PIN for any card you plan on using at the pump as a PIN is required. Sometimes there are just pumps and no actual building with a person in it. If you don’t have a PIN and there is no attendant you can’t get gas. You can either create a PIN online through your credit card company or call them to set one up, but do that BEFORE you travel and remember to notify your bank and credit card company where and when you are traveling so you can use your card.
After you insert your card you can choose a language on the pump and yes, English is an option (shows up as a British flag). Then, you will be given different amounts (in ISK – Icelandic currency) to choose from in terms of how much you would like to fill up and will go from a small amount to the fill up option. NEVER choose the fill up option because it will put a large hold on your card (like $250). I always chose the largest amount and if you didn’t actually need that much gas it will only charge for what you used. Remember gas is ultra expensive in Iceland so it will cost around $100-$150 to fill up your tank- yikes!
Last, and most important is to always check what type of fuel your car uses and only use that type of fuel. My car took diesel so diesel is what she got! Insurance does not cover negligence in the case you put the wrong fuel type in your vehicle. Equally as important remember to fill up when you hit half a tank because you never know when the next gas station is and yes, that is a real thing the farther away from the Capital you go!
Tax refund?
On some purchases that you make in Iceland aside from food and lodging and that you are taking home with you there is the possibility that you can get some of the tax back on those purchases. In case you didn’t know Iceland has a tax or VAT of 24% so getting 14% back is pretty good. The short form you complete is on the receipt of eligible purchases and you take that form AND your purchases to the tax refund center in the Keflavik airport. They have to see the actual product in addition to the receipt. If you don’t have the product they cannot process the refund. Allow time as the line can get long and the line can be really long just for check in so truly get to the airport 3 hours in advance for international flights. You put your credit card information on the form and supposedly you get a refund back on that card within a couple of months. I am still waiting to see if I will get a refund so time will tell…
Tours i did
These are the tour companies that we did tours with. I will keep adding companies as new blogs/places we went to are posted.
You can also find more information about my experiences on these tours by clicking below.
Some final tidbits
BLUE Car Rental – The car rental company I used in Iceland and they were great. The only downside is that you do have to get a shuttle and walk to the shuttle (about 5 minute walk to the shuttle stop from exiting the airport). If you have small children or lots of luggage it may be challenging to get everything to the shuttle. They have free luggage carts in the airport, but you do have to hold the handle (brake) down to move it. If you let go it will brake and stop. Once on the shuttle it is a quick shuttle ride from the airport in a large comfy bus and they have a no contact pick up service where you get a locker code to retrieve your keys from an itty bitty locker that is fit for a key! No paperwork needed in person as you do it all online. If you want a car rental in the airport they have those too, but I saved money this way. With that said…
Rental cars are expensive! You will want all wheel drive (AWD) even in the summer. The main roads are well paved, but there are many side roads that are gravel and have pot holes galore and you never know where you will want to go that may require the extra oomph. I spent about $2,000 on a 10 day rental car. Reason being, I got an automatic, AWD and all the insurance. There are two extras I paid for: Sand and ash insurance and Liability Waiver (LW). Sand damage is common in the south and ash, well I figured it would be my luck a volcano would explode and rain hot lava down on the car. LW reduces liability to zero and I wanted a carefree trip. It is not an extra insurance, but an option to waive liability in case of any damage not covered by other BLUE car rental insurance like theft protection, gravel insurance, Collision Damage Waiver and Super Collision Damage Waiver (CDW/SCDW) all of which come standard with a rental. One other thing – winds in Iceland can literally rip you door off and do serious damage to your vehicle so getting insurance is a must and don’t skimp on this.
Skyroam – I bought a Skyroam Solis X as a personal Wi-Fi hotspot. It was about $179 and then paid about the same for 20 GB of data. The data lasted our entire trip and the Wi-Fi connection almost never failed in Iceland. It may not work as well in other countries or places, so just make sure to check reviews depending on where you are going. It works based on whichever cell towers are in the area. I will say that in addition to the Skyroam I did purchase the car Wi-Fi through BLUE Car Rental and saved the Skyroam for outside the car on hikes and in the rental homes. You don’t have to, but it wasn’t that much more to ensure we had constantly charged Wi-Fi devices at all times.
This year I actually used T Mobile’s international pass plan where you can pay $50 per line and get 15 GB along with unlimited text. This worked out great and as long as you are connected to Wi-Fi you can use WhatsApp to make calls and send pics and texts.