I learned so much about traveling light internationally
while preparing for this trip with my three sons, ages 16, 14, and 10.

 I was traveling alone with them, so safety was paramount.  

Having a well-planned trip yet flexible itinerary
led to an unforgettable family experience
seeing some of the world’s best historical sites! 

    • Traveling light allowed us to be very mobile, easily navigating through airports and train stations, climbing stairs at lodgings and subway stations, and wending our way through the streets of Europe.  We each had a carry-on and a personal item, and everyone had to be able to carry his/her own bags.

    • I wanted a carry-on that could be rolled or carried on my back. I didn’t find an ideal bag, but the Rick Steve’s Rolling Suitcase/Backpack, though less capacity than I would have liked, held everything I needed and had many convenient pockets.   Packing cubes kept all my gear organized.  See Traveling Light as a Family ~ Plane Travel for a list of what we brought.

    • I loved the packable backpacks by Outlander. They are strong, lightweight, have many compartments, and lay fairly flat when folded up.  I brought two and used them both.  I also bought tiny foldable nylon grocery bags as souvenirs in Europe and used those as well.   See Travel Gear We Use for links to these things plus other gear we use. 

    • We had luggage tags on all baggage but did not put our address on the tags since this can alert others that no one is at home.  My mobile phone number and a relative’s address were listed on the tags.

    • Prior to departure, I made a list of important phone numbers which I printed in a very small font. Phone numbers included those for emergency family contacts, credit card companies, banks, US embassies/consulates, travel insurance, airlines, Eurail, lodgings, health insurance, cell phone company, and passport office.  I had several copies of these numbers which I put in my rolling backpack, in my wallet, in my neckpouch, and with my oldest son.  

    • For all of our important papers (passports, consent to travel with minors, travel insurance, Eurail passes, plane tickets, lodging and sites reservations, list of important phone numbers), I emailed copies to myself and to my oldest son (who would be in charge if something happened to me). I also emailed these papers plus our detailed itinerary to my husband and mother who were staying in the States.

    • Each of my children had a neck ID tag which had his name, notation that he was a U.S. Citizen, dates of our travels, my name, and phone number, and my oldest son’s name and phone number.  On the back of the neck ID were emergency contacts in the U.S., and phone numbers for the U.S. Embassy/Consulates in each city we were traveling.   I often had a $20 bill hidden in it as well in case of emergency. 

    • Though I had never traveled with travel insurance before, I decided to this time, primarily because my youngest son had frequent migraines which might have prevented him from going on the trip. We all were able to go on the trip; however, the travel insurance paid off when I had an important item stolen in Italy.  I definitely do not regret the small cost for the insurance for the peace of mind it brought.

    • I had read the recommendation that, when arriving in a new city, to go to the visitor center to get maps and to the ATM to get money. I had also read the recommendation to buy toiletries after arriving at the destination in order to save space in luggage. However, I did not want to spend our precious vacation time looking for maps, ATMs, and drug stores.  So, I chose to get some foreign currency prior to leaving (I did get more there as needed) and brought all my personal toiletries in travel-size containers. I was very glad for my decision.

    • I got a Capital One credit card, Charles Schwab debit card, and cell phone service with T-Mobile since all of these do not have the international fees that other cards and services do. This way I was able to make charges on my credit card, withdraw money from any ATM in Europe, make calls, and have unlimited data without additional fees.     My oldest son (16yo) was also listed an authorized user on the credit card and had the international cell phone plan with T-Mobile on his phone.   As terrible as it would have been, if something had happened to me, my children would still have had the resources to be able to make it back to the U.S.

    • In Europe, we stayed in youth hostels, bed and breakfasts, and AirBnB apartments (I wanted my kids to have a variety of experiences). Each had its pros and cons. I always selected lodging centrally located and close to the subways/buses; the extra cost was worth it to be close to things.  I purposely chose AirBnBs that had washers/dryers so we could do laundry at least once a week.

    • How to travel within Europe was a big decision.  Having lived in Europe years ago, I knew the train system was extensive, efficient, and convenient.  So we got month-long Global Eurail passes for each of us. Though we could have saved a little money by getting rail passes for a more limited amount of time or for a limited number of countries, I was once again planning for the unexpected.  I could not be certain we would not be delayed or end up in a different country than planned, so wanted to have that added flexibility and security.   I had read recommendations about making reservations for train travel in Europe, but again this would add to the cost and limit our flexibility, so I only made reservations for long train trips between countries and for our sleeper train from Germany to Rome.  We never had a problem catching the trains we wanted when we wanted without reservations. Railplanner was an app that had the schedules of trains all over Europe.

    • We did purchase public transit passes or bulk tickets for the larger cities such as London (Oyster Card), Paris (bulk tickets), Berlin (Welcome Card), and Rome (Roma Pass). I think it saved us money, but I know it saved us time and a lot of hassle.

    • When needed, we would go to a local grocery store with my packable backpacks and buy food. This was important for several reasons:  to make our trip more affordable, to eat what the locals ate, and to experience the stores the locals frequented.  As an added benefit, I found reusable foldable nylon bags near the check-out counters which ended up being my souvenirs – my two favorites were one bought at the Tower of London and one bought at the grocery store in Paris that had the skyline of the city imprinted on it.  I don’t remember the names of all the grocery stores, but I do remember Tesco in London, G20 in Paris, Edeko in Berlin, and Conad Supermarket in Florence.  When we ate out, we tried to eat authentic food from that country in non-touristy locations.

    • I depended heavily on my iPhone, especially for the maps and travel information. Prior to departure, I had downloaded Hostelworld, AirBnB, iTranslate, Railplanner, Lonely Planet, Rick Steves audioguides, and public transit/subway maps for all the major cities we would be visiting.   For maps, I found Google Maps to be amazing and the only map I ended up using.  Even in large cities, it would give me detailed subway and bus information to get wherever I wanted to go.

    • Though one can get guidebooks on the iPhone, I like physical guidebooks, especially when I want or need to conserve battery life. I researched different guidebooks and ended up ordering Lonely Planet and Rick Steves Europe as well as pocket Rick Steve Guidebooks for the major cities we would be seeing.  I cut out all applicable pages and spiral bound them by country with laminated custom-designed covers – they were small, weather-resistant, and easily fit into the small bag I took when out sightseeing, using our itinerary as a bookmark (HERE is an example). I would also only have to carry with me that one country we were in, not the whole book. 

    • We used a variety of “guides” to explore towns/cities and sites including self-guided tours, guidebooks, audioguides, group tours, and privately-hired guides.  Each had its pros and cons.
        • Privately-hired guides which we used in Normandy and at Pompeii were amazing and personalized but were expensive. 
        • Guided tours were informative but limited by what the guide wanted to focus on and the time the guide wanted to spend in any one location. 
        • Audioguides varied greatly in quality and sometimes cost more than they were worth. 
        • Self-guided tours required a lot of reading and were not as efficient as the other methods but allowed for us to go at our own pace. 

Except for when we had a private guide, my preferred way to see the sites was with the Rick Steve audioguides along with the self-guided brochures.  These audioguides can be download for free onto the iPhone.  My kids’ preference was the audioguides rented at the sites themselves. 

    • We never purchased museum passes in any city, though they were heavily advertised.   Minors got in free or reduced cost to almost all museums we visited.   Sometimes museum tickets were offered at a reduced cost if purchased online, purchased at the hostel where we were staying, or bundled with our subway/bus pass.

    • I had debated about whether to get the International Student ID card in order to get discounts at attractions. Decided against it and didn’t need it.  Most places just went by ages of the kids which was on their passport.

    • I’m from Texas and a pretty friendly person. However, I have learned from other international traveling to be cautious and alert especially when being approached by strangers. I instructed my kids to hold tightly onto their things in public places and to stay together.  We did not have any big problems until Italy where it seemed we were getting bombarded by strangers wanting things.  My kids knew to say “no” repeatedly and keep a distance from these individuals.   I had a locking cross-body travel purse that was lined in metal mesh.  I only had one thing stolen and that was due to my own stupidity of putting that one thing in the outside, unlocked pocket on a crowded bus in Rome.   Know the country/countries you will be visiting and the associated dangers in order to take necessary precautions.

    • A free way to keep in contact with family back in the States was FaceTime.  We would catch up at least every few days and it was great being able to see as well as talk to them.

    • Though I and my oldest son had a neckpouch to carry our valuables (extra credit and debit cards, extra money, passports, mini flash drive, copies of important numbers, health insurance, and travel insurance), they were very inconvenient to wear all the time.  So, I ended up carrying whatever we needed on a daily basis in my locking travel purse.  This allowed us to leave the neck pouches locked in our lodgings except when traveling between cities/countries at which time they were around our necks.

    • We did not carry our passports when out sightseeing. In fact, our house lady in Rome said it was not safe to carry our passports.  Instead, I carried color copies of passports and kept the originals locked up.  

    • I did bring my 11” MacBook Air and was glad I did. It is lightweight and took up very little space. I used it extensively for journaling, doing research and making reservations while there, and downloading my photos.  Though I could have gotten by with just my iPhone, especially with the Bluetooth keyboard I now have to use with it, the larger screen is so much nicer, especially for 3+ weeks.  

      However, NO personal/private information was stored on the computer.  I was also careful to not stay signed in to any accounts on my computer – this was for security in case my laptop got stolen or I was using a public network.  All personal/private information was stored on the mini flash drive which stayed in my neck pouch.

Hopefully, these tips help you
plan and enjoy your next trip abroad!