I don’t know if you’re like me, but I like to be prepared when I go on holiday.
Firstly, I don’t want to spend time having to buy stuff that I forgot to pack. Secondly, I don’t want to become ill due to being unfit, and Thirdly, I want to have enough energy to do EVERYTHING!
We’ve just returned from a fantastic European Tour with an overland company called Expat Explore and then another 3 weeks travelling alone and cycling.
We went on the Europe Jewel Tour which took us to 10 countries in 14 days and although I was a bit nervous to begin with, you know … being on a coach with a whole lot of strangers, going at a fast pace around the hot spots of Europe … I needn’t have worried because it was absolutely fantastic.
However, I’m glad I was prepared, because long haul travel tends to send your mind off at a tangent.
Table of Contents
Sensible Health and Packing Tips for Long Haul Travel
I didn’t get everything right mind you, and in hindsight I thought I’d write down a few sensible health and packing tips to remind myself next time I go anywhere, and that might help with your preparation if you travel to Europe or on holiday anywhere else for that matter.
Fitness on holiday
Being walking fit was a real bonus. Generally the touristy type of walking in Europe is not hard (unless you want it to be), but you’re likely to be walking up and down steps and doing far more than you do at home – all that sightseeing for instance. If you’re on an overland tour as we were and want to make the most of say just 6 hours in Florence or an afternoon and evening in Vienna, then the more walking you’re prepared to do the more you’ll be able to see.
If you’re not fit you may not want to walk up clock towers for beautiful views or visit high look-out points for awesome photo opportunities – but why waste time sitting down when you can walk all over a city and discover so much?
Small change
As you go along always keep a little change in the currency of the country you’re visiting for the toilets – especially in Europe. Service station toilets on the motorways and many public facilities at tourist spots require payment. There’s nothing worse than hopping from one foot to the other and hoping some kind soul will look kindly upon you and give you some change to go pee!
Water
Keep hydrated. I found that it was all too easy to let the days slip by and forget to keep sipping water. Some of our driving days were long and it was easy to have a little sleep on the coach and wake up dehydrated. We drank the tap water everywhere we visited during the Europe Jewel tour and filled our water bottles daily from our hotel bathrooms.
Staying well
I paid attention to looking after myself during the tour and was careful to eat well and get enough sleep. Your days are likely to be jam-packed full and often long; early starts, some late dinners, often quite a lot of walking, as well as different food to get used to – it can all take its toll on your health and energy.
Some tips for long haul travel and keeping well …
Don’t forget to pack your prescribed medications
Use personal hygiene products that you know suit you.
If food looks or smells suspect then don’t eat it (We sent back Moules Mariniere in Paris because they smelt horrible).
Take a multi-vitamin course before you depart and continue taking a multi-vit during the tour.
Food
At every destination I found delicious food to tempt me away from the straight and narrow routine of the low fat, low carb diet I try to follow, and believe me there’s lots of chance to over-eat all the wrong (but oh so tasty) things!
Tip: I think it’s important to eat regular small healthy meals when you’re travelling to keep your energy levels up. By all means indulge in the local fare and try the traditional dishes and delicacies, but don’t pig out every day on fabulous pastries in place of more healthy energy-giving fruit and eggs or cereals at breakfast, and don’t eat pizza and gelatto all the time in Italy – leave room for some veggies and fruit, won’t you!
Sleep
The pace of The Europe Jewel tour for example is quite fast – that’s why we were are able to experience and see so much in just 14 days. Although I didn’t find the trip totally exhausting, it was full-on and there wasn’t a lot of time to stand still and contemplate the universe, so to speak.
Tip: I found that it was important to keep up on sleep. Sometimes you’ll be burning the candle at both ends, but getting to bed early after a late night is a good idea. Also pack some earplugs – just in case!
Packing
I’m an over packer by nature, putting in lots of ‘just-in-case-items’ especially if I’m travelling by coach or car. But I was quite good on this tour and I found out that it’s really not necessary to pack so much, and the tour was definitely not a fashion show.
I wrote some tips about How to Pack for Europe on the popular style blog: Styling You: How to Pack for a Trip to Europe
I found that non-crease, hard working clothes that could still look reasonably smart after two or three wears worked the best for me.
Tip: You’ll rarely have the time or inclination to wash and really dress up for dinner when you’re travelling. One smart outfit, active wear, and layering are the way to go.
Lugging lots of heavy luggage in and out of hotels, up pavements and up stairs to hotels is not fun so keep your main suitcase under about 18kg.
And make sure you pack comfy walking shoes.
Cultures
Sometimes we moved quite fast between different countries. One day we had breafast in Czech Republic, lunch in Slovakia and dinner in Budapest. Three different cultures in a day!
I found it was important to get into the groove quickly and let go of everything you think is ‘normal’. So try and be open to everything. You’ll be mixing with people from different nationalities and exploring new places and different cultures. Keep an open mind, be sensitively inquisitive, realise you can’t do and see everything, and retain a sense of humour if things don’t go to plan.
Safety
Keep aware. Pic-pockets, thieves and scammers prey on those who are not paying attention. So if you’ve had a night on the town and you’re tired, be even more aware. Don’t change money in places that have not been recommended to you. Keep your valuables with you at all times. Lock your suitcases in hotel rooms. Don’t have the attitude, “It won’t happen to me.” One of our party had a wallet stolen out of her shoulder bag on a busy tram and we were pick pocketed in Paris.
Carry bags
A bag or bum-bag for your personal belongings should be carried tight at your side (to the front of you) all the time, and in crowds, trains and trams you need to keep hold of it. My secure bum-bag (ugly as they are!) was always with me and it carried my passport, money, credit cards and mobile phone.
In my small day pack, which I took with me every day on the coach, I carried a roll-up waterproof rain jacket and a super light super cheap poncho which could cover my day pack (that always contained my camera and mobile phone) and me, in case of a downpour.
I also carried a sun cap, small tube of sunscreen, warm scarf, small bottle of water, a few squares of toilet paper (just in case!), notepad and paper, book, camera and any maps or guides I needed for the day. As we travelled in April (Spring), I also had a warm light weight fleecey jacket with me most of the time.
Tip: Pack some plastic bags (or use the disposable shower caps from your hotel bathrooms!). These are useful for popping in your day pack so that you can more fully protect your mobile phone and camera if you’re caught in rain, or for enclosing dirty clothes in your suitcase, or to pack a wet swimsuit or smelly shoes.
Tip: Want to travel by Train around Europe? You might like this post Rail Europe Review
So that’s it! I hope you’ve enjoyed these pics around Europe and picked up one or two handy tips for whatever wonderful holidays you might be planning in Europe too.
Disclaimer: Expat Explore gave me 30% discount off the Europe Jewel tour.
Have you been away on holiday recently – Do you have any extra tips to add?
Until next time,
Should you use a Skin Serum?
That tour sounds a little fast paced for us, but we did go on a small group tour in Italy last year and your recommendations are spot on. Traveling all the way from Australia, I think I’d want to give myself a few days to work on getting over jet lag before starting a fast paced tour.
All great tips but especially on sleep which seems to always be tough unless we’ve been hiking, Great tip – forget what you think is normal when visiting another culture. Perfect.
Hi Lori, thanks for your comments. Yes, sleep is the big thing for me too!
Hi Jo, Ive just found you online and am enjoying your posts. By coincidence, my husband and I are doing a 14 day Expat Explorer in September. Ive never been to Europe so am sooo excited but totally unsure about what to take. Thank you for the info here and if you have any more specific tips Id love to hear them!!
Hi Sally, I hope you love the trip as much as we did. Take comfortable clothes because you sit on the coach for a long time. I think there is a 15kg restriction on a suitcase? Take one with wheels as you have to wheel it around each day in and out of hotels. I took comfy trousers for the coach, two pairs of jeans, T-s, a couple of sweat shirts, a rain jacket, a rain poncho, a day pack to carry all my little essentials, and a dress that could be worn in the day and glammed up at night. Comfy shoes. If you forget anything, you’ll have time to buy things, and in Europe mostly everything you need is available. Hope this helps. Have Fun. This post might help a bit with packing ideas – in general not specifically https://lifestylefifty.com/what-to-pack-for-a-coach-tour-in-new-zealand-in-springtime/
Great Tips and Like your Pinterest in the Side Bar. 🙂
Hi Jan. Thank you and thanks to you it worked so well 🙂
Wonderful pictures and tips. Thank you Jo.
I was hoping to add, When it came to long haul flights I popped onto this website called Jinni Md as recommended by others. Two days before flying out i had a pair of compression socks. It was the best flight and made the great difference in comfort on the plane. Also when roaming around the back alleys of Venice for the day i found my legs were not aching like they generally do.
Thanks for the tips John 🙂
Hi Johanna,
I am happy to hear that you had a nice time in Prague during your Spring visit.
firstly thanks for going on the Prague architecture tour, and also for your positive review on Trip Advisor
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g274707-d4154419-r202357946-Rob_s_Prague_Architectural_Free_Tour-Prague_Bohemia.html#REVIEWS.
We have new webpages on
http://www.robsarchitour.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubOxNHA9WnI
We are always happy to give a private free tour of Prague history and architecture.
Hello Rob, We absolutely loved the architectural tour we did with you. So glad you have new web pages and hope they help promote your fun, interesting and engaging tour guiding around Prague 🙂
Great pics and tips Jo – i like the idea of the poncho – a very practical idea and I love Catherine’s idea of just the one item carry on luggage item and counting the number of items you must remember to have with you ( I do always do that) . And one thing I have learned is whenever I charge my iphone or ipad – as soon as it is charged unplug the charger, roll it up and put it in your bag. (That comes from experience of having left plugs and connecters securely plugged into powerpoints in hotel rooms)!
Like Catherine I don’t think I would ever master the only one item of carry on luggage for a whole trip.
HERE IS MY TRAVEL TIP: On my departure I place an empty backpack in my suitcase, so that when I am returning home, I can use as hand luggage to carry all the bits and pieces I have accumulated on the trip. (That also comes from experience of having to myuch in th esuitcase and / or having to buy another piece of luggage for the return trip)!
Thanks Ingrid! Those are some great tips, and the empty backpack one I think is ace! Definitely one for my next trip – now to find a super lightweight backpack 😉
Mountain Design is a good place to start …
It is probably the best, hey Ingrid. Thanks for the heads-up.
Thanks for the great advice Jo. My brother and I are going on this holiday next April, so reading this post was very timely. This will be my first real overseas holiday; NZ seems more of an extension of Australia so doesn’t really count. I’ll be reading your other posts to get inspiration for packing etc. One again thanks.
I’m so glad Lyn! I hope you get into the excitement of the lead up to your holiday, and have an awesome time in Europe when you get there 🙂 Thanks for reading Lifestyle Fifty, and I’m so glad you’re getting something out of it.
Wonderful travel pics and tips Jo,
I now always have carry on luggage when travelling, although it has been 3-4 years since a long haul flight.
Sounds bizarre and a bit anal but another tip would be clean your house before you leave home so you walk back into a clean house after that long flight.
xx
Thanks Lisa! And I don’t think your second tip is bizarre at all – you are so right – walking back into a house that looks like a bombs hit it or needs cleaning would be the pits. Although leaving things in order takes more time and stress before the holiday, it certainly takes away stress on return 😉
The only tip I have is be sure to have two different types of walking shoes. This give your feet a chance to have different pressure points. It gives the other pair of shoes time to air out too. Recently, my daughter and I visited England, Scotland and Ireland in 10 days and we walked until 10 p.m.
My body was fit, but how do you get your feet ready for marathon walking? That’s the interesting part about trips with a 71 year old and a 41 year old. Scotland has more steep, cobblestoned sidewalks than I’ve ever want to see again.
That is such a good point Neva, thank you! Your feet need a break from the same pressure points and your shoes need time to air. Well done you on so much walking – oh gosh I have yet to discover Scotland’s steep, cobblestoned alleyways!
Some good tips there – esp. re the change for the loos! That would be good to know!!
Thanks Annabel! Yes the tip comes from experience there 😉
Great tips Jo, thanks! A couple more for your list: one of the best tips a friend told me was to have only one suitcase, and one backpack each. I don’t even take a handbag as such, unless it fits in the back pack. This makes handling our gear so simple. I have a section of my backpack padlocked and we both carry a key to keep valuables secure. Another tip, which I haven’t tried myself is to count (and remember) the number of items you MUST remember to re-pack each day when you’re frequently on the move. For example, passports/items from safe, mobile device charger/s, items which are re-charging overnight. Another friend and her husband travel with only carry on luggage (even for their 6 week European holiday last year!) I can’t see myself EVER mastering that one, but it would be fun to try. Thanks again for the travel tips, and for sharing your holiday with us!
Wow, brilliant additions, thanks Catherine! I love the ‘remember the number of important items’ you should be carrying. Hmm, not sure I’d master the carry on only for a long trip – but there’s hope yet 😉
Great travel tips here Jo. I think out of all of them drinking water is very important and being fit to walk around is paramount. Your photos are fantastic by the way!
Thanks Kathy, I have Dave to thank for the wonderful collages. Yes, I agree remembering to stay hydrated is paramount when you’re travelling. No water – no go 😉
great tips and great pics Jo. It looks like you have had a fabulous holiday. Being walking fit is high on my agenda after my recent trip through the Pilbara. Although I managed all we did, I think being a little fitter, and a little more confident climbing up and down all those rocks would have helped. So my main agenda now is to get walking and get fitter!
Thanks Jo, your tips are great for any holiday.
Thanks Jill, so glad you liked the tips, and as a proponent of keeping fit as we age, I’m glad that you’re embarking on more walking fitness ready for your next trip. I can imagine the Pilbara offered lots of opportunity to get out in the wild and be super active.