packing for Europe - DON'T MAKE THESE MISTAKES

and you all make the same mistake as me burn your entire head of hair off because that can happen and that's a lot of space in your suitcase that you can just minimize so i'll see you out there too hi everyone my name is madison thanks for being here welcome to my channel i typically post weekly lifestyle vlogs of my life living abroad and my move to germany but today i wanted to make a special video on packing and i got a lot of questions about it during the process so i wanted to share a few tips with you if you are moving abroad or if you're just going abroad for a vacation but you need to know those things that just nobody ever tells you right i moved abroad in one week i literally found out a week before i was supposed to move that i need to get everything my whole life basically packed and move abroad for six months so i'm going to tell you all the packing tricks and tips on things to do and not to do when you are packing for abroad so stay tuned let's just get into it okay first thing it might sound really obvious but actually it's kind of not to some people and that is currency in the past when i've gone abroad i've gone to my bank and i have exchanged like i just got euro whatever i don't really know what officially it's called probably should but i just went to my bank and i asked for euro and i got that exchange and i think that's one of the most important things you could possibly pack or bring or think about is getting the correct currency here's the biggest reason why that's important because in the united states we use credit cards a lot everything and everywhere except credit cards and basically all make your credit cards but i have not found that to be the case in everything in europe a lot of small coffee shops which are kind of the one places that you want to visit the most a lot of small businesses coffee shops restaurants they don't actually accept credit cards and you will be in a very bad situation if you just enjoyed a very nice meal and you have no way to pay for it right getting the euro for me was the most important part of it and then consistently to have it because another thing is you need like the euro but you also need coins for mainly everything in germany so i didn't realize my first time going to the grocery store i didn't know that i needed a coin to put into the cart in order to get unlock the car and use it you get the money back when you lock it back into the cart you get your coin back but it's important to always have those around i've had so many trips where i've had to like carry all my groceries around in my hands because i just didn't bring money to get a car having euro at all times oh oh my god the most important time i've been caught situation was in a parking ramp and i could not get out of the parking ramp because i did not have coins so it is used everywhere just have it no and if you are going to use your credit card that's great a lot of places do accept credit cards but just look for a credit card that has no foreign transaction fees that's another mistake i made but again i moved in a week so i wasn't able to apply for different credit cards and get them all by the time i left getting a no transaction fee credit card to use in europe is huge again i made these mistakes i didn't really do any of this because i had to get all my stuff i was worrying about visas and my flight during coronavirus oh my god so i traveled during corona get tests and masks and figure out mandates and how it's going to get there and get tested and the quarantine credit card thing wasn't my first priority but it should be because i've lost so much money in foreign transaction fees use for my mistakes and just think about that in advance this next one it might sound stupid it might sound dorky but i promise you you are gonna thank me and you're gonna realize that most other people that make videos or other travelers don't include this one bring books i know again you're saying like that is so unimportant i'm going to europe i'm not going to be reading wi-fi is not guaranteed okay it's a luxury it is a privilege and not a right some places like coffee shops cafes restaurants they won't have public wi-fi access so you are going and maybe you're going to want to sit in a little cafe enjoy sit by yourself drink some coffee and just like feel cool i was stuck in a position where my wi-fi went out for almost an entire day you know what that means that means no netflix that means no scrolling through your phone that means no nothing you can do your computer i could work i couldn't do anything but luckily i brought a ton of books with me that kept me occupied also like i would love to take a book and just go sit at a cafe by myself and instead of like scrolling through my phone and i feel like you look a lot more sophisticated and a lot cooler when you're reading than when you're going through your phone but i mean i'm so guilty of it but anyway another thing about books i recommend is like i love attaching a book to a certain time like oh i read that on this vacation or i read that then and it's kind of a little time capsule because it brings you back if you read it again later bring books don't sleep on them keep yourself occupied other than scrolling through instagram i do it too but live in the moment while you can your phone sometimes balance it out right balance i don't know what i'm doing maybe you know this and maybe you don't that's okay for if you don't know this power source or the outlets in the united states are different than in europe and actually there's no universal adapter or geez there's no universal outlet in europe one country could be different from the other so no matter where you're traveling i recommend to purchase an adapter this one is super nice i actually got this at target it has two usbs and then a plug-in this was super helpful so i would say bring an adapter with you you never want to be stuck in a situation where you can't plug something in or charge something in the same vein as the adapters i would say don't bring your own hair appliances i know a lot of people say like bring everything with that's one of my one things i'm saying do not bring this i might regret it actually you will regret it i went to go visit ben in latvia two years ago and i brought my curling iron with me because i was visiting my boyfriend he wasn't gonna have a curling iron and i plugged it into the adapter and i swear i almost burned my entire head of hair off seriously because it got way too hot the voltages just did not align these plug-ins just like i mentioned with the adapter this is the european plug-in so i got this blow-dryer actually got my third day here at the grocery store if you're going to be in europe for a long period of time and if you're gonna be coming back and returning multiple times just you know get one because i think the price of the adapter to use with my blow dryer or hair curler whatever at home would be more expensive than actually buying one from here like this was eight euro and i think total i bought a curling iron and a blow dryer i think it was 20 euro total the adapters can be like i think i bought this for 20 american dollars at target but again if i buy this to use with my curling iron like another one that's just 20 bucks where i can just the map adds up just think about buying when you get here and you all make the same mistake as me burn your entire head of hair off because that can happen and that's a lot of space in your suitcase that you can just minimize so i helped you out there too kind of in the same grouping of tips i would say if you love love love a certain face washing you can't live without like i know ladies and gentlemen if you find a product that works for you after forever bring it along i mean check tsa and make sure it's like safe to bring if you have like certain things like that like definitely just consider it you never know if you're gonna be able to find it here and and amazon is not the same in each country so while you might find it on the amazon united states or canada might not be able to find it in amazon germany or amazon france et cetera so just keep that in mind if you have a product you can't live without you might not be able to get it conveniently so pack that along with you same goes for medications oh my god i know that might sound so obvious but um here i am again i packed in a week and i just thought i would be able to get ibuprofen advil at the grocery store just like you can at home or at pharmacy something like that and that has not been the case i'm pretty sure you actually have to be prescribed advil i profane same with allergy medicine there's a combination of a nasal spray and a pill that i use every spring every summer and it works for me and i did not bring that along i'd even consider that in february my allergies like started up again here i didn't have the medication and get you to be prescribed which is fine you can find a doctor and you can make that work but it's not as convenient as just bringing along obviously check tsa and check guidelines like what medications you can bring in what you can't i mean i'm not like telling you that you need to be doing your own research but for ibuprofen over-the-counter allergy medicine just bring that along you don't have to suffer your allergies through your whole trip and you don't have to get used to a new brand medication i brought shoes i never have worn i brought clothes that i've never worn but then i've never brought ibuprofen and i bring my allergy medicine just really take a minute and think about the things you actually use on a day-to-day basis when i'm packing for some reason i'm like i need that outfit that i haven't worn in six years i need these shoes that i know give me blisters and don't do that just think realistically about what you like to wear and feel confident and it is going to be really tough to bring back all like the shoes and unnecessary stuff i brought here because i ended up buying stuff when i was here right of course like i've been here for six months i'm in the shop maybe keep a little bit of extra space in your bag for when you actually come home because shopping and bringing back souvenirs is a big part of your trip as well so don't over pack on your way there you can always buy like socks you can always buy those kind of things so if you really just need to ditch that part of your packing you know you can get a sock in germany like that's just gonna happen whether or not you can get your very special fine hair shampoo that you use i don't know but socks you can definitely get so just think about that the practicality when you're packing all right peeps i'm gonna wrap this up here i actually have to get packing myself i'm getting back home to the united states soon so i will be doing a lot of packing if you like videos like this please like comment and subscribe i also do lifestyle vlogs travel vlogs so follow me along for that if you're interested thank you so much for watching i'll see you in the next video [Music] bye

Channel: Madison Lindorff

Views: 2,707

Rating: 4.830986 out of 5

Keywords: europe packing, packing cubes, travel tips, packing tips, packing tips for european travel, packing tips for moving, packing tips for travel, packing tips for vacation, moving abroad, living abroad, moving to europe, american living abroad, packing mistakes, dont forget to pack, packing for europe, packing for abroad, what to pack, what to pack for europe

Id: I19O1Osrmy8

Length: 9min 43sec (583 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 04 2021