Sure, you can’t plan for everything. But you should at least be able to learn the basics before you jump off toward parts unknown. While planning my round the world trip, here are things I learned about far later in the process than I would have expected.
Image: Creative Commons - futuristmovies.com
The Schengen Agreement
First off, exactly WHO agreed? Certainly not me. I planned for years to take a 12 month bike tour through Europe. Finding out that you can only stay in Europe for 90 days out of 180 before you have to leave was as disappointing as the first time I heard words come out of Michelle Malkin’s mouth.
Intended to eliminate border checks between countries, the treaty makes it easier to move from place to place but limits the amount of time you can spend in the region as a whole. It’s not enough to hop across a border, get a stamp and come back, you have to spend 90 days outside of a Schengen nation. Fortunately, the UK, Ireland, Croatia and a few others aren’t included. More about Schengen restrictions.
Bike fees
Transporting a bike on an airplane is subject to fees that would make TicketMaster wet their money-grubbing panties. Most airlines have special “bike” fees, not tied directly to the weight or size, but merely for the fact that it’s a bike (up to $300 each way). My personal theory is that some airline exec had a traumatic childhood experience involving lycra shorts and an overweight uncle.
Originally, I had planned to ship my bike to London. Sadly, shipping it is nearly as expensive as carrying it on the plane AND you have more complicated dealings with customs. If I didn’t already have a bike built for my tour, I would have considered buying one overseas. The downside of that is that you can’t spend much time getting used to it.
International phone options
This one is less about something I didn’t know, but more about the timing of when I decided to dive into a round the world trip. Rather than selling two more years of my soul to AT&T, I would have done more research into phones with easily changed SIM cards. Don’t get me wrong, the iPhone and travel apps are great. But when I leave the US, it transforms into an over-sized iPod Touch. If you allow the roaming charges free reign, it soaks up more dollars than a stripper on free beer night.
SMART chip credit cards
This is one I just learned and I’m glad I did. For many transactions, including buying train tickets in unmanned stations and renting city bikes in places like Paris, you need a credit card with an embedded chip and PIN. Since US cards don’t have compatible chips, the alternative is buying a debit card and placing a cash balance on it once you arrive.
Couchsurfing Events
I had heard of couchsurfing.com, but what I didn’t know is that there are some very active local communities. Many hold social events for like-minded travelers (including hosts and visitors). I also wish I had joined earlier and had more opportunity to host a few times. With only a couple of months until I start my trip, it’s been a challenge to find times when I’m available.
Along with meeting new people and helping out fellow travelers, you can get some nice recommendations to help you on your own journey.
So, that’s my list of things I was surprised I hadn’t heard more about but every world traveler should know. Have any others to share?
Oh I can totally relate to this. There are so many things I didn’t realize or didn’t think to think about while I was planning.
I’ve also been a total slacker with my Couchsurfing profile. I set it up and then haven’t looked at it since. Though I have met several couchsurfers, just through Twitter, not Couchsurfing….
Adam´s last blog ..Ways my life has changed in the past 12 months
Yeah, I went to one couchsurfing event, but definitely have to do that a few more times before I go – great way to meet people interested in travel (or from other places).
Hilarious. Thanks for the heads up on some things I hadn’t considered before my trip this summer. Although, I have used credit cards at train station self-purchase machines throughout Europe. They always seem to work. The only thing that never worked was my debit card.
Suzy´s last blog ..Suzy Stumbles Over Travel: Week of April 26, 2010
I think France is the most challenging for this one. May not be an issue if you don’t go to unmanned stations needing a ticket, but I know some folks who got stranded (long enough to chase down some coins).
Yeah, I had trouble using my credit cards for the Paris metro. Never could get it to work.
Adam´s last blog ..Wombat Wednesday: A Bonnaroo Packing List
I’ll so join the club on that Paris metro story! No coins, machines wouldn’t accept the notes I had (too high value) and none of the vendors in the station were interested in changing any of the notes I had, debit cards didn’t work, credit cards didn’t work.
Awesome times.
In the end it didn’t matter, since the drivers were mostly on strike and the train to the airport wasn’t running. Of course, I found that out after I’d finally managed to buy a ticket. *sigh*
Oh well, a rushed taxi ride and some sweet talking the check-in staff and I made my flight. By about 3 minutes. Fun.
Dave´s last blog ..Under my skin: Travel music
Understanding domestic health insurance. We did a post on it for Briefcase to Backpack here: http://briefcasetobackpack.com/2010/02/health-insurance-for-american-travelers/, but in short travelers insurance (aka World Nomads) is not enough, their coverage stops as soon as you get back to the US. Potentially leaving you with huge bills if you do not also carry coverage in the States and have an emergency you are evacuated for.
That’s great info, Keith. I haven’t given nearly enough consideration to my insurance yet. This helped a lot!
I hate the 90 day rule for Europe! We were looking at doing 4-6 months in Europe after my girlfriend finishes her PhD in a few years and were upset that 3 months was our limit. We’re now just hoping that by then, the Eastern bloc is still EU free. (Not that I’m against them joining, I just want to be able to travel *somewhere* more than 90 days).
Be creative Jeremy.
For example, Morocco’s an easy weekend trip or even day trip from southern Spain by ferry. Budget Ryanair also goes there. Although these take longer, you can also reach places such as Algeria by ferry from Schengen countries inexpensively.
Great post.
Don – thanks for the kind words!
Unfortunately, Schengen doesn’t technically allow you to jump back & forth. You have to be out of a Schengen country for 90 days before you can go back (if your 90 days was continuous).
In practice, various immigration check points may not realize how long you’ve been gone, but letter of the law is you can only stay 90 days out of every 180 (even if it’s sporadic).
Yea, Morocco is definitely on our list since we want to go to Spain.
Like Joel said though, the problem with the whole agreement is that its 90 out of 180. So even if we left for a while, we’re still limited to 90 days in the ever expanding EU. I would gladly pay a few hundred dollars for a long term 6mo visa, but that sounds non-existent too.
As for check points, I know that country-country do not check but a lot of departure spots are checking for the entry visa and looking at the date at that. In fact, every trip I have ever taken they have looked for my entry visa to prove my stay length. Maybe if I snuck out via a port, they wouldn’t notice, but I don’t want to risk being banned from entering the EU again.
Re-reading my last post, I should note that my “banned from entering the EU again” is from not being allowed to return..not me being banned before.
Jeremy´s last blog ..My 5 Goals From Extended Travel
Great post. The visuals are hilarious. Very informative – Keith’s comment too. Thanks.
Keith´s last blog ..Be the Excitement
You’re welcome, Keith! I did make a promise to share a bit of real information blended in with my silliness…
Love the image on this post!!
I really don’t understand why there isn’t a way to legally extend a visitors visa in the Schengen region.
I found out about it shortly before I left for my RTW, I’d hoped to be able to wander Europe until I felt ready to move on or my money ran short and I needed to get to a cheaper area.
3 months is just NOT enough to really get to know the area properly.
Catia´s last blog ..Travel Quotes
Yeah, you kind of have to plan out routes that make the best of it but it gets complicated (and not so free-flowing as some of us would like).
The Schengen Agreement is so useful yet such a pain at the same time :/
Yeah, I wish there was some provision to let people stay as long as they weren’t staying in the same country for years at a time.
Tough to enforce that, though – there would be a lot of visa runs to neighboring countries and back.
Have you thought about pre-planning which airports/trainstations have a locker system? It might be useful not to carry a lot of stuff when arriving to a city and when you want to roam around .
If you organize and plan your bags really well, you could always leave one behind that you won’t need (like warm winter clothes when you arrive to a warm country).
Also don’t forget to carry a laminated (weather proof) card with emergency contacts for you (banks, etc) and if something happens to you (family members and friends).
Just an ideia
Great idea about laminating, Ines! Hadn’t considered that, but it makes total sense.
And good thought about lockers, too, especially for those cities that you may not have accommodations set up for. Sure would make finding a place to stay easier if you weren’t lugging your bags along!
Yeah, the Schengen thing drives me crazy. I, too, dreamed of going off on a spectacular bike adventure – from Paris to Istanbul, wwoofing along the way, maybe detouring to Spain to do the Camino Santiago, taking as long as I damn well pleased.
Except Schengen exists. So that bike tour has a definite deadline…
Sara – I had a wonderful route around Europe planned at one point – loose, but had the basics all down to take best advantage of the climate and see every country one at a time.
Now, I’ve had to throw a side trip to Southeast Asia into the mix. Not a bad end result, mind you – just very different than my initial goal!
Ah, yes, all those little details that pop up in one’s planning.
The good news is there is just soooooo much more information online now about around the world travel, that it is easy to find solutions.
With good planning though, every challenge can easily be solved and many people have been doing it for years.
We did TON of research on a phone….got the top of the line global phone & HATED it. Oh well, one of our few mistakes. 4 years later, stillll on our open ended world tour & we don’t use any phone, just Skype on our laptops.
You can’t plan for every detail, so you learn a few as you go.
That’s part of the fun!
If there is a will there is a way!
soultravelers3´s last blog ..Around-The-World Family Travel
Thanks for the comment – you guys have really blazed so many trails for the rest of us, it’s awesome. I’m just surprised there’s so little information about Schengen out there (relative to all the travel sites available) – you have to dig a bit to find it!
I’m definitely Skyping for the most part. I think the parts I’ll miss are the mobile web browsing if I can’t find a cheap local alternative – I’m definitely spoiled by it now. May be good to cut that umbilical cord, though! Other than that, I’ll just pick up a local SIM for contacting friends in the region and for emergencies.
I’m most surprised about the bike fee, $300 each way when they advertise flights from Newark to Ireland or Germany for around $450 round trip is a little crazy. As for the Schengen I’ve heard of it but don’t know much about it, and seems that not a lot of others do either. I’m on the same boat with Verizon and their hate for sim cards which sucks because it would make life for travelers so much easier.
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There are definitely some airlines that are more accommodating (a few are still free if it’s one of your pieces of allowed checked luggage) – but there shouldn’t even BE a bike fee. It should just be subject to the size and weight restrictions and costs that any other package would have.
Wow! I can relate to this. I almost had problem when we left Greece because they suspected that I was in those Schengen countries more than 30 days. In fact, I was there more than 30 days. However there was no stamp on our arrival in Barcelona more than 3 months before that since we entered the country by a ship (not very well controlled there), so they couldn’t prove it. Even though actually I am legally allowed to be there for more than 90 days because my husband holds an EU passport (but Greek personnel in the border would not honour this… the news that it’s legal didn’t reach them)
The chips credit card really annoyed us too…
Great post! (Thanks to Suzy that features this article)
Dina VagabondQuest´s last blog ..Friday Photo: The Sunken Palace of Istanbul
Yes, from what I’ve read on various sites, Greece is the most strict of all the EU countries in enforcing the 90 day rule. If you’re only a couple days over, they make it quite difficult and are more prone than other countries to enact their bans on returning to their country if you aren’t careful.
Duh, I need to correct my comment above. I meant to write “90 days”, not “30 days!”
Dina VagabondQuest´s last blog ..Friday Photo: The Sunken Palace of Istanbul
Mmmm… What can I say, there is a world outside the US… and it is quite advanced…. We have advanced chip cards and GSM mobile phones with sensible roaming agreements. We have free movement between countries… But try to get into the US… There is racial typing, advanced information without which you can’t fly, you need an ESTA to even check-in, and…. ohhh.. you can only come in for 90 days!!! Please stop complaining about Europe when they are only doing what your “Department of Homeland Security” do but without the photographing and fingerprinting… It is unpleasant to get into the USA but at least in Europe we welcome people… People do actually want to travel the other way!!!
Graham Phoenix´s last blog ..Enjoying France
Graham – you definitely don’t need to sell me on the benefits of traveling in Europe! I wasn’t intending to complain about the differences so much as that there isn’t nearly as much information out there about these topics as I would expect (without digging – which is tough when you don’t know to dig
). Even with the hundreds of travel sites and blogs out there, I frequently run into travelers surprised by the Schengen restrictions, for example.
Believe me, especially coming from a business dependent on travelers from other countries, I think it’s awful how many hoops we make people jump through – some make sense, some definitely don’t.
PS: for those still confused this is a map of the Schengen Countries: http://www.axa-schengen.com/en/schengen-countries
Graham Phoenix´s last blog ..Enjoying France
It’s a great list. We shared many of those thoughts while traveling including the 90 day limit in EU
Scott´s last blog ..The best way to see “The Beach” on Koh Phi Phi Leh. (aka Maya Beach)
Thanks Scott – as with most challenges, it just made me get more creative in my planning, which usually makes for a better trip!
This is a good list. We are travelling from the UK to Australasia and SEA so hopefully our chip and pin cards will work there.
On bikes (and I realise your’s sounds like a special one) someone suggested to me that rather than hiring, which most people do for the odd day, consider buying locally second hand (ie via Craig’s list, local newspaper etc). A second hand bike for pootling around town could cost less than a day’s hire, and you can resell it when you leave.
Victoria´s last blog ..Back to school
Thanks Victoria!
Yes, if I were just looking for a bike to explore the area, I would definitely have bought locally! With a goal of traveling around Europe (and beyond) on two wheels, it’s definitely good to have one I trust, though.
I’ve just found out that every credit card and ATM card that I have charges a 3% foreign transaction fee on top of the Visa/MC charge.
If you withdraw cash with the credit cards, you start paying ~20% interest *immediately* …great.
So… miles CC for purchases, and ATM card for cash because then there’s no interest fee.
But I would have been better off to find a credit card with lower fees. Maybe an Amex?
Dave´s last blog ..The mysterious Bavarian Wolpertinger
Dave – at least for those of us in the US, there are two cards I’ve found that appear to be the best financial deal.
Capital One has a credit card that has no international fees (you do still have exchange rate & Visa fees, but nothing on top of that).
For ATM cards, Charles Schwab offers a checking account with no international fees if you open a brokerage account with them. You don’t have to use the brokerage account, but the checking/ATM is tied to it.
Between the two, that’s about $300 savings for every $10,000 in usage – which can definitely add up.
It seems like there is always something that pops up in planning or packing that you didn’t even think of. Really frustrating but you’ll make it!
Joya´s last blog ..One Reason I Want to Go to New Orleans
Totally agree – overcoming obstacles is part of what makes travel interesting!
Thanks for the tips. Im #rtwsoon and these tips will help! I already knew about couchsurfing though, been a member and hosting for a few years. Cant wait to start surfing.
Checking out your site now – hopefully out paths will intersect out there!
There’s talk of a meet-up at La Tomatina in August – I’ll be posting on that soon!
Helpful advice. Now I know why my credit cards didn’t work at train stations or movie theater ticket machines in Europe last year. I never heard of the embedded chip. can we get a US card with it?