Hi Egos! I'm getting more and more excited about my New York trip. I'm usually pretty cautious when it comes to big things so this also applies to my vacation.
I know what I want to see there but there's also the boring official stuff that needs to get done. Since summer is up and a lot of you will probably go on vacation too I assembled a couple of tricks I learned while preparing for New York!
1. Get a Visa
Each country has different agreements with other countries. A lot of the European countries for example are part of the so called ESTA which basically makes travelling to the US a bit easier. You have to answer some questions as to why exactly you're not a terrorist and then you're good to go! For other countries you might have to get a proper visa though.
2. Send your official documents as an email
Apart from the visa you will need a passport, your ID and probably your health insurance card. These are all important documents and you will want to carry only copies of them with you - unless you're checking in at the airport. However you might also lose them and lose the copies of them. Bad things usually happen to you in a crowd. So to be prepared you might want to scan all of these documents and send them to your email address. Even if you lose your smartphone you can always find an internet café or library and print the copies.
3. Money
If you're going to a foreign country you should find out what the most used method of payment is. In Germany we use cash and an ATM card but in the US you use a credit card. So I opened an account at a bank that charges no extra money when I get cash at the ATM worldwide. I only opened the account because I can use the credit card even after the vacation. If I didn't need it I would just bring a lot of cash. That's not very safe but it would do. With my credit card however I can walk around with small amounts of money.
4. Accomodation
The internet is THE place to help you plan a journey. So it's no surprise at all that you will find many websites that offer cheap hotel deals. In a city like New York even those cheap hotels are too expensive for a two week trip. So I highly recommend using airbnb.com or a website like that where private people lease their apartments for a certain time. We found a nice apartment that only cost 40 bucks a day and that price is for the room not per person. So it's actually 20 bucks a day for a secure neighboorhood and a door that I can lock.
5. Don't worry too much
So I've put a lot of thought into this and prepared a lot but when it comes down to it you can't prepare for everything. At some point you have to let it go and give yourself time to be happy. Otherwise you might not enjoy the view over Centralpark because you're too busy worrying.
I just said I wouldn't worry too much but if you guys have some more tips please share them in the comment section. :-)
C U Egos!
sources: weheartit.com
sources: weheartit.com
