Let me preface this by saying I'm not an experienced traveler. I basically pack by seeing how much I can fit in one bag and pray its under 50 pounds.
That being said, we did come across some tips and tricks for traveling in Italy that we want to share!
1. SIM card from the country your traveling in. Don't spend extra money putting your current plan on roaming or a special international plan. We traveled for 2 weeks with essentially unlimited data for 70 euro.
2. You don't reallyyyyy need the calling plan if you have data. You can download world phone apps for significantly cheaper that allow you to call. The only reason we ended up calling anyone was for our airbnb and to make a few reservations.
3. Sleep mask. This was CRUCIAL on our flight to Italy since it was overnight. After dinner we finished our movies and let sleep overtake us. It had been a busy couple of days and it wasn't hard to fall asleep.
4. Google Translate or other translator app/book. We used this a lot. We got somewhat proficient at ordering food. and kept on trying even when the waiter would respond back in English. It felt very important to us to speak in as much Italian as possible.
5. Camera. We obviously had our toys, but you don't need anything as intense as ours. But have a camera. Someone gave us beautiful advice before we left, take lots of photos of one another. We actually don't have many photos together (selfies don't count) but we have lots of each other.
6. Good walking shoes. We walked a total of 70 miles while in Italy. Some days we did 8 miles. That is a lot of walking and you want to make sure your feet are feeling good! I wore a pair of flat, knee high boots that went with ever outfit I brought.
7. To have a bag with wheels or not. So this depends on where you're going. I naively didn't think about the copious cobble stone streets of Italy. All over Italy. I brought a (Read- 2) rolling suitcases. Because I was not going to carry anything over 20 pounds on my back and lets be honest we all know my bag was pushing 40 pounds. BUT, I'm not sure I would do it differently. Just think about how frustrated you will be dragging your bag up a giant hill side in Capri. I mean you might not be mad at all. But just consider how you're getting your luggage around.
8. My last tip is an important one and something we did not account for well. Transportation to and from the different places you are staying. Cabs get expensive. And the drivers know you are not natives. Hence, you get charged more. Its a fact. It happens. We just assumed it wouldn't be a big deal to get from all these different places and we had a jam packed travel schedule. But the truth of the matter, is that we ended up canceling part of our trip and rerouting back to Rome because we were so tired of cabs and them ripping us off. We recommend staying no fewer than 3 nights at one place. Otherwise you just end up lugging your aforementioned luggage up a cliff side in Capri, while its raining and you are not a happy camper. But I digress.
9. I lied. That was not my last tip. Instead of lugging around your regular face wash, I highly recommend Cetaphil's face wipes. It took my make-up off so easily and it also has a toner built in. So I didn't need to bring 2 products. Plus it packs brilliantly and I didn't have to worry about leaks!
Again, I'm not a travel expert, but these were a few little tips we wanted to share about traveling. Check back soon for each different installments of our trip!
What are your favorite travel tips?
