There’s no question that travelling is an enjoyable, rewarding experience that millions of people worldwide love to do, but it’s difficult to deny that it can quite stressful too. Whether it’s dealing with flights, paperwork, visas, lost luggage or holiday illnesses, there any many potential stressors than can take the shine of your trip.
To make life a little easier, however, we’ve put together our 5 favourite holiday hacks to make sure your trip is as stress-free as possible:
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Roll your clothes
Nobody particularly enjoys packing, and trying to fit everything into one suitcase can be an extremely frustrating experience. Did you know, however, that by rolling your clothes instead of folding them, you can fit far more into a single suitcase? It also takes the hassle out of making sure everything is neatly folded, and speeds up the entire packing process.
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Scan your documents
There are numerous important documents you might need when travelling, from passports to insurance papers. Scan each one before you go and save them to your phone (and/or email them to yourself), so you have a digital copy of each one on-hand. Then, if you lose a document you need, you’ll know you have a backup. This recently came in particularly handy for me when I lost my Ray-Ban glasses during a trip – I had my prescription scanned into my phone, and was able to get them replaced quickly and easily.
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Mark your luggage as fragile
Sure, this isn’t strictly true, but putting a fragile sticker on your luggage comes with a couple of handy benefits. Firstly, you know it will be handled with a little more care than others, but it also means your luggage will be kept on top of the other bags in the hold, meaning it’s one of the first bags to be released when you land!
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Use ATMs for local currency
This is a much cheaper way to get local currency, as money converters (particularly those at the airport) will offer poor exchange rates and will charge a fee for the service. You’ll get much better value using your debit or credit card at an ATM, which will always dispense the local currency (just make sure you’ve told your card provider you’re travelling, otherwise they may see the withdrawal and put a block on your card).
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Take a ‘fanny pack’
Yes, they’re embarrassing and hideously out-of-date, but they make life so much easier at airports. Not only are your important documents close to hand, but you’re far less likely to be pickpocketed and they expedite your trip through security and check-in. In my eyes, worth the fashion faux pas!