Get Ready With Me For My Trip To Athens, Greece
Note: All images used in this blog are stock photos (we haven’t left yet so we don’t have Greece photos yet)To say I’m excited about this trip is an understatement. I can’t even put it into words.
Greece has held the top spot on my Bucketlist for as long as I can remember.
When I was a kid I watched the movie The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants. In the movie one of the characters is Greek and she goes to Greece for the summer. When she gets to Greece she, uncomfortably, rides a donkey through the city to get to where her family lives. It looked like Santorini so I’ve just always imagined that it was.
I watched that scene repeatedly and my favourite scenes in the movies were the ones in Greece.
From the moment I first watched that movie I was hooked.
Greece was the coveted place. It felt unattainable, which is why I held it in such high regard.
In high school, I did a project on it and even in university, I did a project on it.
I was obsessed with Greek Mythology (or just all mythology. There’s something about old stories…).
But it’s finally here….
In exactly one week from right now I’ll be starting my journey to Greece (it will take me more than 24 hours to get there so I won’t technically arrive until St Patrick’s Day, which is kind of funny. The Irish girl arrives in Greece on St Patrick’s Day).
So, I thought I’d walk you through how I’m preparing and my must-have items for a big trip like this (and don’t worry, there will be plenty of blogs on Greece with lots of photos once I get there).
Getting Ready For A Big Trip:
Take care of flights, transportation and accommodations well ahead of time
This one is a must. I am very much a type-A, controller and like to know everything ahead of time. I do consider myself a free spirit and be-in-the-moment kind of person but I have too much anxiety to leave big international trips to chance.
For Greece, I was at the mercy of the Canadian Military. We got this trip because my husband was deployed for 7 months and when they’re gone for that length of time you get a subsidized trip. But that means that they have to do all the bookings.
But once everything is booked and ready I like to have everything in one place so if I can I will download everything and even print it off it’s big because I won’t know how good the wifi is in certain airports. I put everything into a bag or a pouch so it’s all together but I review it so I am very familiar with it, especially if I have a lot of layovers.
I also want to make sure I am well-versed in getting from the airport to the accommodations, which is why I love Airbnb. Everything is laid out well, you can find great hosts that provide a ton of instructions, and let you know the best ways to get from the airport or other points of entry to the Airbnb, what’s nearby for food, shops, attractions, etc. You can also ask for recommendations.
2. Buy an actual travel book
Yes, you absolutely can use the internet or something digital but I actually prefer to grab a good old fashion print travel book. Something I have always done is used a travel book for their maps, and recommendations and to keep track of what I had done and seen. When I went to Scotland I would take it around with a pen and check mark and date everything that went to so I’d remember it.
Yes, this definitely sounds super touristy but I loved getting to do it. And now we have phones that tell us the location of the photos we take and that’s great but there is still something about the travel book!
Trust me on this one.
3. Purchase foreign currency
I prefer to travel with paper money instead of using a credit card. For one thing, it’s just really fun to see the currencies of other countries. I love learning about individual countries’ histories, cultures, mythology, customs, etc. Seeing their money is just a fun part of the experience.
But also, for me, it’s a great way to budget.
I can’t say sticking to a budget or managing money is a strength of mine… So what I do is request actual money and that way I can visually watch how much I’m spending. With a credit card, you can just keep swiping. For me, it’s like out of sight out of mind. So I need something more physical and that I can’t pretend doesn’t exist.
To know how much to request I would recommend making a list of all the things you’d like to do, research the average cost of food and other expenditures and then add it all up. You can usually find all of this in a travel book.
I also highly recommend requesting money from your own bank. They can usually get you the cheapest rates. Requesting at the airport or even in the country usually has some extra cost associated (not always but I’d look around before relying on the airport).
4. Start packing/laying things out 7-5 days before your trip (more if you’re neurotic like me)
The last thing you want is to pack the night before and realize you don’t have something you absolutely need. Big trips can be tricky, especially if you haven’t been to the country yet. You may not know what you can get there or the price (if you’ve budgeted your spending and something isn’t included that could end up being a nasty situation).
I like to lay everything out ahead of time so I can see everything. I’ll make a list and check things off and try to think of everything I could need.
Look at regular weather trends (you can Google averages) and then about 1-2 weeks ahead of time you can start looking at the actual weather forecast. This is something that is a must-do. You don’t want a nasty surprise where you thought it would be warm and it rained the whole time. For instance, my research told me Greece only rains about 1-2 days on average for the month of March but looking at the 2-week weather forecast there’s a different story. It looks like a coat will be required due to rain.
5. Make a list of must-sees
It’s okay to want to be spontaneous but at least make yourself a list of must-sees from your travel book or recommendations from others. If you announce where you’re going and you have everyone you know whos been there telling you you have to go somewhere… Go there. For us, that was Santorini. Everyone I told that I was going to Greece said “you HAVE to go to Santorini,” so we booked a fight in the middle of the trip to go there.
But make a list of sights you want to see and you can either plan ahead for when you’re going to see them or go with the flow if that works better. I recommend trying for one big thing a day (you can try for two if you think you’ll have time and they’re close). For example, in Athens, we will do the Parthenon on one day and the Acropolis on another. Not both on the same day.
My Must-Have Items I’m Bringing To Greece (or other big trips):
1. Lonely Planet Travel Book
Out of all the books you can get Lonely Planet, I consider the best. It’s the most accurate and detailed. What I also love, especially in my Greece one I got recently, is it includes history and bits on local culture and ways of doing things. As a history nerd, I really appreciated that.
2. Packing Cubes
I got some good cheap ones off of Amazon but if you tend to go overboard (guilty) with packing, these are the way to go. I recommend getting a variety pack. Mine include 4 for clothing, one for shoes, one for undergarments, a makeup and toiletries kit, a zippered bag and a drawstring bag.
They’re also waterproof, durable and dirt resistant. You definitely want them to last.
3. Silicone Travel Bottles
If you’re bringing your own shower supplies silicone travel bottles are definitely the way to go. Taking your big bottles can take up too much space (especially if you’re trying to pack lighter) and the big bottles often pressurize and make a big mess in your bag.
The silicone bottles hold up much better in the air, take up far less space and are better for the environment than grabbing a bunch of the little travel ones from the stores themselves. You can find these all over. Amazon has a great selection and the pharmacy and other stores usually have some.
4. Universal plug adapters
My husband and I have a handful of the universal adapters. Something that not everyone realizes is that countries around the world need different plugs. I recommend researching the specific plugs for the country you’re going to. For Greece, we need the European ones.
We prefer universal because there are just a lot of countries and we would hate having to buy adapters for all the different places, especially if we only went once. The universal ones often contain adapters for a variety of countries. You’ll be able to use the right plug for the sockets and also the right wattage. This is important if you don’t use an adapter when you’re in another country you can accidentally start a fire or fry your device.
5. A pair of throw-away shoes
This may seem like a silly one but if I’m going to a country where I know I’ll be doing a lot of walking, I’ll go to Walmart and find a pair of shoes I can walk in for a price that I don’t mind paying for a pair that could potentially just get tossed in the garbage at the end.
I wouldn’t recommend going and buying a pair of $200 shoes for your trip because that would be much harder if they accidentally got ruined. Walmart has some cute shoes for great prices. I just bought my pair for Greece a couple of weeks ago for $15. They’re cute, I can walk in them, they have memory foam soles so my feet will be comfortable and for $15 if they get ruined from all the use in Greece, I won’t be heartbroken about throwing them out. They’re replaceable.
