All good suggestions. I would also recommend that you make a couple of copies of the identification pages of her passport – have her keep a copy in the suitcase and you should keep a copy at home.
My daughter also emailed a copy of her passport to herself. She uses the Schwab card and also has Amex.
@twogirls Why didn’t we think of that??
Lots of good suggestions here. We switched my d to T-Mobile, which is international, when she did study abroad. Have her bring a lock if she’s staying in hostels as many provide lockers for your stuff. Make copies of passport and store separately. Get a neck pouch and also use a “decoy” purse. Have her give you her itinerary and plan out any travel arrangements in advance. I made my d agree to text me every day when she was traveling by herself. We used the insurance the college required us to buy–I think it was less than $150 for the semester. She never needed it.
I was in Copenhagen a couple years ago. Super simple to travel around in and very safe - even when going clubbing downtown at 2 am. It is very expensive though. Think $8 lattes. Everyone who looks under 40 can speak English, most restaurants and shops have English menus and signs. Tipping is done North American style, and most people do every transaction on a debit card. You can get around without ever using cash.
I used my Schwab debit card. I didn’t bring any cash with me, visited the first ATM I could find in the airport (it was Christmas time, and the Christmas markets are easier to do with cash). You can also get SIM cards there, but I’m on Project Fi so no problem getting call/text/data abroad. There’s a kiosk to buy Metro passes at the airport too, or you can find a 7/11. The Metro is awesome, runs 24/7. If you are using a credit card, do remember to set up a PIN before going.
Bring a Euro plug adapter or several. I traveled with friends and they were always borrowing mine.
As a Brit who travels occasionally to Denmark and with a daughter studying in the US, please can I clarify the electrical bit?
Our electricity network runs at 230V while yours is 110V. This means that if you use an adapter just to change the plug style on a normal US electrical appliance it’s likely to burn out if you use it in Europe. DD has a different hairdryer in the US and the UK, for example.
Most ‘gadgets’, such as mobile phones, have transformers that automatically switch between voltages when you plug them in. You’ll need to read the tiny print on the top of the black charging block to check if it works on both 110V and 230V. In this case, you can use a normal travel adapter to plug in the charger, but you probably need to check as some kit has to be switched manually.
It’s not such a problem for us traveling over to the US because our electrical equipment doesn’t normally get damaged if you run it at 110V, the hairdryer just doesn’t work too well. However, it’s not the same if you try to run a US appliance over here!
(As an aside, DD discovered the plug adapters were significantly cheaper to buy in the UK rather than the US, even for US kit!)
Everything has been well covered, especially by Choski94 and brantly. If your insurance doesn’t cover her travel, I recommend this site, which filters and picks policies for you https://www.squaremouth.com/. One of mine has a couple of serious health conditions, one of which is hard to cover, and they helped me find a policy for a summer stint in Europe.
DC was traveling in Germany and ended up in the hospital, taken by ambulance. All health care was covered - no problem, no copay. Same thing with a relative who was traveling in France and another in Spain. They actually provide medical care to everyone in Europe.
If your kid is healthy, it’s not all that complicated. For a kid with type 1 diabetes, it is a nightmare arranging this stuff and keeping a kid safe. Did you know that Fulbright’s health insurance is not adequate for students with health conditions? Sorry for the tangent.