<p>And Nutella is not for the lactose-intolerant :(</p>
<p>Taking two credit cards, if possible. Keep one with you, leave the other somewhere secure. At the very least, have one accessible, the other kept in a money belt or similar. Then if you lose one or have a problem with one, you’ve got the other. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t count on being able to send things to your student from home. In addition to shipping costs, there are customs duties and the inconvenience of having to pick things up. hannah, be aware this is very much an issue for sending packages to Israel. </p>
<p>There are lots of travel forums which cover information about destinations, travel gear, etc etc. I really like Flyer Talk:
[FlyerTalk</a> Forums](<a href=“http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/]FlyerTalk”>FlyerTalk Forums)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Hey, no problemo! I probably should not have taken umbrage either. </p>
<p>For the record, I grew eating Nutella and peanut butter. My parents served it to us as breadspreads. As delicious as it is (subject to personal taste) Nutella got its share of problems when they overstated the nutritional benefits of the spread. Even in France, the government entered the fray with the Nutella tax that aimed at taxing palm oil (a main component of Nutella.) It is undeniable that peanut butter might be healthier and more nutritious than Nutella. In Holland, PB renamed peanut cheese is very popular – perhaps due to their Suriname and Indonesian influences. It is also popular with body builders. </p>
<p>Be well!</p>
<p>Tried to get my D to take a belt type of contraption for money/passport and she refused to use it; she went to five European nations and survived them all without getting anything stolen and just using her purse clutched/wrapped around her front at all times. Never leave ANYTHING of value in a youth hostel. It could disappear. I did buy her a little ‘sleeve’ that AAA was selling that can stop people from ‘reading’ your passport’s microchip with their high technology when one is walking around. I do think she was intrigued with THAT bit of security and probably slipped her passport into it. It’s true that OTC meds may be very hard to find, so she basically took a small pharmacy with her (plus 4 months supply of her regular meds). Part of the adventure is living as the natives do, and with only two suitcases and a weight limit, one cannot possibly ‘take it all’ with him/her. Enjoy the experience!! :)</p>
<p>I didn’t read through all the posts but Viber worked well for us…free phone/text. You have to download ap as well. Need wifi if she is in airplane mode, but not necessary if she gets a sim card( we used sim with iphone…need to check with your carrier, some require longer ownership (AT&T) and/or needs to be unlocked prior to departing). Different countries use different sim cards/disposable phones.</p>
<p>One thing my son asked me to send was a set of command hooks for the walls for his coats.</p>
<p>They totally have peanut butter in Europe (at least in Germany!)</p>
<p>Thank you so much, everyone! Making some last minute notes.</p>
<p>D rarely eats peanut butter. The thing that we all crave when we travel to Europe is the giant glasses of iced tea with unlimited free refills. </p>
<p>D has been to Europe 6 times, so she’s had a bit of travel experience. Her college is in Chicago, so she’s been honing her “street smarts” for a few years. I’m not saying she shouldn’t be careful, but she’s probably better in that area than many of us would be.</p>
<p>Here’s a tip that I don’t think has been mentioned: make sure all Apple devices are updated to most current operating systems. My D had trouble getting her iPhone to work in France, and it took some detective work to determine that the problem was that she didn’t have the most up-to-date OS on her phone and/or most recent version of iTunes on her computer (to activate a foreign SIM card.)</p>
<p>And I still don’t understand why Apple can’t provide error messages that clearly state, “This won’t work because your OS is out of date.”</p>
<p>Bon voyage!</p>
<p>You can likely order JIF on Amazon based in Europe, depending on the country, it may not be worth the weight in your suitcase
On android phones, I had a serious issue getting data to work in a couple of countries, in each case the most difficult thing, besides language, was getting anyone to realize it was not just a silly problem, but something requiring tech support. They had to manually input the company’s network in each new country. This was an HTC phone.</p>
<p>D left this morning on the first leg of her journey. She was so excited! I’ll let you know if she ever expresses a desire for peanut butter.</p>
<p>Thank you, everyone for your generous advice!</p>
<ol>
<li>Money belt.</li>
<li>Photocopy of all documents. Carry photocopies with her, every day. </li>
<li>Find out about local phones. Buy a cheap phone; she can replace SIM card at destination. sms is the best way to communicate. It would be nice if she would memorize moms phone, just in case.</li>
<li>Familiarize yourself with local maps. Hotels. Restaurants. Campus. Public transportation. </li>
<li>Comfy waterproof shoes. She may end up walking a lot.</li>
<li>Take Umbrella. Leave sunscreen at home :(</li>
<li>Cash. US dollars are fine. I won’t rely too much on credit cards. It’s easy to change US dollars to local currency. However, credit cards are not that universal. $1,000 should be more than enough for one month, unless she is planning on shopping.</li>
<li>Learn more about local medical providers. You can call them now to make sure that they speak English and accept your insurance. If insurance is an issue, you can just pay cash. $100 should be more than enough for a visit. Learn ahead of time location and office hours. </li>
<li>WiFi? Internet connection? It may be trivial, it may be non-existent.</li>
</ol>
<p>No, do not bring that much cash! They have ATM Machines! I could get money out of my Bank of American account in germany with no issues.</p>
<p>bopper , OP’s D is traveling to E. Europe, not an EU country.</p>
<p>^ they also have ATM machines in eastern Europe. it’s not the 3rd world. people there don’t keep their money in boxes under the bed.</p>
<p>Ack, no, don’t bring large sums of cash! This isn’t like travelling in the 1980’s.</p>
<p>Even in the developing world (which is not E. Europe) there are ATMs. Heck, there’s even mobile money in some cases–much more convenient.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That advice is hardly universal as it truly depends on your location. </p>
<p>For instance in Euro countries (not the OP case) it has become hard to exchange dollars at a competitive rate. At the airport, the exchanges are rather poor but often better than the offices of Western Union (outright thievery.) Such exchanges are better left for absolute emergencies or for changing sufficient dollars to navigate the first hours. Outside of airports and the WU offices, it has become very hard to exchange dollars into Euros. Local banks might not want or be able to provide change to non Europeans customers. For instance in a truly international and cosmopolitan city such as Brussels, you will find ONE reasonable exchange bureau. With the arrival of the Euro, most exchanges houses have closed for lack of business. It is not different in Paris, Madrid, or Amsterdam.</p>
<p>In a non-Euro country, it might be more acceptable to accept Euros, dollars, or rubles. Again, it is best not to assume that it will be … easy. On the other hand, ATM are ubiquitous and the information about the costs and fees can be obtained before the trip starts.</p>
<p>Beware the ATMs. Both of my kids had issues. Luckily the US Banks have insurance, did not lose any money. Would encourage her not to use ATM with the frequency they do here, the more you use the better the chances of losing the card, having issues, etc.</p>
<p>Well, as long as you do not use an ATM with a Target sign on the side, all should be well. After all, we have learned that security is not a problem that afflicts Americans. </p>
<p>On a serious note, there are dangers looming everywhere when using cards abroad. If not the ATM, it could be duplicating in many places. </p>
<p>The answer to each potential problem are always the same: </p>
<ol>
<li>Be vigilant</li>
<li>Monitor the charges online … often</li>
<li>Have more than one card available and carry only one.</li>
<li>Credit cards are better and safer than debit cards.</li>
<li>Try to use credit cards than can be linked to a master account and keep low limits on the travel cards.</li>
<li>Have all the security numbers on hand to receive and make calls when a potential fraud is taking place. </li>
<li>All the above</li>
</ol>
<p>People have mentioned Viber and other smartphone apps that let you text and talk for free using wifi. One really lovely feature (on Viber, at least) is easy exporting of text messages. Viber bundles up each conversation stream and sends the entire thing to your email. Once it’s uncompressed, you can open it as a text file. Each message is time and date stamped. I gather it’s possible on some other phones to extract messages from the default SMS texting, but it’s more difficult/expensive/time consuming. </p>
<p>I’ve been reading through my text message exchanges with D1 from the six months she was abroad. She emailed, and had a blog for part of her travels, but having the text messages just adds another dimension.</p>