One of the things to think about before your trip is the process of coming home and going through Passport Control.
You have 3 options when you return to the US.
You can wait in the long line with the rest of the people.
You can use Mobile Passport to go to a shorter line.
You can get your Global Entry approval to go to the very short line.
Fortunately for those of us who have opted for number 2 or number 3, most people only take infrequent international trips and don’t know or don’t want to take the time to learn about the other options.
We don’t want to be in those lines. We may have had to suffer through them when we arrived in the foreign country on our trip, but we don’t want to do it when we’re tired after a long trip home.
The second option is using an app on your phone called Mobile Passport. We continue to use this second option while we wait for the government to get back to us. I wrote a post about Mobile Passport several months ago. You can click here to read it. The best part of this option is that it is free.
The third option is really the first choice for frequent international travelers. That would be to sign up for Global Entry Of course, that means that after your conditional approval, you will need to go to one of the very few international airports for your interview. For us, that means going to San Francisco to do the interview. A pain in the back side. Also, after you fill out the documents and pay the fee, you can still end up waiting months before you get your conditional approval. We applied in May for an October trip. Still no joy and it is already September. It does not look like we will have it for our next international trip; maybe we will have it for next year.
After you get the conditional approval, you need to sign up for the interview. Unfortunately, it could be several more months before you can go in for your interview. If you have your conditional approval, you can get an interview on the fly if you return from an international trip and land at one of the several dozen airports that allow it, you can do your interview there after you disembark. When landing in an international terminal follow the signage directing you to CBP officers who can complete your Global Entry interview during your admissibility inspection. Click here for info on that process. We hope that we at least have the conditional approval before we leave in October so that we can use this process when we return. Otherwise, it will mean a trip to San Francisco before our next big trip in 2020.
One of the nice things about Global Entry is that it includes Pre-Check. Unfortunately our Pre-Check was expiring this fall and we expected to have Global Entry in place so we were not going to renew it. Well, we had to renew it because of the long delay in getting Global Entry. That was an extra expense of $170 that we were not happy about.
Of course, there are a couple of other options. If for example all of your international travel is between the US and Canada, you may want to consider Nexus. If your travel is only to Mexico and Canada, then you should look at Sentri. These two examples may include Pre-Check too.
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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!
As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you. Check out the important links below.
Whenever you plan to travel internationally from the United States, you need to check to see if you need to have a visa. Many countries are on a short list that approves travelers with US Passports without a visa. Many of them who do require a visa, do not require that you get one before you leave home. You can often get one at a border crossing or at the airport.
You do need to make sure that you have adequate room in your Passport for the stamps and for most countries, you need at least 6 months left on your Passport’s expiration date to enter a foreign country.
When we went to South Africa in 2015, we got our visa online before we left home, but picked up our visa for Zambia at the airport after we landed.
When we went to Kenya and Tanzania in 2018, we needed to go online to order our mulit-visit visa for Kenya. On the other hand, we did not get our Tanzania visa before we left home. We didn’t want to send them our passports and hope we get them back before we left for our trip. Also, there is more than one type of visa to visit Tanzania. There is one for people who are transiting the country. At the time of this writing, that is about $30. For those who are visiting Tanzania, the fee is about $100. Also, they want newer, clean, crisp $20 dollar bills, or in the case of the transit visa, a couple of $5 dollar bills to go with your $20. Also, if you are with a guide, they won’t believe that you are transiting the country so make sure to have the $100 in clean cash.
Another thing to think about when we discuss getting a visa. For many years, most countries listed the United States on a short list of countries that did not have to apply for a visa to visit that country. Things are changing. Many countries, such as Canada, New Zealand and Australia, now require us to apply online for an ETA (Electronic Travel Authorization). Check the rules closely since they can vary based upon your method of travel. For example, as of September 2019, to go to Canada by air, you need an ETA, but by ship or car, you don’t need one.
You need to do this before you leave home, so don’t forget to check the countries you are visiting to make sure you are good to go.
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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!
As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you. Check out the important links below.
I am sure that you know that you need a passport for most international travel.I am also sure that you have heard that by October 1, 2020, you will need to have your driver’s license updated/reissued to travel stateside in compliance with the Real ID law. Of course, you could use your passport for all of your air travel, but if you don’t want to carry it for domestic travel, get your driver’s license updated if you are over 18 years of age.
Of course, each state has to set up the issuance of a Federally approved Real ID. All of them are doing it through their Department of Motor Vehicles. For my friends who live in California, here is the link to the DMV website to use to determine which of your documents will suffice to get your Real ID. As of September 2019, almost all of the states have had their version of the Real ID approved by the Feds. Click Here for more info. If you live in Oregon or one of the other states without an approved Real ID, make sure that you have your passport in order. Yes, there are a few other documents that will suffice, but whatever you do, don’t show up at an airport after October 1st without the proper ID or you won’t be allowed to fly. That could really ruin an otherwise well planned trip.
Now that we have done the extra research about Real ID, it is time to double check our passports to make sure that we have at least 6 months on our passports beyond the time we will be traveling and that we have at least 2 empty pages for passport stamps and visa stamps for each country that we are visiting.
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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!
As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you. Check out the important links below.
I am sure that you have read about the many scams that are played on American tourists such as don’t take the baby that someone tries to hand to you as they use it as a distraction to pick your pocket. Walk away if someone “accidentally” spills mustard on you and tries to wipe it off as a way to get close enough to pick your pocket.
Here is another that the State Department is warning travelers about. Don’t pick up wallets or other valuables and don’t take them from strangers asking if you dropped it. Just keep walking. This is a common scam targeting tourists. travel.state.gov/scams
Once you have it in your hands, they will say that you stole it and that they will call the police if you don’t pay them. You know that you don’t speak the language so how can you tell the police what really happened. Even if they finally believe you, you may spend a day in jail before you get released. So, don’t pick up something that does not belong to you and don’t ever take anything that anyone hands you.
I know that when traveling in Columbia and Mexico they often try to hand you their goods then ask you to pay for them and they won’t take back the goods that they handed to you. You are tempted to just throw them on the ground and walk away. Of course, now you have just destroyed their goods and you were worse off than if you had paid for the goods.
So, if a stranger tries to hand you something, just don’t take it. Say no, walk away and don’t look back. If you look back, the will keep trying.
Make sure to enjoy your trip, but don’t be lulled into the con job they are trying to commit.
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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!
As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you. Check out the important links below.
The earliest that you can book your flights is generally 330 days before the day you fly home. So that means that you look at your proposed travel dates and subtract 330 days from the last day of your vacation, put that date on your calendar. When that date pops up, call your travel agent to book your flights. Yes, I realize that many people try to figure out when they can get the best prices, but I want to know that it is done and that I have the best pick of seats, etc… Keep in mind that there is a challenge with such early bookings. The airlines are only estimating which flights will be available that far out. More often than not, when time gets close, the flight that you planned on is no longer available and they are switching you to another flight and they are often not very good about putting you in the seats that you already selected and paid for. Sometimes, they have changed planes but still have the same flight number. That also messes with you seat assignments. Just know before hand that you may be dealing with changes. I suppose this is another reason to use a travel agent who gets to take care of those problems for you.
If you don’t want to do the math, just click here for the calculator to do that work for you. Keep in mind that if it is a really big trip, you should have already booked the timeshare a couple of months ago. If it is a photo safari, I often book 16 to 18 months out to get the locations I want and generally I can get them at this year’s prices rather than picking up what is left over at next year’s prices.
Planning Your Timeshare Weeks
You face the same issue when you want to book your next vacation, especially if it is during Christmas Week, New Years, Holy Week or Easter Week. First of all you need to know what your timeshare rules are. For example, I can book my vacations 13 months before the first day of my vacation. If I am booking outside of my “club”, then the time is often reduced to 11 months or 10 months out. Here is another handy set of calculators to make it simple for you. Click here to go to my timeshare calculators.
Once you have done the calculations, just mark the date on your calendar and when that date arrives, make sure to get up early to book your special week. I know that my timeshare opens for booking at 6:00 am, so I put it on the day before with a note to set the alarm to get up to book the vacation.
For example, we always go to the same resort for Thanksgiving week for a mini family reunion. That means that I have to look up next November and figure out the dates that we want to stay at the resort, then mark down the date so that I am booking next year’s Thanksgiving vacation the month before this year’s Thanksgiving vacation. Plan ahead and you won’t be disappointed next year.
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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!
As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you. Check out the important links below.
Whenever we travel, I like to travel light. I also like to plan on having some space in my suitcase so that I can pick up a few things to give as gifts and to remember my trip. I almost always pick up flat items, maybe a table cloth, table runner, lace, etc… that does not take up much room. Maybe a hat or two that can be packed easily.
In fact, I like to take a maximum of about a week’s worth of clothes no matter how long the trip. I like to keep my suitcase down to less than 30 pounds; it is a backpack suitcase and I want to be able to hop on or off a train or the metro without an issue.
A pair of pants or shorts don’t take up too much space in my suitcase, but enough underwear to last 7 days without laundry facilities will take up much more space than an extra shirt or an extra pair of pants. I don’t mind wearing the same pair of pants or shorts for a few days, but I don’t like to wear underwear for multiple days.
Generally, if we are staying in hotel rooms, I would bring my light weight, quick drying, underwear and wash them in my room. On our next trip, my wife and I will spend a week in London followed by a 2 week photo safari in Africa. The first week is not really an issue since we have access to a sink every night in our hotel room. On the safari, we are not sure of our accommodations yet, but we could be staying in tents and moving every day. It is not like I can leave wet underwear hanging in the tent or even in our room while we are on safari since we will be at a different camp the next day. With fast drying polyester based underwear, they dry overnight, but not cotton briefs. Yes, TMI, but you have to think about those things when you travel.
The other problem is that we will spend summer days in London and winter days in Africa. Different types of clothes for the very different climates.
I could ship my Africa wardrobe to London and carry the clothes that I want to wear in London in my suitcase. Before we leave, I could ship my London clothes home and carry my Africa wardrobe for the rest of the trip. That is an extra expense but it would be a solution. As noted above, the other option will be doing laundry every night or two. I don’t want to do laundry every couple days for the whole 3 weeks. I have another idea in mind that will give me the space in my suitcase for gifts and cut down on laundry.
I remember that mom always said to wear clean underwear just in case I get into an accident; but I have seen enough of those TV shows where they just cut off your clothes to get to your injuries. So, I figured that I would set aside old and almost worn out underwear throughout the year and take them on my trip. Rather than washing them in the evening, I can just toss them out along the way. So, instead of bringing 7 sets of underwear, I will bring 14 sets of underwear and by the end of the first week, I will have room in my suitcase for gifts.
Starting on week two of the trip, all of the worn out underwear will be in the trash. The 7 sets that I go to Africa with will be the ones that are easy to wash and that are quick trying. I can easily wash them out each night and they should be dry by the morning. The issue isn’t just with underwear. If you are wearing hiking boots, you need to carry extra socks or have a plan for bring 2 or 3 pairs and a plan for washing and drying them every two or three days.
Here is how we plan to take care of the socks issue. When we are located in a facility that has electricity, even if it is only for part of the day, I will use the blow dryer to dry out my socks.
What do you think of this plan?
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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!
As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you. Check out the important links below.
*** There have been some major updates to this program. See that info below in red.
Many of you already use TSA Precheck when traveling domestically to speed the process of boarding aircraft. You can often use at foreign international airports too.
Some of you use Global Entry for international travel to speed up the process of getting through Customs when you return to the U.S.
Did you know that there is another option to speed up the process of going through passport control when you return to the United States if you don’t have Global Entry?
It is called CPB Mobil Passport Control. No, it does not replace your passport or Global Entry, but it does replace filling out the paper form upon your return to the U.S. so that you can move more quickly through the Customs and Border Control process. Best of all, is that it’s FREE.
You can have both Global Entry and CPB Mobil Passport Control but you must decide which one you will use to enter the US. Keep in mind that if you have completed and activated your CPB Mobil Passport Control, then you have already started the passport control process and you will have to go to the CPB Mobil Passport Control line.You cannot go to the Global Entry line as they will end up sending you to a supervisor to deal with you trying to enter the country twice. That could mean quite a delay in getting through the process.
You could fill out all of the info in CPB Mobil Passport Control while on the airplane and wait until you enter the passport control room to decide to go to Global Entry or complete the process with CPB Mobil Passport Control based upon the shortest line. You will still need to wait to receive the response on your phone before getting in the line. Either way, the line will be much shorter than the very long line for those who didn’t get set up with Global Entry or CPB Mobil Passport Control before their trip.
Now, back to CPB Mobil Passport Control.
It is pretty simple. Just go to Google Play or the Apple Store to download the app, scan your passport into the app and fill out some info. You can put your whole household on one phone. I would suggest that you do it on your phone as well as your partner’s phone, just in case one of the phones is lost or damaged on your trip. The info will be held on your phone and it is password protected.
When you return to the U.S., turn on your phone and use the app to answer the questions that you would have answered on the paper form that the flight attendant may have given you. You will receive a QR code to be scanned by the Customs and Border Protection system.
It is pretty straight-forward. In fact, after you have landed and are headed to the terminal on the taxi way, just turn on your phone, open the app and answer the questions. You will probably have your QR code before you get off the plane and you will be ready to go. The info is good for 4 hours. Make sure you do this before you start responding to your emails or you may not get the QR code response before you get to Passport Control. Remember, you cannot go to the Global Entry line after you have sent your info to Customs and Border Control with your CPB Mobile Passport Control as they will end up sending you to a supervisor to deal with you trying to enter the country twice. That could mean quite a delay in getting through the process.
It was only available originally 24 airports and one cruise terminal.
Updated Info:
TheMobile Passportwas changed to Airside Mobile Passport but it has changed again in February 2022 to CBP MPC which is short forCustoms & Border Protection Mobile Passport Control. You often have a line as short or shorter than what you will see for Global Entry, but like I noted, it is not available at every airport or port of entry. Currently only 31 airports and 4 shipping ports.
The MPC mobile app, is available to U.S. citizens and Canadian B1/B2 citizens visitors.
MPC is currently available at the following 48 sites, including 33 U.S. International Airports, 11 Preclearance locations, and 4 seaports of entry:
Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL)
Aruba Queen Beatrix International Airport (AUA)
Bermuda L.F. Wade International Airport (BDA)
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI)
Boston Logan International Airport (BOS)
Calgary International Airport (YYC)
Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT)
Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD)
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
Denver International Airport (DEN)
Edmonton International Airport (YEG)
Dulles International Airport (IAD)
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL)
Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ)
Honolulu Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL)
Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)
Houston William P. Hobby International Airport (HOU)
John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
Kansas City International Airport (MCI)
Las Vegas Harry Ried International Airport (LAS)
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
Miami International Airport (MIA)
Miami Seaport
Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP)
Montreal Trudeau International Airport (YUL)
Nassau Lynden Pindling International Airport (NAS)
Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
Oakland International Airport (OAK)
Orlando International Airport (MCO)
Ottawa International Airport (YOW)
Palm Beach Seaport
Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)
Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT)
Port Everglades Seaport
Portland International Airport (PDX)
Sacramento International Airport (SMF)
Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC)
San Diego International Airport (SAN)
San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
San Jose International Airport (SJC)
San Juan Airport (SJU)
San Juan Seaport
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
Tampa International Airport (TPA)
Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ)
Vancouver International Airport (YVR)
Winnipeg James A Richardson International Airport (YWG)
Keep this limitation in mind when booking your flights if you plan to use this App. For example, don’t return to the US from Cabo via John Wayne International (SNA) in Santa Ana. You cannot use this program there yet. Better to enter the US at PHX or SAN or SFO.
Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!
As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you. Check out the important links below.
We are planning another trip to Africa for July 2018. This will be a 12 day photo safari in Kenya and Tanzania to see the great migration in the Masai Mara that we have seen on TV on the National Geographic Channel.
The best time is between July and August. If it is a warm year, then July is great. If not, you may want to wait until August. Of course, to plan ahead, you must decide before you really know what the weather will be, so plan it and hope for the best weather, but enjoy it either way.
Just a few dozen years ago, this would have been a very dangerous trip because of the rampant poaching. Thanks to the Mara Triangle Conservancy, that is no longer the case and we are looking forward to an exciting, but not a dangerous, trip.
For this trip, we want to do the safari during the beginning of the migration, rather than in the middle of it. We will not see as many animals, but that just means that we will see a few thousand animals rather than hundreds of thousands of animals. That being said, it will be summer in the northern hemisphere at home in California, but winter in the southern hemisphere in Africa.
Of course, we cannot fly to straight to Nairobi from the U.S. yet. Just in case you are interested, there will be a direct flight from JFK to Nairobi starting in October 2018 on Kenya Airways. It would be a very long flight, about 15 hours or so. We prefer to break our flights up into flights of 10 hours or less. Also, since we will be flying into Nairobi to start our photo safari, we need to find the best routing to and from there. Based upon my research, the best option is to fly round trip from London to Nairobi. Therefore, we will fly from California to London, and then on to Nairobi. With that in mind, we plan to add a week long visit to London on the way to Africa. We would have preferred to do 3-4 days in London on the way to and from Africa to break up the flight both ways, but it did not fit our schedule. So it will be a very long, long trip home. Probably about 36 hours of travel time. Drive from Arusha Tanzania to Nairobi, Kenya, then fly Nairobi to London, layover, London to Dallas, layover, and finally Dallas to Sacramento.
Now that you have seen our general plans, what should you be doing to get ready if this was your trip. You could call your travel agent and describe the trip you wish to take and let the agent gather the appropriate information that is needed to set up the trip. Keep in mind that you should plan on paying the agent for doing all the work to put the trip together. If you don’t want to do that, then it is time for you to do some work to gather all of the info needed to set up your timeline for the various steps along the way.
What about shots??? Depending upon where in Kenya or Tanzania you will be visiting, the shot requirement is different. Make sure to talk with your travel nurse for updated info.
You are probably are thinking that you have a passport and don’t need to worry about that. Did you know that some countries won’t let you visit if you have only a couple of months left on your passport? Did you know that some countries won’t let you enter if you have a brand new passport? Did you know that some countries require you to have several blank passport and visa pages available for them to use. So, do your homework. I could tell you what I found for Kenya and Tanzania, but since that information does change and I have no idea when you will be reading this post, I suggest that you do your own research.
While you are on the State Department’s website, you will see links for Travel Advisories, passports and international travel. We will start on the International Travel page. On that page, click on the Traveler’s Checklist link and go through their checklist. The first thing they say to do is to research the entry/exit requirements for the countries you will be visiting. For example, we will visit Kenya and Tanzania. You can click on them to see what issues to be concerned about. Another thing to remember is that you may need to bring along your children’s birth certificates in some parts of Africa because of issues of child trafficing. So, bring their passports but bring valid copies of their birth certificates too, just in case.
Of course, the State Department recommends that you register for the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive updates if there are problems in the country where you plan to visit.
Why is this important? Because if civil war breaks out, you may want to cancel your trip. That brings up another issue, which is travel insurance. In fact, that is almost as important as the entry and exit rules for where you plan to visit. You need to talk to your travel agent about your travel insurance needs before you make any reservations. Especially if you want to be able to purchase a policy to cover you if you have pre-existing health conditions that may cause you to have to cancel the trip. Please take the time to learn more about travel insurance here. When you are ready to purchase a policy, your travel agent will handle it for you. If you are doing your own trip planning, click here to order a policy.
Now that I have done some of the needed research, I need to double check our passports to make sure that we have at least 6 months on our passports beyond the time we will be in England and Africa and that we have at least 2 empty pages for passport stamps and visa stamps. Along those same lines, we need to go online to order our mulit-visit visa for Kenya since we fly into Kenya, drive into Tanzania then back into Kenya before flying home. ***In 2024 the laws have been changed to travel to Kenya. Now they require an eVisa also called an ETA which stands for an Electronic Travel Authority. We are seeing thes popup throughout the world these days.
We will not be getting our Tanzania visa before we leave home. We don’t want to send them our passports and hope we get them back. Also, there is more than one type of visa to visit Tanzania. There is one for people who are transiting the country. At the time of this writing, that is about $30. For those who are visiting Tanzania, the fee is about $100. Also, they want newer, clean, crisp $20 dollar bills, or in the case of the transit visa, a couple of $5 dollar bills to go with your $20. Also, if you are with a guide, they won’t believe that you are transiting the country so make sure to have the $100 in clean cash.
While waiting for the visa, it is time to get started on shots. When we went a couple of years ago, we had to get a series of shots, some before the trip and a final one after we got home. So, I called Kaiser to set the appointment with the Travel Nurse to discuss what shots and meds that we may need for our trip.
Don’t forget that you need to consider the re-entry process when we return to the U.S. The first choice would be to get the Global Entry paperwork done before hand, but that means going to San Francisco to do the interview. A pain in the back side. Also, after you fill out the documents and pay the fee, you can still end up waiting months before you get your conditional approval. Additionally, after you get the conditional approval, you need that to sign up for the interview, but it could be several more months before you can go in for your interview. You can get an interview on the fly if you return from an international trip and land at one of the several dozen airports that allow it, you can do your interview there after you disembark, but before you leave the passport control area. Check with the folks at Global Entry for more info. Also, since our Pre-Check was expiring, we had to renew it because of the long delay in getting Global Entry.
The second option is using the app on your phone called Mobile Passport. I wrote about it earlier and did an uppdate here. We chose the Mobil Passport. ***This is now called the CBP-MPC which stands for Customs and Border Protection’s Mobil Passport Control.Learn more about it here from the CBP website.It is an App that you install on your phone.
Once all of that is in process, we can finally book the trip and buy the travel insurance. I will talk more about that part of it in a follow-up blog post.
Just in case you were wondering about why we are going to Kenya and Tanzania, it is so that we can see the great migration. You know, the migration of hundreds of thousands of animals that you have seen on the National Geographic Channel.
The bottom line is that we are turning more dreams into memories. You should be doing the same.
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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!
As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you. Check out the important links below.
I received a request to share some information about finding cheap flights from a fellow blogger in Budapest, one of our favorite cities to visit. Take a look and say hi to Zoey Molnar, the webmaster at https://www.stagkissbudapest.com/blog/ and make sure to plan to visit Budapest, Hungary.
Have you ever watched a travel show and noticed the advertisements for Viking River Cruises? Well, many of the beautiful scenes in their advertisement are of downtown Budapest. We spent a few days in Budapest in 2016 before embarking on a Viking River Cruise from Budapest to Passau, Germany. Check out our blog post on our visit to Budapest.
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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!
As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you. Check out the important links below.
Something that worries almost all first time travelers to Europe or England, has to do with which of their electronics will work and which ones won’t work.
They want to know if they need an adapter or a converter.
Let’s start with basics. In the USA, we use 110 volt AC appliances, except for electric ranges, electric water heaters and electric heating and air conditioning systems. Those use 220 volts AC.
In most of the rest of the world, they use 220 volt AC appliances. I should also point out that AC stands for Alternating Current.
Our cars and most electronics use DC or direct current but you don’t need to worry about that. Why, because when we charge our electronics we use a USB plug or a plug with a built in converter that will convert either 110 volt AC current or 220 volt AC current to the appropriate DC voltage for our phones, cameras, tablets or our laptop computers.
With that background, lets move on to talk about adapters vs. converters.
An adapter is a device that allows you to plug your American appliance or charger into a foreign plug. A converter, converts the electricity coming out of the wall from 220 volts to 110 volts. Newer adapters do have a limited converter to convert the 220 volts AC to the 5 volt DC voltage for the USB outlets.
As an aside, none of the adapters shown in this article will work in South Africa or Swaziland. If you are going to South Africa, make sure to pick up the appropriate adapter for that country. They use a type M plug down there. You can order type M adapters from Amazon.
An example of a universal travel adapter with USB ports.
This is an adapter kit.
This is an old travel hair dryer with a small round switch that allows you to use it with either 110 or 220 volt systems.
Sometimes I will plug this 3 way plug into the adapter plug and then plug it into the wall socket. Don’t plug your hair dryer or curling iron into this adapter unless it is dual voltage and you have switched it to 220 volts.
Here are two styles of plugs the generally work in Europe although the one on the right does not always fit the sunken plugs in Switzerland or Italy. You will need the one on the left. Also, in Switzerland and Italy you may notice 3 holes in the wall plug. Don’t worry, these adapters will work just fine.
Back to the discussion of the need for adaptors or converters.
In most hotels and cruise ships, they have a 110 volt circuit in the bathroom for an electric shaver. Don’t plug your hair dryer into that slot. Many cruise ships don’t even want you to bring along a blow dryer or a flat iron for pressing your clothes. They tend to overload their circuits. Facilities that are set up to handle the electrical load, generally provide blow dryers in the cabin or the hotel room. It may not be the one you are used to using, but it will do in a pinch.
Don’t plug your hair dryer into an adapter either, unless you have a hair dryer with a switch that will move it from 110 volts to 220 volts. You will burn it up. As for your curling iron or blow dryer, since you could not leave home without it, why not just buy one from a store in Budapest when you arrive. You can get one for about 20 Euros. Then you won’t need to use one of your adapters.
If you need a converter, here is an option that you can get on Amazon.
This is a Travel Smart Adapter/Converter available at Amazon or Target.
This is another complete adapter/converter kit. It will allow you to plug into any plug in Europe or England and convert the output to 110 volts.
Most of us don’t carry converters any more. We just carry adapters for the country we will be visiting. I always carry more than one so that my wife can plug her phone or tablet, etc. in on her side of the bed and I can plug mine in on my side of the bed.
Just make sure to pick them up from Amazon or your favorite retailer before you leave home. You know your battery will be dead when you arrive unless you remembered that on most international flights that there are generally 110 outlets or USB outlets in the plane. Sometimes they are under the seat, so that you can keep your device charged up. If you don’t already have transportation waiting for you at the airport, you will want to use your phone to order up Uber or Lyft to get you to your hotel. You did remember to order an international plan for your phone before you left home, didn’t you??? Go to the Tips page for more tips.
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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!
As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you. Check out the important links below.
