Predjama Castle in Slovenia

On a recent trip to Europe to promote the Slovene edition of Bipolar Disorder For Dummies, visit old friends, and make new friends, I learned a few things and returned with some tips for travelers:

• Bring multiple credit cards and at least one bank card for ATM withdrawals.
• Make sure you have a couple cards with PINs you can use to get cash out of an ATM… Banc-o-mat. In Denmark and off the beaten track around Venice, we had a tough time with our Visa and MasterCard.
• We got a better exchange rate getting cash out of the Banc-o-mat than banks and exchanges were offering.
• Skype rules! I called back to the States using my computer for a couple cents a minute. Quality was surprisingly good.
• If you need Internet service, rent a wireless “card” (USB). Cellhire has all sorts of gadgets and communications services for international travel, and my brother works for the company, so it’s gotta be good. (I passed up my brother’s offer and borrowed a card from new friends in Ljubljana. In Denmark, I connected through our friend’s wireless router. However, a wireless card would have been less of a hassle and worry.)
• Don’t forget your phone charger.
• An adapter plug typically isn’t enough. For most countries, you need a step-down transformer that takes the voltage down from 220V to 110V.
• The best part of the countries we visited were the people we spent time with. If possible, visit friends or family… otherwise, it tends to become a tourist thing. At least that’s how it was for us – when just the two of us visited Venice near the end of our trip, it seemed empty compared to our earlier experiences with old and new friends.

If you’re so inclined, check out photos from the trip.