Guide to Your First International Trip: What You Need to Know

Last Updated on March 28, 2025

For people who’ve been on plenty of vacations abroad before, planning it all out can be second nature. When it’s your first international trip, though, it can seem much more complicated. You could feel stressed at the prospect of planning it all out.

You mightn’t be sure what to expect. Even just planning it out can be confusing and cause a bit of stress. Don’t just settle for this or let it put you off the trip. By taking a little time to figure things out, it should be a lot easier than you’d think. While there are more than a few things you could need to know, it should be far from complicated. It’s just a matter of taking a few steps, especially when you’re planning it out.

Some of these stand out more than others, making them more than worth focusing on.

Why Go On Your First International Trip

Before diving in, it’s worth looking at why you should go on your first international vacation in the first place. You mightn’t see the point in it, especially considering how much stress you could think is involved. There are more than a few reasons why it’s worth it.

Some of the more notable of these are:

1. Getting to see more of the world.
2. Letting you experience more cultures.
3. Encouraging you to learn a new language.
4. Helping you broaden your horizons.
5. Giving you the opportunity to make some friends abroad.

These should be more than enough to persuade you to go on a trip abroad. You’ll need to know what you’re doing when you start planning it out.

That way, you’ll avoid more than a bit of stress and hassle once you start planning your first international trip. While this could seem complicated, it doesn’t need to be. It’s just a matter of taking the right steps, and there shouldn’t be much to worry about.

Seven of these could help more than you’d expect. They’re more than worth focusing on.

First International Vacation: 7 Steps to Take

1. Pick the Perfect Destination

Naturally, the first thing you’ll have to do is figure out where you want to go for your vacation. You’ll have plenty of options, and they can all be amazing. Don’t always just go for the first one you think of, though. You could be better off actually thinking it through to make sure it’s the right place for you.

You’ll need to consider how long the flights to and from them are if there’ll be large language barriers and more. For your first trip, it could be worth going somewhere relatively close where you don’t have to worry about a language barrier.

2. Figure Out How Long It’ll Be

It’s always worth asking yourself a few questions when you’re going on an international trip. Where you’ll go is the most obvious. Behind that is how long you want to go on vacation. Multiple factors will play a role in this, and it’s worth being aware of them.

Longer vacations are more expensive than shorter ones, for example. Then there’s the fact you could need to take time off work. Don’t overlook the travel time while you’re at it. If you’re getting there quite late, then you won’t be able to enjoy a full day there, for instance.

3. Have a Firm Budget

An international trip is relatively expensive, which is why so many people prefer staycations. If you’re set on going abroad, then it’s worth putting a budget together for it. That way, you can figure out exactly what you can afford. Doing a little research helps with this.

Flights and accommodation will be your largest costs, but you’ll also need to consider daily expenses. Shorter vacations can be recommended to keep costs low. When you’re putting a budget together, be as realistic as possible. That way, you’ll make sure you don’t spend more than you’re comfortable spending.

4. Find the Right Flights & Dates

It’s always worth taking the time to figure out when you want to go on vacation. You could have a few times in mind already. It’s still worth doing a little research, tools like Google Flights make this so much easier! More factors could affect when you should go than you could think. The availability of flights is a large part of this.

Research when there are flights to and from where you want to go. There can be a large difference in price depending on when you want to go. It might be worth being open to multiple dates to avoid paying too much for this.

5. Create an Itinerary

Now you have your dates and destination planned out, it’s worth figuring out what you’ll do when you’re there. A lot of this depends on what’s on offer and where you’re going. A few things could’ve popped out when you were picking a destination, and it’s worth planning them for your trip.

Have a rough schedule of what you plan on doing when you’re there. If there’s anything specific you really want to do, focus on this from the start. Plan around them to make sure you have something to do. Keep a little breathing room in this to avoid any rushing around.

6. Book Everything You Need

Now you’ve all of the planning sorted out, it’s worth starting to book everything you need. The most obvious parts of this are the flights and accommodation you’ll be using for the trip. This can be one of the more stressful parts of this, but a travel agent can help you make it a breeze.

Don’t overlook any activities you might need to book in advance. While you wouldn’t need to do this for most activities, there could be a few of them where you do. Spend a little time researching them, and book them in advance if you need to.

7. Start Getting Excited

Once you’ve sorted out all of the above, you shouldn’t have anything else to worry about. All you really have to do is start packing your bags, which you can do a few days before you’re supposed to go. This shouldn’t take too much time or effort, as long as you know what you’re doing.

In the meantime, it’s more than worth getting excited about it. You’ve no reason not to. You’ll be on the verge of your first international trip, and you’ve more than a few reasons to start getting excited about the trip. You’ll be making some amazing memories before you know it.

Tips for Your First International Trip

These steps should be more than enough to help you plan your first international vacation. Despite that, it could still feel like a bit of an overwhelming experience. A few vacation tips could be more than enough to help with this.

They’ll make the planning process a lot easier, and they’ll even help you enjoy the trip a lot more. Some of the more notable of these are:

• Know What to Do With Luggage – It’s always worth making sure your luggage is safe on your trip. Keeping it in your hotel can always be an option, but you mightn’t feel completely safe with it. Thankfully, storage lockers are an option for this, like the luggage storage Tower of London. They’ll also be more accessible than you’d think.
• Keep Documents On Hand – You’ll need quite a few documents when you’re on vacation. Your passport will be the most notable, but you’ll also have plenty of booking confirmations. Make sure you have these on hand while you’re at it. Have copies while you’re at it.
• Sort it Out Early – Nobody wants to deal with any last-minute stress with their vacation. That’s why it’s always worth making sure you can avoid it. By planning out your trip as early as possible, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about. The earlier you start, the less last-minute stress you need to worry about.
• Don’t Overlook Money Matters – You’ll naturally have to spend some money when you’re on your trip. You mightn’t want to have all of this in cash, as it mightn’t be safe. That means using your credit card while you’re away. Make sure your bank knows about this ahead of time to avoid your card being blocked.

These should be more than enough to help you plan your first international trip and make sure you enjoy it. They’re more than worth using as much as you can.

Wrapping Up

Going on your first international vacation can often seem complicated. If you’re responsible for planning it out yourself, it can seem like a stressful experience. It doesn’t need to be, though. Focusing on a few areas could be more than worth it.

They’ll help you plan out your trip quite a bit. At the same time, they’ll help you avoid more than a bit of stress.

While you’ll still need to put a little effort into everything, it shouldn’t feel as overwhelming as you could think. Taking a few specific tips and using some vacation tips should be more than enough to help with this.