Don’t Land in a New Country Without Doing These 5 Things First

Arriving in a new country should feel exciting—not overwhelming. But all too often, travelers find themselves dealing with unexpected costs, confusion over transportation, or poor internet connectivity that can end up costing them their valuable money and time.

Being prepared prior to your trip is the key to avoiding these common pitfalls.

Based on our experience traveling through over 40 countries, having made many mistakes along the way, we’ve developed an effective pre-departure checklist that consistently saves us time, money, and unnecessary stress.

Here are the five things we always do before landing in a new destination to ensure a smoother, more enjoyable start to the trip.

This post is written by my friend, Ryan, a fellow travel addict who runs Wayless Traveler.

1) Know Your Airport Transport Options and Costs! 

Out of everything, this is the one that stresses us out the most. Once our plane lands and we need to get to the city center, do we take a taxi? An Uber? Wait… is Uber even a thing here? From the moment we step out of the arrivals gate, are we about to be swarmed by a mob of eager taxi drivers?

Some countries make it easy—just hop in an Uber and go. Others? Not so much. Sometimes you have to take a taxi, but you also have to dodge the unofficial ones and determine which ones will bring you to your hotel safely. 

When we were traveling through Turkey, for example, Ubers there are just regular yellow taxis, but after hearing way too many horror stories, we were repeatedly warned not to take them.

Instead, we opted for a private transport from the airport and the process was completely smooth and stress-free! So our word of advice is to look it up ahead of time so you’re not surprised when you arrive.

Also, look up online how much it should cost to go from the airport to the city centre, so you’ll know if you’re being scammed or offered the elevated tourist price. 

When we really don’t want to deal with the hassle (like after a late-night flight when our brains are fried), we just book a private transfer. We did this in Istanbul, and they were punctual, professional, and spoke English. 

2) Find the Least Greedy ATMS and Use a Minimal-Fee Travel Card

Many travelers sign up for credit or debit cards without ever reviewing the fine print, especially when it comes to international use. But lucky for you, I’ve read the fine print and trust me, those sneaky fees add up FAST when withdrawing cash abroad.

And once you arrive at the foreign ATM, without realizing it, you’ve accepted the bank’s hidden foreign transaction and currency conversion fees—turning what should be a simple $200 withdrawal into nearly $20 in unexpected charges.

Here’s a quick breakdown to illustrate just how quickly these fees can add up: Say you pull out $200 from an ATM. Your home bank might hit you with a $5 foreign transaction fee, then add a markup 2.5% currency conversion fee (another $5).

On top of that, the foreign ATM will also be taking their cut, and if you’re not careful in selecting the right bank, it may cost you from $5-10.

And if you unknowingly accept their DCC (Dynamic Currency Conversion), which conveniently offers to charge you in your home currency instead of the local one, you’ve passed on yet another few dollars to the bank. 

In the end, that innocent $200 withdrawal could cost you nearly $20 in extra fees!

So here is our step-by-step guide to avoiding all those sneaky bank fees:

Step 1: Find the least greedy ATM

Before withdrawing, do a little research on which ATMs charge the lowest fees. For example, during our 2 week trip through Sicily, most international-branded ATMs charged a brutal €6 fee. But we found a local bank’s ATM that only charged €1!

With many banks also capping withdrawal limits at €200, needing to take out cash multiple times can quickly compound those charges. So the key is finding the specific bank that charges the minimal withdrawal fee, and has the highest cash withdrawal limit!

Step 2: Use a debit/travel card that doesn’t rip you off

We swear by WISE—it’s saved us so much money. They charge almost no transaction fees, give you the best exchange rate (literally the one you see on Google), and let you hold over 50 currencies.

By using this card, we easily save between $3-7 on every cash withdrawal! Plus, signing up is a breeze and you can easily do all your transactions from within their app!

Step 3: DO NOT fall for DCC (Dynamic Currency Conversion) scams

If the ATM asks, “Would you like to be charged in your home currency?” always select ‘NO’ and opt to be charged in the local currency instead.

It may be tempting to know exactly how much your cash withdrawal will cost in your home currency upfront, but the exchange rate applied is highly unfavorable and includes a significant markup.

By following these three steps, you can effectively avoid hidden banking fees, leaving you with more to spend on enjoying the local cuisine and experiences.

3) Look Up the Local Tipping Customs!

If you’re coming from North America, where tipping has become almost obligatory, it might surprise you to learn that many other countries approach it quite differently. In places like Canada and the United States, leaving less than 15% on a restaurant bill can earn you a seriously mean glare or they might even get aggressive.

Fortunately, tipping expectations vary widely around the world, so it’s important to understand and respect the local customs wherever you’re traveling.

In fact, in some countries, tipping can be seen as insulting! This was the case in Japan, where they take immense pride in their craft, whether it’s cooking up a perfect bowl of ramen or delivering top-notch service, and offering a tip can come across as implying they need extra compensation, which can be taken as an insult.

Instead, a simple heartfelt “Oishii!” (Delicious!) means way more than extra yen on the table. 

Then there was that time while road tripping through local villages in the Peloponnese region of Greece when we tried slipping a couple of euros to our server, only for them to flat-out refuse—not once, but multiple times.

Rather than accepting the tip, the elderly owners simply smiled warmly and expressed their gratitude that we had chosen to dine at their restaurant.

So, now we make it a rule: always check local tipping customs to ensure we are always respectful of their culture. Because sometimes, the best way to show appreciation isn’t with money but through genuine gratitude.

Another thing to consider: introducing Western-style tipping practices into other cultures can unintentionally disrupt local economies and drive up prices for locals.

4) Use a Trusted E-Sim for the Internet, Instead of Paying Crazy Amounts for Roaming!

In this day and age, having access to the internet when traveling is essential. Whether it’s for Google Maps, tracking down that hole-in-the-wall restaurant everyone’s raving about, or making last minute accommodation arrangements, data is non-negotiable.

While meeting fellow travelers, we realized that many still opt to use their international roaming through their home mobile provider, typically shelling out $5–10 per DAY to use the plan abroad. While this may seem like an easy solution, it can quickly add up to $70–$140 over the course of a two-week trip.

Alternatively, getting a physical local SIM card is another option, but in our experience, that often involves long queues, upselling tactics, paperwork, and the hassle of swapping out SIM cards and dealing with tiny phone components.

Well I’m happy to share that you can very easily get an affordable internet connection while abroad for a fraction of that cost, and have it setup without hassle in as quickly as 2 minutes. We’ve been using Airalo’s E-SIMs across 20+ countries, and they’ve been an absolute game-changer.

Plans start at $6 for 2GB of data (lasting 14 days!), and even on the higher end, we’ve only paid $20 for 10GB that lasted an entire month. Compare that to $10 per day for roaming, and you can easily see how much savings you are making! 

After testing over 10 different E-SIM providers, we still swear by Airalo for its reliability and fair pricing. Setup is a breeze: download the app, make an account, search for your country, pick your data plan, and within a minute, you’re connected.

Just double-check that your phone is E-SIM compatible (most modern phones are), and you’re good to go! No more painful roaming fees, and easy convenient access to the internet!

5) Know Before You Go – Research Local Scams

They say knowledge is power, and when it comes to travel, it’s also your best defense against getting ripped off, or worse, avoiding a potentially dangerous situation. Sure, we all know about pickpockets, but some scams are next-level.

Like the old “helpful stranger saves you from an aggressive merchant, then takes you to an ‘authentic’ spot where you magically end up paying for a non-existent tour” trick.

Or, take what almost happened to us in Colombia. We nearly booked an accommodation that didn’t even exist. The scammers had an official-looking real estate website, legit photos, and even a short-term lease contract.

It all looked professional, until we dug a little deeper and found out that this exact company had been running the same scam for years. Luckily, we trusted our gut and did some research before sending any money.

Moral of the story? Spend a few minutes researching common scams in the country you’re visiting. Scammers are getting ridiculously creative these days, but a little awareness goes a long way.

With that said, don’t let this scare you off from traveling! We’ve been to 40+ countries and (knock on wood) haven’t been badly scammed once. Stay sharp, trust your instincts, and you’ll be just fine.

The Wrap Up

These five essential pre-trip tips will help you travel more smoothly and confidently, avoiding the common pitfalls that catch many travelers off guard. We’ve made our fair share of mistakes over the years, but we’ve learned from them.

And with this guide, we hope to pass those lessons on so you can enjoy a more seamless and stress-free adventure.