Your first trip abroad: what nobody tells you

A first international trip carries a particular kind of anxiety, mostly about procedures nobody has explained. The travel itself is easy. The airport is where people get caught out.

Money: carry a mix

Do not carry only cash, and do not rely only on a card. A forex card plus a modest amount of local cash covers you either way.

Airport exchange counters offer the worst rates you will find anywhere. Change a small amount in India before you fly, enough for a taxi and a meal, and handle the rest at your destination or on a card.

Tell your bank you are travelling. An international transaction on a card with no travel note is a textbook fraud pattern, and a blocked card abroad is a genuinely miserable problem to solve.

Immigration: have the answers ready

Immigration officers ask a predictable set of questions: why are you here, how long, where are you staying, who is paying. Answer plainly and specifically. Vagueness invites follow-up questions.

Carry printed copies of your hotel booking, return ticket and insurance. Phones run out of battery in queues, and some officers will not accept a screen anyway.

Everything you need at immigration should be on paper in your hand luggage. It costs you nothing and removes an entire category of problem.

Connections: understand the minimum

Every airport has a minimum connection time, and it exists for a reason. A ninety-minute connection at a large hub with a terminal change and a passport control queue is tighter than it looks on a booking screen.

If the connection is on a single ticket and you miss it because the first flight was late, the airline rebooks you. If you booked two separate tickets to save money, you have bought a new ticket. That distinction is worth understanding before you book.

Baggage: check the actual allowance

Allowances vary considerably by airline and route, and low-cost carriers in Southeast Asia are strict in a way Indian domestic carriers often are not.

• Check both weight and piece limits for every leg
• Keep medication, documents and a change of clothes in hand luggage
• Photograph your checked bag before you hand it over
• Know that liquids over 100ml will be taken at security, every time

Connectivity: sort it before you land

International roaming from Indian carriers is expensive. An eSIM bought before departure or a local SIM on arrival costs a fraction of it. Sort this before you land, because you will want maps immediately.

The one thing that actually matters

Have a number to call. Not a chat window, not a support email. When a flight is cancelled and you are standing in a foreign terminal at midnight, being able to phone a person who already knows your booking is worth more than every other tip on this list combined.