• Read the travel conditions!
• Check the departure time and location for your flight!
• Inform your relatives about how they can get in touch with you!
• Turn off the taps to your washing machine and dishwasher!
• Arrange for your mail and newspapers to be collected!
  
  

Don’t Forget ...

• tickets (and copies of these).
• passports (and copies of these). Check the validity date (must be valid for the entire period of the stay). The passport must also be intact in order for it to be valid (no half-loosened pages).
• visas where needed (and copies of these). Check the validity date.
• hotel / transport voucher (if you have received any).
• ”The Yellow Book” (International Certificate of Vaccination) if you have received a yellow fever vaccination.
• travel pharmacy and personal medicines
• certificate / emblem that informs about diabetes, epilepsy etc.
• travel insurance and proof of validity (available from your insurance company)
• European Health Insurance Card (EHIC)
• currency
• credit/debit card  
  Check the expiry dates.
  Make note of the telephone number in order to block the card in the case of loss or theft.

Perhaps Good to Have ...

• adapter (converter) for electrical outlets
• child’s car seat
• baby carrier for the “little ones”
• bicycle helmet
• mask and snorkel (buy at home in order to get good quality)
• pocket knife (good for peeling fruit and vegetables)
• torch
• tick remover
• glasses/contact lenses and a spare pair as well as the prescription from the optician. Bring along some lens cleaning fluid (it can be hard to find abroad).
  There is a certain increased risk of eye infection for those who use contact lenses in the tropics, which is why during a longer trip it might be more practical to use glasses.
• ID card (and a copy of it)
• camera, batteries, charger, memory card
• driver’s licence and possible an international driver’s licence
• phrase books
• presents for children in third-world countries (e.g., pens, crayons, balloons)
• travel iron, scissors, sewing kit, safety pins
• telephone numbers and addresses
• toiletries (toothbrush, dental floss, tampons etc.)
• wet wipes
• alarm clocks
• money pouch (to hang around your neck)
• ear plugs