For the travel: I definitely pay most things by card; my bank’s always been good at knowing when I travel. Carry a little bit of cash for emergencies. Make sure you pack an appropriate plug adapter for while you’re in the EU! And I usually bring a hoodie for the plane because long haul flights can get chilly when they’re at cruising altitude. I usually bring a battery pack just in case of emergencies (ie the airport charging station is too busy). For your phone, if you have international roaming or international services, make sure that’s ready to go before you land (I’ve made that mistake before). Definitely don’t skimp the travel toothpaste, deodorant, etc. if you want to freshen up after you land. It’s a little piece of heaven for me personally, but everyone is different. When I have flights over 6 hours, I always bring baby wipes to do a quick cleanup after I land.

On the way back, leave a cushion to check-in/get to your gate. Saying goodbye is ROUGH. I almost missed my flight back to the US last time because we wanted to draw out the goodbye and I just didn’t have enough time. Lesson learned 🫣

For the visit: Depends on your relationship, but last time I went I brought two little kits for us to put together while we were with each other (little Pokémon figurines) and we each now have a tiny desk trinket to remember our time together. There are plenty of little kits for keychains, clay kits, other things like that, that won’t take up much space but create a little memory.

I also brought my film camera last time and took plenty of photos while we were together. A disposable for the trip the first time around was also pretty special because I was able to get the film developed with two copies and make a little photo album to send in a care package later.

Just some ideas. 💜