Saving for a trip takes a lot of work in general, now imagine what needs to go into planning an international trip. I decided to go to Italy, it has always been on my travel list, however, a lot of preparations need to be done, from booking your flights to applying for a visa, insurance, and travel itineraries. Most importantly, get in touch and check with your financial service provider to ensure you have enough funds for your trip.
When I used to travel internationally as a solo traveler, I used to not think of putting money aside for my spending, and this always backfired as I would spend more than I had planned to. I have since become smarter with money and started using a bank that allows me to save more, before getting into it, let us chat about the process of preparing for your international trip and what you need in order to obtain your visa.
An easier way to track my money, I downloaded an African Bank app, it is so user-friendly and easy to navigate through, especially when in Europe and I wont have the opportunity to in the bank.
I have put down a list of what I needed to make my solo vacation happen:
1-Visa application form.
2-Itinerary
3-Travel insurance
4-Visa fee
5- Bank statements (3 months)
6-Employment letter
7-Invitation letter
Once you have all these documents, you have to hand them in at the visa application center of the country you want to travel to, the process normally takes about 5-10 minutes and the visa is posted to you within 2-3 days, I’m always happy about this as you don’t have to wait very long.
Now that we have covered the travel essentials, let us get to the most important part, MONEY. Planning an international trip without proper financial behavior will set you up for failure, it is important to research banks that will allow you to save money, this is why I decided to open an African Bank account called (MYWORLD), it was literally the best decision ever. With this account, you are able to open two linked accounts, I decided to open a Power Pocket. What is a Power Pocket? it is a separate account with its own card that’s linked to the primary account it also has a different account number to your primary one.
This type of account helped me separate my trip money from my normal savings money, you have free transactions and no monthly fees!! I don’t know about you but I’m definitely happy with not having to pay any fees. I had to download the African Bank app so I can be able to track my money, it is very important to have an app especially when you are traveling. This app is user-friendly and very easy to navigate through, it is honestly a great experience using it.
Have you traveled recently? how did you find your preparation process? Also do you have a separate account for your travel spendings?