Are you away for more than 3 months? Do you want to avoid spending unnecessary money but don't want to bring your entire room along with you? Here are the top 10 picks that you should consider bringing that will save you money for exchange!
01.
You should bring more money than the amount you'd think you will spend. Overseas credit card charge rates are always higher than the one you exchange over your local money changer. If you have signed up with a foreign bank to withdraw their currency, note that there may be a weekly or monthly withdrawal limit no matter how much money you initially deposited. You could be tight on withdrawing cash, so bring more money!
02.
Do you need to charge multiple devices at the same time? Like a laptop, camera or portable charger? If your plug is different from the country you are going to, consider bringing a multiplug extension cord together with your travel adaptor. This not only saves you money from buying an overseas multiplug extension cord that mismatches all your plugs, but also relieves you from having to connect all your plugs to one travel adaptor.
The best would be to bring 1 extension cord and 2 travel adaptors, so that you can leave one of the travel adaptor plugged to the extension cord while the other remains free to be plugged anywhere else.
03.
When traveling overseas, a change of environment may cause you to fall sick. Medicine can be expensive overseas, so be sure to pack a range of medicine for different illnesses. This includes medicine for head ache, fever, cough, sore throat, stomach ache and gastric pain. You can consider bringing additional medicine such as eye drops, vitamin C tablets and band aids.
Recommended brands: Panadol, Po Chai Pills, Eu Yan Shang Cough Relief, Strepsils and Difflam.
04.
You should bring more money than the amount you'd think you will spend. Overseas credit card charge rates are always higher than the one you exchange over your local money changer. If you have signed up with a foreign bank to withdraw their currency, note that there may be a weekly or monthly withdrawal limit no matter how much money you initially deposited. You could be tight on withdrawing cash, so bring more money!
05.
Although these soap will take up luggage weight when you fly, it will save you a few dollars and you get to choose your favourite soap to bathe with! For ladies, do not forget your conditioner.
06.
Many countries support the use of recycling bags in supermarkets. Some supermarkets overseas may charge you 10-35 cents per plastic bag upon checking out. Plastic bags are recommended as well for your daily waste disposal.
07.
Some student hostels overseas do not provide wifi but wireless lan. You may connect the wireless lan to your computer for internet, but your phone won't be able to receive it. In this case, you can either bring a wifi repeater or turn your PC into a mobile hotspot. This only applies to Windows 10 PC users and MAC users. The only drawback is that your phone will stop receiving wifi when you shut down your computer.
Another alternative would be to ask your room mate if they have any free wifi to give you or install a free online wifi repeater on your computer that resets every 30 minutes.
Recommended free online wifi repeater: Connectify
08.
You probably have tons of hangers at home, so why not bring some over and leave them there? You will need it for hanging and drying of clothes.
09.
If your exchange country rains a lot, you should consider bringing an umbrella. It saves you about 5 Euros.
10.
Stocking up some stationeries such as pen refill, pencil lead, stapler, paper and files saves you a trip to the store. Overseas stationeries may cost more than local prices.
Additional Considerations.
These items are bulky and takes up some luggage space. However, you will regret not bringing it when you really need it.