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Pro tip: trips aren’t perfect. It’s life, nothing will be perfect. BUT learn to roll with things and don’t take it super hard of something goes awry. Some of my best memories and stories are from agonizing parts of trips.

Also, don’t plan out all you time there, leave some free time open to list about. You’ll be there with your SO, you intend to spend quality time with them, it’s great to have open time to go do something that catches either of your attentions rather than dismiss it due to “vacation appointments” like a tourist spot you planned.

Take pictures or memorabilia of whatever suits you, I have pictures of cool mirrors in hotels, or a wonky bathtub. Again don’t dwell too much on making it perfect, the perfect spot, the perfect picture etc. I have a hilarious picture of an SO with a guy running across the shot, I got him in multiple frames. Still some of my favorites from the trip.

Grab some local currency before you arrive so it’s on hand, know what ATMs can allow you to pull money from for free (Bank of america has a bunch of partners all over Europe) and Don’t let the TSA disappear it from your bag.

Others have said it, but I’ll stress it some more. Don’t overplan. Whenever I go somewhere I make a list of all the places I wanna go to and I only schedule one place/day. Two at most if they’re small things. But don’t plan a museum in the morning and then a second place/museum in the afternoon, for example. You’ll never make it to the second place. Or you will but you’ll be too tired to enjoy it.

1-2 places/day are enough. Trying to cram too much stuff into a day will ruin your trip, really.

If you are going to a non-english speaking country, do not expect anybody to speak english. Learn some basic phrases on the local language.

If you need any medical assistance, do not hessitate and go to a hospital. Even better if you have some travel insurance.

Do not propose. Thank me later.

• Buy good walking shoes, not just basic sneakers. That pair of chucks or vans may look cool, but they are terrible for standing and walking for long periods. Your feet will thank you later.

• Download offline maps so you can find your way if you lose data/reception.

• If your travel is focused on going around and not staying put at your accommodation (i.e. resort), don’t bother with getting super expensive hotels. What’s important is that it’s clean and safe. You can use the money saved for when you’re actually going around.

• Save scans of your passports and other important documents on your phone or somewhere online, in case it gets lost or stolen.

• Bring a pen. You’ll need to fill out forms as you enter and exit ports. It’s a hassle having to borrow a pen from other travelers.

• Bring a small pouch bag for you phone, wallet, keys, and passport. That way you can securely carry it with you wherever you go without dragging around your luggage. Edit: Here’s a prime example of why a small bag you can wear on your body is helpful. Happened just a few days ago: https://youtu.be/xEUtmS61Obw

Be more concerned about enjoying your girlfriend than enjoying the place.

Do fewer things better. Don’t try to cram a million things into a day. Set a “if we do X and Y today then we will be satisfied “ goal to keep perspective. It is easy to get overwhelmed by all the things you could do, so try and be satisfied with what you did do.

Others have already said to let go about everything being perfect, because there will be things outside of your control that you cannot account for, so I won’t harp on about that.

Instead, I recommend a little pre-trip prep at home to make the end of your trip a dream as well. Take some time to clean the house/apartment, do the dishes and laundry, make the bed.

There is nothing like coming home after a long trip, but coming home to a mess or chores after a (hopefully) amazing time is a terrible way to cap off your vacation, so do yourselves a favor and spend a couple hours on making home perfect before you leave.

Call your bank and credit cards you have and let them know you will be leaving the country. This will hopefully stop them from putting holds on your account that prevents you from spending.

Figure out how many drinks you can have without getting drunk, and then drink only half that many. Altitude effects how hard alcohol hits you. Also, don’t mix alcohol and sleeping or anxiety medications.

This probably isn’t helpful, but I like guided tours where a tour guide tells you about the castles and churches while everyone dutifully takes pictures to prove they were there. The guide/agency arranges the busses/boats and hotels so all you have to do is follow along with the program. The downside is that it always costs too much. The upside is that you spend less time waiting in lines because the planners will have all that worked out with the various sites. Some of those trips are almost exclusively senior citizens, but some have wider age ranges. Either way, you get to meet a set of fellow travelers who may become permanent online friends.

I think my wife and I have this down pretty well, so here’s our guidelines:

1. Figure out some structure. We usually plan one “thing” per day. Whether that’s catching a train between cities, a particular museum, or a guided tour. This helps with pacing when you are there because you don’t have to think too much day to day, but you won’t feel like you wasted a whole day.
2. Figure out food options. I usually make a Google Maps saved list of dozens of different kinds of restaurants in every city. The goal here isn’t a plan, but simply to have good options no matter where in the city you end up. You will have less than one dinner per day of travel after you consider traveling days, so don’t waste it on some tourist trap that you happen to be nearby when the time comes. I’ll usually make a dinner reservation for every other night to make sure we get some incredible meals.
3. Naps. It’s vacation, just plan on taking a nap everyday. Our first trip was together was to southern Spain and we’ve just decided that siestas are for us. This also helps with jet lag, staying up late to do local stuff, and having something that you won’t feel bad about canceling if something comes up.
4. Self-Guided tours on the first day. If you are Americans traveling to Europe, I’d recommend the Rick Steve’s app and then splitting a pair of AirPods together as you walk around. He does the whole look here, walk here, turn left tour thing, but it’s self paced. We try to do this the first day we’re in a city so we get an idea what the major areas are. Self paced is nice because he’ll say something like “this is a great coffee shop” and we can just pause it and grab coffee if we want. Split the AirPods so you can really hear your surroundings and the tour is something you share.
5. Any plans you make are just so you know your options. If you plan on taking a train between cities, look at when the next train is in case you have to miss it. Same with dinner reservations or museums. If it doesn’t feel fun or convenient, you’ll want to know what your alternatives are so it’s never “something or we read in the hotel all day”. Think about “it’s raining, so we’ll go to a museum instead”. Rick Steve also does museum tours.

Honestly, expect shit to go wrong. Sounds like you’ve gotten all the important shit done. You’ve got a plan, you’ve been working towards it for a while and seems like your partner is into it as well.

We had a similar trip a few years back, first time overseas for some of us. Lots of planning and preparation went into it. Then our trip planner fucked up one of our bookings in Paris. Meaning we almost missed out on doing some tour that ended on the Eiffel Tower. A couple of times trains were missed/delayed.

The only times the trip strayed away from being the fantastic trip it was is because people let small (and sometime not so small, to be fair) disappointments or missed expectations turn into high stress/anxiety events. You’re going overseas, shit may go wrong; be ready for it and be cool with it (while also making sure you have travel insurance). Also take time away to do shit yourselves that the other may not want to do and always have set meeting times and locations to check in if you do.

Plan some alone time. You don’t need to be together the entire time and it is ok to plan to do different things.

Don’t try to make this trip perfect. Mistakes and bad things will happen on the trip; this is fine. It is better to focus on the good. If anything bad happens, it makes for a good story.

Don’t talk to random people coming up to you on the street, especially if they are speaking in your language.

Take something to help with the jet lag.

Get in decent walking shape. If you or your girlfriend have a sedentary life, it is going to be a big change when you are walking around everywhere. If you don’t do 10,000 steps a day on average now, start walking more while you have time to train.

Three nights minimum in each location. It feels rushed if it’s shorter.