What do you use for a purse in Europe? Cell phone? Chargers? Hair dryers?

[bisous]

DH is neurotic that we'll be pickpocketed in Europe so what should I carry? Do you use a purse AND one of those hidden wallets? DH wants to get me something to wear under my clothes. I'm not opposed but would love recommendations/hear what you guys do! Plus, I know I'll want like a scrunchy and ibuprofen and all my stuff, lol!

My sister is in Europe right now. She just doesn't use her phone unless she's at the hotel with WiFi. I have two reasons I don't really want to do that. First, I kind of don't love not being immediately available since I have kids and they won't be with us. Also, I use my phone for reference 9000 times a day. For the train schedule, for maps, to prove DH wrong (kidding!) and I'm a little nervous about being without internet access! It feels like a key tool to make sure we can work with the unexpected we run into. What do you do?

We have this one cube thing that converts the current, I think? Will that be enough? Can I use that to blow dry my hair? I don't use other heat styling tools but that one is a big one for me!

TIA!

[Liziz]

When I traveled in high-pickpocket areas, I usually still carried a purse or backpack, but I just didn't keep my valuables in there. I did have a hidden waist-pouch thing and would keep my ID/cash in that. For my phone, I often did keep it in my purse or backpack, but somewhere completely buried (my theory being that's more difficult to grab than a phone just sitting open in a purse. When we were in very crowded areas or areas known for high pickpocketing, I'd wear my backpack on the front, or hold my purse in front of me. At restaurants and things like that I'd put my purse on my lap vs. hanging it from the back of my chair.

Phones are used for soooo much these days, I would definitely look into an international plan, at least for data. There's lots of touristy spots that offer wifi, but I agree it's very helpful to have a phone for a zillion reasons.

Electronics.....make sure to confirm: for Europe you both need outlet adaptors (to change the US plug shape to one that works for the country you're in) and also need to pay attention to voltage. US uses 110V, most (all?) of Europe uses 220-240V. Many electronics can handle either voltage, but check before assuming! Things like cell phone chargers and hair dryers usually are, but you need to confirm they are dual voltage. If you have a nice hair dryer that *isn't* dual voltage, I'd probably buy a cheap travel one, rather than use a converter on it.....I've heard that converters still be rough on things. Unless your cube thing has more than one place to plug in, consider how many electronics you want to be able to charge simultaneously (at least enough for both your cell phones) and make sure you have that many adapters. Also be aware not all of Europe has the same style plug -- make sure you have adaptors that work for all the places you're going (thinking of the countries I think you're going to, you should be able to have one adaptor style work for all, but Switzerland's is definitely a little different and not all France style plugs would work there). It's been awhile but I'm pretty sure this was the site I used to use all the time: https://www.power-plugs-sockets.com/france/

[SnuggleBuggles]

Nothing special at all purse wise. Just my normal travel purse (Baggalini or Sherpani because they are super lightweight). I never felt a reason to take any extra measures. I did keep things scattered in different areas of my purse. And, I often carried either just a copy of my passport and left the real one in my hotel safe or vice versa. Eta- remembered now what we settled on. Dh carried a copy of my passport, I had a copy of his, and then we had our own originals. My credit cards and money weren't all in the same part of my purse (aka not all in my wallet).

Are you packing a hairdryer? If so, that is way too much weight/bulk to carry, imo. Do you have the right plug adapter too? I dry my hair like twice a year so I'll let someone chime in on whether a US hairdryer will work and how.

We have Verizon and T-Mobile. Both made it very easy to buy a travel pass to use our phones abroad. Not that expensive and they worked perfectly.

[AnnieW625]

Purse: I used this crossbody from The Sak. This is a link to the bag I have from Poshmark. I paid about $50 for it on Amazon or Nordstrom Rack, but this is a good bag and if you don’t have issues with buying off Poshmark I think $35 is a good price for the bag.

I was able to put a thin Swell water bottle in it and my foldable windbreaker and my wallet fit in the zippered pocket. I also think I may have not taken my wallet everywhere either just grabbed my id, passport, and a credit card (although I only carried my passport where it was required, so Russia was the only place iirc); the rest of the time it was locked in the safe on the cruise ship or hotel. I also always carried the crossbody with the flap towards me.

Phone: I have Verizon and while I really wanted the option to use my phone in Europe (Sweden, Russia, Finland, a few Baltic states, Poland, and Germany) I just couldn’t justify the $10 per day per phone to do it. It would’ve been something like $200 extra if both Dh and I had done it so we decided nope let’s not do it at all. We survived. I think we missed one phone call from my FIL but it wasn’t a huge deal and we solved whatever issue it was by video chat or text. We found out that as long as we were hooked up to wifi we could video chat over Instagram or FaceTime (I think Instagram video chat worked better). There was one day where we were out in Sweden and my phone wasn’t set to airplane mode and my brother texted me and it came through and I was also trying to try to get on wifi to work and it connected to the cell tower and I got charged the $10. It was the one time (in the 17 years I had been a customer with them at that time) with Verizon where I felt like they should’ve refunded me the charge but they didn’t. It is just easier to keep the phone on airplane mode so I did that for the rest of the trip.

Charger: I bought a general charger cube on Amazon that had good reviews, it worked fine. The one I bought is no longer sold but you need to make sure what you buy works in the countries you will be in. I used the hotel or cruise ship blow dryer. It worked fine for what I needed it for. I think Dh was able to charge his razor okay as well. I think the cruise ship had US ports or something or he has a usb plug for his shaver.


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[NCGrandma]

Not specific to European travel, but when I was traveling regularly both for work and family visits, I had several Travelon and Pacsafe crossbody purses that I liked a lot. They had various features that would slow down a casual pickpocket and could be fastened to a table leg or whatever.

But I wanted to mention something I learned during my Christmas trip to my NE family (other than to be patient!): I used my Travelon travel purse, which is great, with lots of sections and pockets. However, I hadn’t used it in a long time and I took me a while to remember where I put what! A "dress rehearsal" for a few days before the trip would have been a very good idea!


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[nfceagles]

I like a small cross body purse that I keep in front of me and aware of. I like to put one cc in a separate place like a pocket just in case. If I’m wearing a jacket I put the cross body on under the jacket. I have a small Baggalini that can be worn cross body, around the waist, or as a wristlet. I like small because then I can tuck it in my backpack on the plane and not have it count as my personal item. I don’t need to carry much while touring if I don’t have kids with me.

For cell phone I generally do the $10 per day international plan thru my cell phone provider. Not the cheapest option but definitely the easiest. Like you, I use my phone all day long for navigating unfamiliar cities. The alternative is to get a cheap pay as you go SIM card data plan. You can buy X gigs for for $Y. The downside is your phones have to be unlocked to work and people can’t reach you on your normal number. That’s fine for people like family who know how to reach you, but it means unexpected calls (school teacher or nurse for example) won’t come through.

Your little cube is probably a travel adapter NOT a voltage converter. It just reroutes the electricity to the different shaped plugs. Cell phones, laptops, iPads, cameras will generally be fine with this. Things that have motors or use heat generally aren’t unless they are dual voltage. Most hair dryers and appliances are not dual voltage. The 220V in Europe can fry them. I use the hair dryers in the hotels, but if you are staying with family I would see if there is one you can borrow. Check the electrical info usually imprinted on the plastic handle of hair appliances. If it says 110V it is NOT dual voltage. If it says something like 110/240 or similar that is dual voltage.


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[carolinamama]

I carry either a small crossbody purse or crossbody bag. When the kids were younger I carried a Kavu rope sling bag and it worked very well. It slides around to the front easily when I was in crowds. We don't carry a ton of cash unless we are in the smaller towns and villages that prefer it. I zip our passports in an internal compartment and have my cards in my wristlet inside another zipped compartment. In a crowded area, you can always hold onto your bag. DH almost always wears a daypack on his back with our water bottles, snacks and whatever else our family needs. He doesn't carry money, cards or passports in it and uses his wallet or an under clothing travel pouch for that. He flips the backpack around and wears it on the front in busses, trains and anywhere crowded. I did use an under the clothing travel pouch at my waist when I was in Europe on a tour with DS1. We were advised to bring a large amount of cash so we didn't hold up the group should we need it so I was more protective.

When DH and I travel together, we each carry our own credit cards and some cash so we have duplicates. I carry the passports when we are together; DH has copies and we also keep copies in the hotel safe. I don't like to part with our passports unless we are doing an activity where they would be at risk and then I do leave them in the hotel safe.

Our phone plan is set up to automatically switch to an international plan when we cross a border. It charges by the day ($10 last I checked) and only charges if you use it. DH and I use ours every day for navigation, tickets, transportation and reference. Our kids are only to use wifi unless they get separated from us or it's an emergency. I don't know how we'd get around without our phones. If your phones are unlocked you can do the SIM card thing but I've never wanted to deal with it and figure phone use is simply another travel cost. Slightly on this topic - it's convenient to take at least one portable phone charger for charging on the go.

We have two adaptor blocks. I can't imagine traveling with a blow dryer and I'd think it would end up fried. We frequently travel carry on only and I need that space for my clothes! Most places we've stayed provide them but I don't use one often. My flat iron is dual voltage and I always travel with it so I understand wanting to style your hair as usual.

[jgenie]

I carry a crossbody bag. I keep our passports and a small wallet with extra credit cards in an inside pocket of light coat or sweater. We generally buy the $10 a day phone plan from Verizon when we’re out of the US. We use our phones for directions, reservations, hours, etc. We just factor in the cost as part of the budget.

[smilequeen]

I use a purse that zips up, that’s it (I often carry a tote at home that is more open). A lot of women do crossbody purses as well…sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. I would never leave my phone behind.

I have a dual voltage hair dryer to bring. The converters aren’t as good for hair dryers and I wouldn’t want to bring my expensive Dyson and ruin it…but I prefer a dryer brush over the hotel dryers as it saves me time. How many converters you need depends on how many things you need plugged in at once. I have more than one.

[mom2binsd]

Don't most of you use your phone for pics though? I'd bring the phone and put it on airplane mode. A couple of times when you get to a place with wifi turn it on, check messages (have who ever is watching the kids know to use either Facebook messenger, whatsapp, or another messenger service to let you know if they need you to contact them for an emergency.) Going overseas means you have to give up that instant communication unless you are willing to spend the money on the international fees for full access. You can use plenty of apps to FaceTime/Video chat with the kids at when you have wifi.

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