What I learnt on my trip to Bali

I love getting organised for a big trip abroad. It adds to the build-up and excitement!

I was lucky enough to visit a couple of past flatmates who live in Bali to celebrate a significant birthday, so I didn’t do as much planning for trips and visits as I might have done – leaving things flexible, which was exactly the right call. We travelled to some beautiful places, saw wonderful sights and ate delicious food… All that you might expect. But there were a few things that popped up as useful travel tips if you ever find Bali as your destination.

Visa: For your bog-standard tourist visit from the UK, you can get an e-Visa. Even though you can get this on your arrival, I strongly advise organising it online before you leave. It’s bliss, skipping the queue, after a 17-hour flight!

Customs: I carried teabags, chocolates and a chef’s knife (a birthday present) with me, and avoided another massive queue by completing my customs declaration two days before I left. I declared all of the above, along with my prescription drugs, but my prescription drugs were still inspected during screening. I was really pleased I had done the following:

• Put them all together in their original boxes in my holdall luggage.
• Kept a paper copy of my prescription.
• Organised a letter from my GP which outlined what drugs I had and what my dosage was.

These were carefully examined and I was questioned fully. None of my prescriptions were opiate-based, which I understand can be a real issue.

My other suggestions include:

• Make sure you take an International Driving Licence if you want to hire a car or scooter. You can get these from the Post Office. Luckily, I still had one from my travels the previous year, as they normally cover one year only.
• Get to grips with the currency exchange value as quickly as possible. There are a lot of confusing 000s!
• On the flight, try to get to the loo before they wake everyone up before you land. I aim for about 90 minutes; then you can sit and enjoy any meal without fighting everyone else.

Don’t panic

My final tip is an embarrassing confession… On my arrival back at Heathrow, I took advantage of a quick loo break whilst waiting for my bags. The cubicle door had a helpful hook to the side, where I hung my handbag which, of course, I promptly forgot.

Even reading the signs saying ‘you can’t return’ didn’t trigger that I was missing something until I had got safely to the other side!

If you ever find yourself in a similar situation and you need to get back behind customs, your airline can help. Luckily, the restroom attendant had kept my bag safe and it was retrieved. It was also a good test for me to see how my ‘just in case’ plans might have worked if I hadn’t been successful.

I carried my passport, mobile phone and flight paperwork in a small over-the-shoulder pouch. My handbag contained my Kindle, digital notepad (backed up to the cloud), makeup, sunglasses and some wraps to keep warm. It would have been inconvenient to lose it. Critical, not so much.

If you ever get to visit this wonderful island, have lots of fun and I hope these tips prove helpful!

Take the Travel Plan Quiz to see whether, if you had to go on a trip this afternoon, you have all the necessary things prepared.