Planning your trip

Packing list (July, 2024)
I made this printable checklist for the travelling birder/photographer. Make sure you have packed everything and that batteries are in the carry-on and all sharp instruments and liquids are in the check-in luggage..

Travel advice abroad
Best to check that the destination is safe to visit, at least what regions that should be avoided. For instance I double-check with the UK Gov site for details. They detail on a map what areas to avoid e.g., Colombia. Good to also check that your insurance coverage for the country and activity. I also check the visa requirements. They differ for country and citizenship so check your own country's website..

Travelers' health
I rarely use these sites but can be useful for some. You can at least check if there are any Level 2 health notices for the area you will be visiting. Remember to check these sites before you go to any vaccinations clinic as they mainly want to make money off you and may suggest expensive and non-essential vaccinations.

Bank-Holidays
You might want to avoid a travel date that coincide with some big sports event or holiday. I have been using this site for decades and like that they include not only public holidays but other events as well.

Time and date
I primarily use it for to the world clock and time zone map. This one has also been around for a while and added functionality such as the night sky, weather and holidays.

Weather
Wunderground is another good weather site. I also use Windy and Surfline for wind and wave heigh predictions.

Tides
This site is great for finding out the right tide. This is so important in order to catch the high tides for shorebirds pushing towards you or escaping the flood to avoid being stranded on a sandbar or a marshland isle.

Currency converter
This good old site now also has an app for our convenience. An app I recommend if you are the least unsure about your mental arithmetic.

Offline translate & maps
I always download the language to the Google translate app. It is very useful just having the native person speak his language and have it automatically translated. In some regions (Asia) I download other apps that automatically translate and speak the language back to me which is much more effective in keeping a dialogue.

Because of the cost of mobile data I also download the maps for the locations I am going to. Google maps is my favourite, but some people swear by Maps.me especially for the walking paths and reliability.

Merlin Bird ID & Guides
I download regional bird pack for the region I will visit. I just love this handy and free bird app with sounds. But if there is a good and updated, dedicated birdguide app for the country or region, then I usually buy that too. See the ones I found so far under Equipment > Apps

eBird listing app
I use eBird mainly because it is free and it is very easy to use. For many global listers and those who wants an app for both registering birds down to subspecies and other life forms such as mammals, insects, spiders, plants etc., iGoTerra is the app to use. Note that it is very easy to import the eBird lists to iGoTerra and to share with fellow travellers.

Get Your Guide
There are times when you would like to combine the birding with some other sightseeing. For instance, when in Egypt to watch birds why not also visit the Pyramids in Giza and Dahshur. There are times you can do things on your own and when it is advisable or beneficial to use a guide. I have had good experience of Get Your Guide.

Airline tickets
If I am not using the official site of a particular airline, or using a travel agent, then I often use this site/app to purchase my tickets. There are many out there and in the past I also used Expedia. But I always download the actual airline app as well to keep check on my electronic boarding tickets, enabling alerts and sometimes downloading to my Apple Wallet.

If I have several different flights and different airlines for the trip, then I keep track of them all in CheckMyTrip