Planning the not fun stuff for Ireland

Learning a lot with this Ireland trip. Now it’s all down to the nitty gritty stuff that I hate planning because it’s the not fun stuff. It’s stuff like power adapters and making sure my credit cards work overseas. Boring - but essential.

But what I’m really learning is that things have changed since the last time I was overseas. In some ways, it’s gotten easier to do things as you can do them from your home – but of course, I didn’t know that until I went to the actual locations.

Credit Cards and Foreign Currency

Don’t bother going to your bank. I was surprised to learn my bank doesn’t even carry Euros. The teller told me they would need to get them in. But guess what…they don’t even order them for you. You have to go online and order them yourself AND there is a $20 fee to do this.

You have the option then of either picking up the money at the bank or having it delivered to an address. Either way it will cost you $20.

Also, don’t wait until the last minute as it takes 1 to 3 days for the money to arrive – another surprise as I did wait until just a couple of days before and now I’m scrambling. Sometimes being a last minute girl isn't a good thing.

Steve Jobs is NOT Popular in Ireland

Many mobile phones do work overseas and then all you need to do is enable global access. Sadly, my beloved iPhone is not Ireland compatible and won’t work over there. When I learned this, I had the option of going without any communication device --which I did consider.

Really, I did. Because frankly, just a few years ago cell phone coverage sucked and I would have been going phone-free anyway because nobody would have had a phone. But then I remembered my mom and how she would probably have a heart attack if she found out I did this.

So I checked out Verizon’s website which told me to visit my local dealer. I drove there and they basically gave me a 1-800 number to call to order a phone that would work in Ireland. Again, they did not have the phone. It would be shipped to me from Texas.

So yes, instead of driving around, I could have done this from my home – if only I knew in advance.

But now it's all done - phone, money, etc (or ordered at least).

Now the only thing I have to worry about is driving on the left side of the road and finding my bike shop when I get there.