# International school trip tips/pointers needed



## praire_guy (Sep 8, 2011)

My friends daughter is going on a school trip to Paris, Madrid, and Barcelona. 

I am wondering what to do in terms of money. Everything is paid for except for lunches. 
So for food, and spending money is it best to take cash, prepaid visa, or debit card, or a combination thereof?

What currency is best, the USD?

I would also appreciate some advise regarding cell phones, I.e what to bring, as well as maybe an iPod touch for FaceTime communication. 

If there are any photographers out there, what would you recommend for a camera that takes decent pictures for her trip without getting too crazy budget wise. She wants an SLR and I have no idea what she really needs. 

The iPhones have a decent camera, and could solve the phone / communication/ camera purchase. 

Maybe an unlocked iPhone so she can buy SIM cards for whatever country she is in. 

I hope I covered everything. 

Any tips, dos and donts would be great. 

Thanks in advance.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

I would withdraw Euros from a bank every now and then for spending as some places are old fashion and don't accept cards, depends where you go.. plus different currencies are a bit of the experience. I'm not sure if USD is accepted at fair value, Euro is definitely the norm.

There is a lot of WiFi in tourist and public areas now, so an iPod Touch should work fine and the new ones even have the iPhone camera. I think the new hybrid SLRs will be a good choice for most as they are more compact but high quality, you just won't be using $$$ lens that many SLR users never actually buy. I like having the SIM card to be able to translate or coordinate/plan things where there's no WiFi, but the in the big popular cities in an organised group it's not really necessary.

But why are you funding and/or buying gifts for your friend's daughter?


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## Argonaut (Dec 7, 2010)

Take some Euros and a debit card to withdraw more Euros. It's so easy to pay in cash there because everything is listed as tax included, plus usually rounded to an appropriate number. Nothing worse than paying cash in North America and getting ridiculous change back. I'm also curious why you're doing this for friend's daughter, or is it just for their information?

PS: In Madrid, El Prado is infinitely better than the Reina Sofia. If there's something worse than loose change it may be modern art.


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## praire_guy (Sep 8, 2011)

What about power? It's not 120 over there right? Can you buy adapters? 

Her daughter already has an iPod, and a laptop. I just wanted to know the wifi situation.


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## praire_guy (Sep 8, 2011)

I'm looking for information primarily. 

We are dating, not just friends. X mas is coming up, as well as the daughters birthday. 
She also,graduates this year, so I'm looking for ideas for gifts, etc. 

I thought maybe a digital camera would be a nice early grad gift. 

Why the curiosity on what I buy, for who???


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

praire_guy said:


> What about power? It's not 120 over there right? Can you buy adapters?


Power is all 220v but most laptops are rated for 220v so you just need an adapter or euro laptop cord. All iPods/iPhones work on 220v as well or you can just charge them off the laptop USB.



praire_guy said:


> Why the curiosity on what I buy, for who???


Just curious is all.. I don't usually refer to my love interests so-and-so's daughter :tongue: Carry on


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## Nemo2 (Mar 1, 2012)

praire_guy said:


> I thought maybe a digital camera would be a nice early grad gift.


Try _Kijiji_......we've purchased two cameras there, (one high end and the other relatively basic but still highly functional). If you shop around you can undoubtedly find a good quality camera at a reasonable price......and should it get lost or stolen overseas it would be less of a monetary loss than if you'd purchased new.


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

I would vote for the unlocked iPhone and using that for phone, camera, and FaceTime (for FaceTime she should use WiFi only unless you want a $5,000 data bill). No need for a separate camera and iPod Touch.

If she balks at using the iPhone as her camera instead of a DSLR, point her to this article by a professional photographer: http://connect.dpreview.com/post/2863436371/leaving-my-dslr-at-home-iphone-experiment

For an adapter, I like Kensington's international adapter: http://www.kensington.com/kensington/us/us/p/1415/K33117/international-travel-plug-adapter.aspx


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

My daughter went to Europe twice while in high school and we sent her with euros cash and a debit card.They recommended 30 euros a day for buying drinks and one good meal plus any spending money to buy things.Europe is very expensive especially near the hot tourist spots.I have paid 5 euros for water in Paris which is crazy!


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## praire_guy (Sep 8, 2011)

The trip is 10'days so I guess 300 Euros in cash? Plus debit as a back up. 

Nice article about the iPhone as a camera. I may consider it over a digital camera. 

As for power she uses a straightening iron. From some research I am led to believe its better to buy a dual voltage iron rather than a converter. Iron may become damaged. True or not?

As for iPhones, etc, just the adapters are needed right?


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

The price of water does vary drastically depending on the restaurant/store. The only time I've overpaid for water was on Sundays when most cheaper stores are closed. A bottle of good wine is only a few €, so of course no local is paying €5 for water. You have to remember as well tax/gratuity etc is included, whereas we inherently assume an additional 30%+ cost. With the € so beaten down, I would argue Europe is not so bad when converting from CAD right now. €30 a day for a student is a comfortable amount. Backpackers can manage to spend much less if they want to prepare some meals in a group etc.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

praire_guy said:


> As for power she uses a straightening iron. From some research I am led to believe its better to buy a dual voltage iron rather than a converter. Iron may become damaged. True or not?
> 
> As for iPhones, etc, just the adapters are needed right?


Yea the iPhone is already dual voltage. The iron would probably just heat up a lot faster on 220v :tongue: She should check on the iron's plug because all of my small portable electronics (razors, cameras etc) are already dual voltage. Converters are usually for TVs, receivers, desktop computers etc (non portable things) and I don't like to risk using converters for expensive things. I wouldn't want to lug a converter around on vacation either, and it's probably just as cheap to buy dual voltage stuff.


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## praire_guy (Sep 8, 2011)

How do you tell if a straightening iron is dul volt? Does it say right at the plug?
It's a pricey one. I'd hate to see it blow up. 

As for iPhones, the 4s is a real "world phone" , but the 4, and 5 are not. 

Not sure what is needed for France / Spain. Gsm?


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

All plugs should list a voltage and hz - should find 110-220v and 50-60hz on the plug if it is dual.

There's an international version of the iPhone 5 for travellers. The LTE is what doesn't work in all countries, most of which in Europe don't even have a real LTE network yet. My unlocked 4 from Canada works on Euro 3G fine.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

We stayed at a hotel in Rome Airport in 2008 and no such thing as free water ,they charged 5 euros for 125ml of coke .It really depends on if you want to bring back gifts for others ,live off fast food or have a nice meal.Last time my daughter went over she brought us back Chocolate and Cheese ,We gave her extra money to bring back specific things for us.She ended up buying lunch for 2-3 others last day as they had no money left,I rather set a reasonable budget and probably do 50 euros a day as they will see things they want to buy and it may be a once in lifetime experience.
There was holes in the door of the hotel room my daughter stayed in France ,they went through eftours and the kids all slept in their clothes as the beds were questionable and they did not feel very safe.London and Berlin were much better accommodations.


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