A smart girl’s tips for traveling abroad

While traveling abroad may be an equally enthralling experience for all, we ladies are faced with some unique challenges we must conquer during our journeys. Everyone receives the standard advice when traveling– tips to avoid pickpockets, find the best food and score the best deal on souvenirs. Aside from these more common suggestions, women must be equipped to deal with a whole other set of unique struggles.

Makeup Mishaps
Makeup is something I found to be one of the biggest nuisances during my travels. It’s a hassle to lug around a bag full of all your lotions, powders, creams and pencils when traveling continuously, or even over a short weekend trip. Not to mention, some of my most expensive and revered powder was smashed or shattered in a single instance of plane turbulence or mishandled luggage. Few things are more devastating than opening your bag to find that your nearly untouched Nars bronzer has crumbled into oblivion. To avoid mishaps like these, make sure you’re only packing the essentials for your trips. By bringing only what you can’t possible live without, you reduce the hassle and the threat of damage. If your powder does smash, a trick I’ve learned is mixing a little water in with the pieces, pressing it down to reform in the container and letting it dry.

Time of the Month Troubles
I was warned on multiple occasions prior to leaving for Europe that normal tampons, like Tampax, would be harder to find once abroad. While you don’t even want to imagine having to deal with a period while trying to explore and enjoy Europe, if you’re traveling for an extended period of time there’s a good chance you’ll have to. More often than not, I was able to find a completely normal selection of tampons in grocery stores and pharmacies across the continent. However, I have heard of people being unable to find tampons with applicators in some cities. Yikes. To salvage your European adventure while plagued with period, make sure you pack extra lady products in your bag, as well as Advil or Ibuprofen and water. . . .

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Greece travel advice Q&A: Tourists urged to bring cash not cards on holiday

Same would presumptively be true of students abroad in Greece for the summer.DB**

“Greece travel advice Q&A: Tourists urged to bring cash not cards on holiday”

by Kiran Moodley via “Independent.co.uk”

Greece is close to a financial collapse with the stock exchange closed and banks shut all week after the European Central Bank (ECB) said that further credit to the nation was being refused after the eurozone rejected the latest bailout extension pleas from Greek politicians.

With new proposals put forward by creditors, the Greek people will go to the polls on Sunday to have their say on whether they agree with the latest round of austerity proposals. Having already overwhelmingly backed the anti-austerity, ultra left party Syriza in January, the future of Greece’s place in the eurozone looks uncertain.

The ECB has said it will not extend emergency funding to Greece, thus forcing all banks to close this week with the government saying it needing to protect their liquidity. Currently, people can only withdraw up to €60 (£42) a day this week. The administration of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras must pay €1.6bn to the IMF on Tuesday. That is also the day when the country’s current bailout package expires, with the new austerity proposal offered by the eurozone yet to be agreed upon by Greece, after the government said it had to take the matter to the people in a referendum on 5 July.

What has the Foreign Office said?

The latest advice reads: “Visitors to Greece should be aware of the possibility that banking services – including credit card processing and servicing of ATMs – throughout Greece could potentially become limited at short notice. Make sure you have enough Euros in cash to cover emergencies, unforeseen circumstances and any unexpected delays.”

What does this mean for holidaymakers?

The €60 restriction on withdrawals does not apply to people who hold bank cards from outside of Greece, but still, the main warning is that it may be difficult to find a reliable, working ATM. . . .

What’s the problem?