Preparing for a Festival Abroad

I find myself in the beginning stages of arranging a trip to the pirate festival that is taking place in Baltimore, County Cork, Ireland in mid-June. If all goes well, this will be the second time I’ve been to a festival that takes place in another country.

First thing is to arrange rooms in as far in advance as possible, especially if you don’t want to have to rent a car or give away your money to taxis. This advice is especially important if the festival is taking place in a small town, where the main travel lodgings are Bed and Breakfasts or guest houses and where the nearest large hotel could be a couple of hours drive away.

You might want to do an internet search or contract the place you’re staying to see if there’s a bank where you can exchange money. You shouldn’t assume there is one. You also shouldn’t assume that ATMS are plentiful.

For those of you who must be connected be aware that not all places (including hotels) have free wi fi or a business center. Depending on the size of the town the only internet access maybe at an internet cafe or the post office.

Before you leave make sure your cellphone carrier serves the country you’ll be visiting and check the roaming charges.

Europe has a different electric current, so bring an adapter. I like to read, so I bring an old fashioned book instead of an e reader, because the book doesn’t need to be recharged.

Leave the weapons at home. I do this because first of all I’m too lazy to do the research to find out what restrictions the various airlines have in place and what importation restrictions the country has that I’m visiting. And why (especially after the most recent terrorists’ attacks) call attention to yourself by carrying weapons? And do you really want to lug around all that stuff?

Keep your accoutrement to a minimum. Not only will have you to carry it, but you’ll have to keep track of. Leave the real jewelry at home, it could get lost or stolen. And if you must have to bring a certain piece put it in your carry-on baggage.

When possible make your modern clothing do double duty as part of your pirate outfit. For example use pants instead of slops. That way you can pack less.

Arrive the day before the festival starts. This will give you a day to get over the jet lag and get to where the festival is. I find most people greatly underestimate the time it takes to travel around in another country.

Study the festival’s schedule, is it possible to get some sightseeing in. Be choosy about what you will participate in at the pirate festival itself. Do you really need to go on another pub crawl when you can be seeing the sights? If you’ve done your research before you left there may be a site that had piratical connections you could visit.

Bring more money that you think you will need. There will always be a must go to event you found at about when you arrived or a must have souvenir that costs a bit more that you thought.

I almost forgot, have fun!