As any seasoned traveler can attest, the 48 hours before any international trip tends to be chaotic. From wrapping up loose ends at home and work to ensuring your credit card will work in the country you're visiting and prepping your carry-on, the days before a long international getaway can be a hectic yet exciting time, whether you're planning a leisure or business trip. To help make travel smoother and stress-free, cross these seven steps off your to-do list before traveling abroad.

When planning an international vacation, many people bypass South America and head straight for its older, more refined cousin, Europe. But South America has some of the biggest and best attractions in the world—literally—and these superlative destinations are not to be missed.

Once I heard the story that she was traveling alone, I got nervous, and sad. I figured all the nay-sayers would say things like ‘She shouldn’t have been traveling alone’ and ‘Why would she go on holiday without her family?’

There are four classes of travel to choose from when sailing the Galapagos. They are Luxury/Deluxe, First Class, Tourist Superior, and Tourist. I wound up sailing the Galapagos on a First Class boat and was able to get a deal that included airfare. How?

I went backpacking in South America for two months. I covered six countries and various altitudes where, even in summer, weather varied wildly. Some nights I slept in a t-shirt and shorts. Other nights I would be bundled in two pairs of pants, every shirt I owned and two pairs of socks. One of those being a pair of Alpaca socks that I picked up at a street market.

Lori Sussle spent eight weeks backpacking in South America earlier this year. This must-have packing list was created with backpacking in mind, but it’s certainly not mutually exclusive. Here are her 14 Things You Might Not Think About Packing but Should. Share your own must haves in the comments below.

Travel is about exploration and learning—and trying a new food is an ideal way to shock your taste buds and open your mind. Whether you’re on the streets of Italy with waiters begging you to join them for dinner or sampling the steaming wares at a street cart in Bangkok, every encounter with new international foods is not just an opportunity to “Mangia, mangia!” but also to get out of your comfort zone, meet the locals, and learn something new.

Just a 90 minute ferry ride from Sicily and just north of Tunisia and Libya, this country is small but is a crossroads of culture and cuisine.

People ask me how I am able to travel so much. ‘Isn’t it expensive?’ I am asked. Well, yes, it can be… IF you stay in high-end hotels, travel in peak season, travel in comfortable (read: pricey) modes of transportation and pick places where your home currency is not valued well against the local currency, your trip might cost you a pretty penny.