Make sure that you have the essentials.

Before you even dream of leaving the house, you need to do this. There are certain things, such as your passport and tickets that you simply can’t travel without. If you’re heading to a country in which you will need a visa, you need to make sure that you have a hard copy of this as well. (Often enough a notification is attached to your passport stating that you have a visa, but it’s still worth taking a copy of your own.)