Passport first. The Schengen area wants a passport issued less than ten years before you arrive and valid three months after you plan to leave. Thailand and Singapore want six months left when you arrive. Japan and Korea only need it valid for the stay. Renewal takes weeks, and the airline, not the border, is where you get stopped.
Entry permits. The UK needs an ETA for most visa-free visitors: £20 each including babies, valid two years, and needed if you pass through UK border control, even on a connection. The EU’s Entry/Exit System has run in full since April 2026: fingerprints and a photograph at first entry in place of a stamp. ETIAS is still not live; the EU has dropped its launch date and 2027 is the expectation. The US ESTA now wants a selfie, so apply weeks ahead.
Arrival cards. Thailand’s Digital Arrival Card and Singapore’s SG Arrival Card are both online, both free, and both open only in the three days before you arrive, counting the arrival day. Do them the night before you fly, on the official sites only. Japan’s Visit Japan Web is optional but gives you QR codes for the immigration and customs lines.
The bank and the plug. Check whether your bank wants a travel notice and carry two cards. The UK, Ireland, Singapore and Hong Kong use the three-pin G plug; most of Europe takes the round pins of C and F; Japan, Taiwan, Mexico and the US use the flat A and B pins, and Japan runs at 100 volts, so check your hair dryer’s voltage label before you pack it.
Book the first night. The arrival card asks for an address and a taxi driver at midnight needs it. Know the route from the airport to the door and screenshot it. Everything after night one can be loose.
Cash and copies. Carry a day’s local cash and draw more from a bank’s machine, not the standalone ones in arrivals. Photograph the passport, cards and insurance policy; keep them in the cloud and one paper copy in a different bag. The lost passport guide on this site covers the rest.
Jet lag and the plan. Flying east hurts more than west: you wake at 4 a.m. and fade at 3 p.m. for two or three days. Put nothing booked on day one. Two anchors a day and a wander between them is a plan you will finish.
On the day. Put the passport, the ETA or arrival-card confirmation and the first hotel’s address in Waystop’s Documents, keep the home SIM’s data off until the eSIM is on, and make the first afternoon a walk aaround the block and an early dinner.