Sometimes, it is daunting to keep everything straight in your head.
DAY 1. The plane lands at 9:25AM in Rome on August 3. Pick up the Roma Passes at Terminal 3 between 8:00AM and 7:30PM. The Order Number is 136813 and the Confirmation Code is 3LVR9J5P. Remember to pull out €300 at an airport ATM. The non-stop train connecting Fiumicino Airport to Termini Station in central Rome takes approximately 32 minutes and leaves every half-hour or every 15 minutes during peak hours; tickets cost €14 each way per person. Check-in at the AirBnb (Milazzo Roma) starts at 8:00AM. The cryptic directions from the host Sergio: “With your back to the tracks take you to the platform 1 exit in Via Marsala go to your right, and first street on the left is Via Milazzo, we are number 3”. Attractions for the day include the Baths of Caracalla, Giardino degli Aranci, Circus Maximus, Imperial Forums, Piazza di Spagna, and finally the famous Spanish Steps.
Squeeze in lunch and dinner at a pre-researched eatery along the way. Don’t forget the gelato!
You could, as we had initially done, print out all the necessary information, instructions, and documents and carry them around in a little folder, dumping the used pages and attraction/train tickets after the particular day had passed. For added peace of mind and portability, why not use, what I like to call, the “head in the (cyberspace) cloud”? Store and access important information on free websites like Google Drive (15GB free max storage) or Dropbox (2GB free max storage). If you are prone to forgetting or misplacing (say your airline ticket to Corfu), head to the nearest internet café or document copy center, download from the free website and print out another.
TRAVEL TIP: Depending on the smartphone service provider, prices for data usage in a foreign country can be very expensive. (Paper) maps are essential for finding out how to get to a place in a foreign city but they can be unwieldy and, not to mention, kind of dorky. Nothing screams tourist like a large unfurled map. Downloading an offline map on Google Maps is the modern and low-cost alternative. Note that offline maps have a limited duration on your smartphone or tablet; set yourself a reminder to refresh the download closer to your date of travel.
