During summer, especially during major heat wave peak season, always have bottles of water ready in your bag wherever you go. And if you need to buy bottles of water, it's wiser to get it straight from the supermarket itself. I went backpacking in Europe and halfway through, a friend bought two large bottles of mineral water at a nearby kiosk in Amsterdam, it cost us 3 Euros each. Later when we went to the supermarket, we discovered that that same bottle is only 99 cents.

So yes, any food/beverages are best done in the supermarket to avoid scams.

Bring some sunblock lotion as well. The heat does damage your skin during this time of the season. Actually it's cheaper to purchase your things through credit card rather than cash when converted to local currency.

If you have allergies or for emergency purposes, bring necessary medications with you like vitamins (it is important to get as much vitamin c), aspirins etc. If you're going away for longer than 3 weeks or so, make time for check up a month before just to make sure that you're fit to travel.

If you want to redeem your tax, you can fill in the form at the airport, but make sure you're early to avoid being in a rush.

It won't be a problem to get anything liquid and keep it in your check in luggage. It's only a no-no when it comes to hand carry bags.

This post has been edited by xavier.emir: Jun 24 2007, 12:59 AM