Make sure you have travel insurance. Pack light. Try the local food - be adventurous. Take medication with you for diarrhea. Make sure you wear comfortable walking shoes. Get to know people and listen to their advice. Have a good time.

Use a travel agent, make use of the excellant public transport where you can, if you take medication with you keep it in the original box and take your prescrptions to prove the medication is yours.  When travelling make it a point to find where the local Supermarkets are, it is much cheaper to buy food from them and make some meals yourself than to use shops.  Always have a couple of Euros in your pocket, there are very few free toilets in Europe.

Avoid driving in the south of France, a lot of the roads are hardly wide enough for one car let alone two passing each other.  Don't over pack, clothes are much cheaper in Europe and it is often cheaper to buy cheap T shirts than to pay laundry fees to have them washed.  Most people in Europe are quite willing to help travellors, most times you don't even have to ask, they see a puzzled face and just offer help.  We found this in France, Germany and Italy, in France make sure you tell them you are Australian, don't let them think you are British, you will be treated much better as an Australian.

Always try the local food, it may at times sound strange but people eat it for a reason.  Make the most of it and have fun.  

First travel is always the best travel, so you have to be fully packed and have enough money to survive. I think that for the first trip Mount Rushmore its a perfect destination. It's cheap, beautiful and has many cool landmarks. Here is a guide https://rushmoremotels.com/top-12-casino-hotels-near-mount-rushmore-national-memorial/ that I used when I was in my first trip.

MattG,

Get a recommendation for a good travel agent near to you.  Sit down and ask all of the 'dumb' questions.  Make a list of questions.  Be blunt.  Ask him/her what you might have missed. 

Remembering that any reputable travel agency will have staff who have travelled extensively and recently and are well placed to give you simple, practical advice while recommending and setting in place the necessary bookings and so on to ease your trip.

Know that you can come back to the agency or ring to ask more questions and for reassurance.  You will also have a contact number while overseas.

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