Your airline tickets are booked and your hotel room has been reserved — you’re almost ready to attend your first overseas anime convention! We’ve really excited for you guys, so we’d like to share with you a few travel tips we’ve picked up along the way. Hope you keep these tips in mind, and have a great time at the con ❤

Check the limits on how much liquid you can bring with you.

The maximum bottle size for carry-on liquids is 100 ml — you can carry as many as 10 individual bottles in a single Ziploc bag for a total volume of 1 liter. Liquids do not just mean drinks such as bottled water and juices, but also cosplay essentials such as liquid foundation, gel eyeliner, hair products, and cyanoacrylate glue (AKA Greco). As much as possible, store your liquids in your check luggage. Otherwise, stick to the limits, or your items may be confiscated at the airport.

If cosplaying, keep street clothes to a minimum.

You’ll be spending most of your days at the convention center in costume anyway, so there’s no need to pack as many street clothes as you normally would on vacation. A couple of shirts, a few pairs of jeans you can wear repeatedly, a wide variety of sneakers, and several sets of undies should be enough. You can always wear parts of your costume — like that white shirt or that black leather jacket, as street clothes.

Download a map app or a local transport app on your phone.

If it’s your first time in a new city, it’s easy to get turned around. Download a map app or a train/bus app to help you get from point A to point B. This is especially useful in Japan if you cannot read Japanese — the train app will help you navigate the complicated train system in English. And even if it isn’t your first time attending — say, STGCC or AnimeJapan, a train app or a map app can help you find newer, faster, or cheaper routes from your hotel to the convention center.

Buy a tourist train card or bus pass.

While we’re on the subject of commuting, buy a tourist train or bus pass. Not only will it eliminate the need to line up every time to buy a ticket, it will also save you the trouble of paying for the fare difference if you manage to get the train or bus fare wrong. Some train or bus passes also come with bonuses like extra credit or free rides, so you save a bit of cash compared to regular tickets.

Buy a local data SIM card upon arrival.

And still on the subject of commuting, use your map app or train app on the go by purchasing a local data SIM card for your carrier unlocked phone. Buying prepaid data credits is much cheaper than using your Philippine provider’s roaming service. Plus, new SIM cards usually come with bonus data allocations so you don’t even have to use your prepaid credit to surf the first few days of your stay so you can Instagram every minute of the day!

Don’t forget to bring a plug adapter.

This is really important, especially if you’re bringing a lot of devices with you — not all countries share the same wall outlet configurations. You can easily buy adapters at your local hardware store or specialty travel goods store. And keep your chargers in your carry-on and not your check luggage — you never know when you need to charge while in transit.

Got your own tips? We’d love to hear them! Share them in the Comments section today 😀