Planning a trip abroad.....

With the influx of lads heading away this year (myself inld) I think it would be great for any advice to be in the one place. Maybe the mods can create a STICKY for easy reference.

I copied this from a post already up and sure we can add to it as we go. Try to stick to advice rather then reminisce about a lovely drive.
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A couple of travel requirements:
Original Registration Document
License
Passport
Original Insurance cert
European Medical card (See here http://www.ehic.ie/)

You should get travel insurance as well, food poisoning can happen anywhere.


Some things you should bring:
Buy an Airhawk Seat Cushion (The best purchase you’ll make for your trip!)

Lots of ear plugs! You can get ~50 pairs for ~€10 on ebay.
Cameras (For that nice bike picture in the alps )
Electrical Chargers and Euro adapters (Phones/Cameras/Video/GPS. Test them and make sure they work)
Chain lube (every morning)
Tool Kit (There will be plenty of bike garages but a few tools won't hurt)
Small Head mounted Torch
A few pairs of gloves (1 Gore-tex, 1 ventilated)
Sun Glasses
Chain(s)/Lock(s)
Spare Fuses
Bring some rags for the ferries. Some of them don’t have any to put between the ratchet tie downs and your seat and paintwork! Ireland-France crossing had them.

Optional:
GPS with updated maps + Mounting Kit
Top Up Oils/Fluids. 1l bottles (you could end up paying €30 for 1l of oil in a petrol station when you really need it)
Puncture Repair Kit and/or a can of tyre weld
Spare Bungees/Cargo Net (Handy for drying your clothes on top of your topbox)
Tablet/Laptop if you can fit it. Lots of places have free wi-fi (McDonalds). So you can upload photos of your trip to make us all jealous
Ultra absorbent thin towel
Visor cleaner + cloth to wipe it off properly
Sun Cream
Cable Ties
Gaffer Tape
Side stand plates for earthen ground
Fire extinguisher
Ratchet Tie Downs
Pens and paper to keep track of spending
Vitamin tablets. It's a long trip so it’s important to keep your strength up

Before the trip.
Try to check everything on the bike. Tyres, chain, bearings, throttle and brake cables (one of the lads throttle went in Gibraltar so we ended up wasting half a day there).

Pack and unpack preparation. Plan and re-plan what to take with you a week before the trip. Organise what you're bringing into the luggage. Think about weight distribution on each side of the bike when you’re doing this, you don’t want to be veering to one side

Try and plan where you’ll be each night and look up possible accommodation in each place before you leave.

Make a list of things you want to see in each country. Have 2 things in each country that you’d really like to see. Other attractions can be left on the list or taken out depend on time.

Take a look at road watch websites of the countries your visiting. It’ll let you know of any road works on your route and delays that may be encountered due to them.

On the trip.
Arrive at your destination each evening no later than 8. If you arrive after this it's too late to look around and find the best priced place, have a shower and then find a place to eat. Recently a friend did a trip where he was leaving at 6am and riding until 4pm. He had a few hours of the roads to himself then beat the evening work traffic chaos.

Have plenty of bottled water bought for the nights and mornings.

The tolls in France and Spain are expensive so stay off them if you can. The other roads are better biking roads anyway

French bikers are great and every one of them will salute you!

If you’re not making as much progress as you thought then don’t go too far into Europe. You don’t want to have to rush the last half of your trip in order to make a ferry!