5 things I did to save money on a month-long trip through Asia before I even left the US

Planning my month-long trip to visit Thailand, Hong Kong, and China last July was a hassle. It was also a lot of money.

The expenses started even before I left the country: I had to manage all the paperwork: getting visas, renewing passports, calling the travel agency, and planning itineraries, which added a few hundred more on top of my flight and hotels. But that was not the end of it.

There are some things you should always do before traveling abroad - like booking your flight well in advance and making two copies of your passport should it get lost or stolen - but there were a few more choices that saved me from incurring small fees along the way that could have collected into one giant sum.

These are the five things I'm glad I did before I left the US: