With each passing year, it seems more people are embracing the many joys and upsides of travel. From exploring new cuisine to going on guided tours of interesting towns, there's a lot that comes with journeying to a new country.

Along the way, folks tend to learn about themselves, their preferences, and their place in the world. Solo travelers specifically experience this, as they're solely responsible for their own well-being, time management, and activities while abroad.

Nevertheless, when you're getting ready to jet off to a new destination, it's essential to do your homework. This can significantly cut back on you running into problems at the airport or after you land on foreign soil.

Go to travel.state.gov

Visiting the website of the U.S. Department of State should be one of your first steps before you start booking any flights or other accommodations. This site provides critical information about each country, including its entry/exit/visa requirements, health details, how many blank pages your passport should have, and more.

One shortcut to finding this information is heading on over to Google and typing in the search bar "[Insert country] entry requirements for US citizens."

Check out travel videos on YouTube

On YouTube, you can find travel information about virtually any city or country in the world. Many channels - such as Wolters World, Oskar and Dan, and Adventures of Matt and Nat - are expressly dedicated to travel, providing critical knowledge about different places, etc.

Many of these vloggers even wear body cameras and provide real-time narrations of their visits to other countries. With this information, you can learn a lot more about a destination than you would by just reading articles.

Review their tourism pages on social media

On Instagram and TikTok, all sorts of tourism pages are available for public consumption. Granted, these accounts exist to promote the city or country of focus. Nonetheless, they still provide valuable insight into museums, restaurants, guided tours, and other available attractions.

Perusing social media (after doing your research on travel.state.gov and YouTube) is a wonderful way to ascertain what to expect before touching down in a different country.