What's in your 'first 48 hours' survival kit?

An unlocked phone and cash in the local currency, both sorted before I even landed. Saved me from a genuinely stressful first evening.

Printed copies of every booking confirmation, in case anything with my phone or wifi went sideways in the first hours. Felt paranoid, was actually useful.

following, moving next month, taking notes

A downloaded offline map of the area around where I was staying, since the first walk to find food happened before I’d sorted a SIM card at all.

OP here — good additions all round, adding the offline map one to my list, hadn’t thought of that specific gap.

With kids the list changes completely: snacks they already know, a charged tablet with downloaded shows, and one change of clothes each in the hand luggage. Our checked bags arrived two days late and the kids' one familiar blanket was what saved the first night. Also a travel adapter per person, not per family. We had one adapter and five devices.

A small torch and a basic first-aid pouch. Our first rental had a fuse box nobody could find in the dark.

pens. every form at the airport and at the rental office, and i never had a pen