• Figure out how to have cell phone/mobile data access in foreign countries. Does anyone have experience with this?

Check with your carrier to see if they have a plan that will fit your needs and budget. Also, if you have a GSM phone, you can buy a sim card with data and voice locally and usually cheaply. BUT your GSM phone must be unlocked. Again, check with your carrier; some will do a full unlock, or they may give you a temporary unlock, e.g. 30 days. I have an unlocked GSM phone and just get a local sim and one month plan (with 1 gig of data.)

• Get local currency -- Swiss Francs and Euros.

If you intend to use your credit card, it has to be “chip and pin.” Many of the credit cards being issued here now have the chip, but require a signature. This may cause a problem or confusion overseas. My credit card company was able to add a pin to my card so I could use it in Europe.

• I'll have to look for some sort of translation app or dictionary app. It needs to work without internet access (i.e., I can't count on being able to use Google Translate).

Google Translate will let you download a language for offline use. They also have a way to take an image of a sign and translate it, but I was not successful in making it work. YMMV

• Look into health/accident insurance while traveling abroad (I think my current health insurance has some sort of coverage for that -- good time to find out exactly what).

Can be expensive; last time, a little over 2 weeks coverage cost me like 200 dollars, but it was required for me to get a visa to the country I was visiting.

• Refill my meds

Make sure they are in the container from the pharmacy. Loose pills invite attention.

• Transformer and power plug adapters so I can use 220V sockets with a funny shape. Will need to power a computer, recharge batteries (for cell & cameras).

You definitely need the plug adaptors, but may not need the transformer; check the small print on the power adaptors; many OEM models will handle 220v 50cycle. Many aftermarket ones will not. Also check Amazon and search for “voltage converter kits” These kits will have plug adaptors for everything in Europe, and a small voltage transformer for 220 to 120 conversion in case you do need it. These kits are usually in the 30 Dollar range.

• I don't know what sort of knife I can have/carry in those countries. I'll have my knifeless Leatherman.

I put a SAK in my checked bag; a “sportsman” model, one with a corkscrew, which may be put to its intended use in France. Just don’t flash it.

• Should I even bother with getting a SW radio??? In case things go so wrong that I can't get news from the internet (prolonged blackout) and getting news from the US (or in English) via SW would make a significant difference for me. Right now I'm leaning towards no, because if things got so bad, I don't know a radio would make much of a difference.

I always take one, a small Grundig mini world 100PE, about 15 – 20 years old. Never “needed” it, but like to check out the local radio stations and I could usually get the BBC on a fairly regular basis via SW. Internet has mostly replaced it, but I still think it is worthwhile to take, and it is small enough so as not to be a burden.