Hair drier
Hair drier image by turkinson from Fotolia.com

When traveling to Europe, there are a few things that you must pack: a camera, your passport, your wallet, and a voltage converter. For those who don't know, European electricity and American electricity are slightly different. American electricity uses 110 or 120 volts generated at 60 hertz. In Europe, the volts are twice that, at 220 to 240 volts and a frequency of 50 hertz. Basically, if you plug your American electronics (hair dryer, cell phone charger, camera, laptop, etc.) into a European outlet, they will just short of explode. To prevent this, use a dual-voltage converted to plug in your electronics.

Purchase a special dual-voltage hair dryer. Most travel hair dryers will be dual-voltage. These will have a small switch on them (one side of the switch will normally say 125V, the other 250V).

Plug the converter plug into the outlet. Most European converted plugs have two rounded prongs that fit into the outlet (in America, the two prongs are rectangular).

Flip the voltage switch on your hair dryer from 125V to 250V.

Plug the hair dryer into the converter plug that is plugged into the outlet.

Turn your hair dryer on and begin drying your hair as normal.

Warning

Should the lights flicker, turn the dryer off immediately. This may mean that your voltage switch is not turned all the way to 250V.

Never plug any American electronics directly into a European outlet. Your electronics will be ruined.