Imagine you’re traveling in a country where your passport is worth more than gold then you lose it, or perhaps it was stolen. What if the country you are visiting isn’t too fond of Americans (or your home country) and you have absolutely no way of proving who you are, because you are without identification? This is never a good situation, no matter where you are traveling, and I’ve had it happen twice!
To avoid any headaches or possible dangerous situations, you can prevent the worst from happening by letting others know your travel plans. Leave copies of your itinerary, along with photocopies of your travel documents and identifications with trusted friends or family. Let them know where you are by leaving a record of each place you visit (ex. a simple update to a social media site or keep a basic public blog), especially if you wander off your originally-planned routing - who knows, what if you lose all connection to the outside world and basically disappear? If you are pre-booking any hotel reservations, any train or bus tickets, it’s a smart idea to leave this information and your contact information back home.
To avoid any headaches or possible dangerous situations, you can prevent the worst from happening by letting others know your travel plans. Leave copies of your itinerary, along with photocopies of your travel documents and identifications with trusted friends or family. Let them know where you are by leaving a record of each place you visit (ex. a simple update to a social media site or keep a basic public blog), especially if you wander off your originally-planned routing - who knows, what if you lose all connection to the outside world and basically disappear? If you are pre-booking any hotel reservations, any train or bus tickets, it’s a smart idea to leave this information and your contact information back home.
Alert your country’s embassy (if US citizen, you can sign up here: https://step.state.gov/step/) prior to your departure and inform them of where you will be and when, along with any contact information. If serious civil unrest or war flares up then the embassy will be able to plan an exit strategy for you.
It’s necessary to alert financial institutions as well - let your bank and credit card companies know what countries you will be traveling in and the duration of your stay. This will allow full use of your cards without restriction. Credit card companies will automatically deny or place holds on any uniformed international purchases. Some international teller machines only accept the microchip-enhanced credit cards - be sure to ask your financial companies in advance about having full-usage of your cards. Also, it’s not unusual for credit companies to have special international phone numbers in case of emergencies.
(Photo by Leslie Banks / iStock)
It’s necessary to alert financial institutions as well - let your bank and credit card companies know what countries you will be traveling in and the duration of your stay. This will allow full use of your cards without restriction. Credit card companies will automatically deny or place holds on any uniformed international purchases. Some international teller machines only accept the microchip-enhanced credit cards - be sure to ask your financial companies in advance about having full-usage of your cards. Also, it’s not unusual for credit companies to have special international phone numbers in case of emergencies.
(Photo by Leslie Banks / iStock)
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