Wise Travel Tips

So you want to travel overseas. That’s great. Here are six important things you should do before traveling:

– Check the validity of your passport and make sure it is valid at least for the next six months. The validity should start from the date of your entry to the particular country you are visiting. I don’t know why but I notice that every time I pass my passport for stamping at any entry points, they usually take a whole new blank page of the passport to chop and stamp. If you are going to visit multiple country from that one trip, make sure you have enough of blank pages in your passport.

– You may need to acquire visa to enter the country you are visiting. Check with your travel agent about the requirement and let them do the necessary documentation. It will be easier to get the visa from travel agents as they have more experience dealing with embassies but sometimes you may have to go yourself to get the visa. You can get the visa at the embassy of the country you are going to visit. Usually there will be many people queuing before you for the visa and the counter that issues visa usually operates for only a certain hours. Find out the time they operate and go early. Don’t wait for last minute.

– When you are away, be aware that anything can happen like losing your passport, money, tickets, credit cards etc. Make a photocopy of all these important documents that you carry and keep them separately. You can keep them in a safe box or luggage which you will leave in the hotel room that you are staying while visiting or sightseeing nearby places. Your copy of passport, visa and ticket is most important as it will show that you have entered the country by law in case you loose your passport.

– Traveling requires you to only pack those things you will be using daily during your travel. Pack enough of clothing you will need during your stay, pack also common illness medicines such as diarrhea pills or high altitude pill like Diamox in case you will be hiking high mountains. Try to pack and keep your luggage as free as possible because you might end up coming home with more things you were carrying in the first place. This is because travelers like to do shopping while in other people’s country. I have seen friends who bought extra luggage to fill in the things they buy.

– It is always a good idea to find out everything you can know about the country you are going to visit. You may need to adjust to certain local customs. Find out about what you can do and what you should not do in the country. In some country, it is culturally wrong for woman to talk to strangers. If you have to ask something, you may want to ask a male instead of a woman. If you are visiting a Hindu temple for example, you will be required to leave your shoe outside of the temple, unlike the church we used to enter with shoe. You may also want to find out the country’s wildlife policies if you are going trek their jungle.

– An illness or accident can happen anytime during your travel. Travel insurance coverage will give you peace of mind in the event something goes wrong. If you are trekking a remote mountain for example and you fell down and broke your ankle. It will be very expensive to take you out from there usually using helicopters. Travel insurance can cover this and ease you with the financial burden it may cost. I know this is possible through my own experience. During one of my travel to Nepal, I actually fell down and injured my ankle. I couldn’t walk for few days but fortunately after a few days the pain subside and I was able to walk using a walking stick and didn’t require my travel guide to call for emergency evacuation. What if I had broken my ankle?

In a nutshell, with these six guidelines like having a valid passport with valid visa, copies of important documents, easy and light packing of luggage, proper travel insurance, you can leave your home peacefully and have a great and wonderful travel experience. When we travel, we want to have fun without worries. If you are well prepared, you won’t have worries and certainly can have a good time traveling. So consider to take these steps.