Tips for Travelling Abroad

Let us start with a quote from Benjamin Franklin: “By failing to prepare you are prepared to fail”. Traveling abroad needs a bit of preparation to ensure a safe trip, so we’ve gathered some tips from travelers. 

Destination

It is overwhelming to choose one of the many destinations you’ve been dreaming of visiting, especially if you are a first-time traveler.  Maybe you don’t know where exactly, but you just know you want to go. The world is filled with incredible places. What might help you choose is asking yourself some questions like “What is my traveling purpose?”, “Which culture excites me the most?”, “How far from home am I willing to go?  “Which destinations suit my budget?” “Can I have a multi-destination trip?” Answering these questions honestly will help you narrow down your options and zero in on your destination.

Documents

Obtain your passport as soon as possible! Don't put off applying for your passport last minute. You'll want to be certain that it arrives in time for your vacation! 

If you already have a passport make sure to keep it up to date to ensure you're always prepared for overseas travel. We know that passport expiration dates might be a little perplexing.

In the US, your passport is valid until the dates are written inside the cover. Despite that, you should know that some nations, on the other hand, will not allow you in if your passport expires in less than six months. Thus, you should update your passport around nine months before the expiration date to avoid any difficulties or cancellations. You’ll also want to make sure you have enough pages in your passport for visa stamps. While most countries only require a quarter page for their stamp, others may require half of a page or more. 

Once you have your passport sorted, it’s time to check on visas. Many countries will offer US passports or visa holders a tourist visa on arrival. However, other destinations, like Australia or Vietnam require you to apply ahead of time and often charge a fee. Make sure you check the visa requirements for your final destination and take care of any paperwork.

Bookings

Start looking for flights early to get the best deals, you will find websites comparing flight deals from different airlines. You might not realize everything that goes into booking a flight the first time. You should not only pick a good plane that can transport you from point A to point B, but you must also ensure that your luggage criteria is met. Make sure you do your research. Some no-frill airlines may offer lower fares, but they may charge you a significant luggage fee.

Transports and hotels are important to be booked before arriving at your destination. Traveling agencies can be of assistance in that matter they will be able to provide you with a hotel and transports easily. You can even tailor your own trip depending on them without worrying much. But if you chose to do it on your own resort to travel advisories they will fill you in and help you choose what you want to do.

Travel Insurance

Why would you want to get travel insurance? You don't want to lose all you have invested in your vacation if you fall ill (or have a family emergency) and have to cancel. Lost luggage, missing connecting flights, and other trip disruptions are all covered by travel insurance. You'd be amazed how many people are too preoccupied with their holiday plans to consider travel insurance. If you don't already have it, you should get it; protecting yourself against lost luggage or delayed flights may save you a lot of money and offer you peace of mind in the long run.

Finance

You've arrived at your location and started to make purchases. Your card gets refused just as you're getting started and you have no idea why. It turns out that this may have happened for your own safety. Foreign transactions are taken very seriously by credit card providers. They want to make sure nothing fishy is going on with your accounts. Your account may be suspended if your issuer doesn't realize you're the one making these overseas transactions. So, before you leave on your journey, notify your credit card company of your travel plans.

A simple phone call ahead of time will save you a lot of time on the road and allow you to make the necessary purchases. It's also a good idea to bring a Forex Card with you to spare money on those high exchange rates. Always have modest sums of cash available, as well as duplicates of all of your credit cards' fronts and backs (as well as passports or IDs).

Communication 

Nobody wants to lose connection with their loved ones back home or their group while they are abroad. You should either choose to switch your SIM card to roaming or acquire a local SIM card from your destination. Some agencies like ours will provide you with a local SIM card during your stay.

Medications

If you need prescription medicine or occasionally require specific treatment, make sure you have plenty on hand. There's a significant chance you won't be able to receive any of your regular medications once you get to your overseas location.

You want to be in a situation where, in the event of an emergency, you have enough medication to last at least a week. If you're going to a third-world nation, you should ask your doctor to prescribe the antibiotic ciprofloxacin before you go.

Safety

Make copies of all of your travel papers, tickets, and other important documents, and take images of them with your phone (download to a dropbox or cloud) so that you can access them if the originals are lost.

Take pictures of all things you pack. You will need this to register a claim if your luggage goes missing. In addition to having a baggage tag with your contact information (use your cell phone number rather than your home phone number), write it on your luggage where it will be seen.

You should definitely participate in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program since you are traveling overseas. If you inform the government of your travel plans, they will be able to reach you in the event of an emergency. It's only a precautionary measure to assist you in the event that you require it.

Language

If you are going to travel to a country that speaks a different language or a language that you don’t speak. You might need to download a speech translating app to ease your conversations and help you deal with the locals.

These are the tips we’ve gathered from travelers, you can share your tips with us on https://www.instagram.com/goelite.club/  so we can share them with others.