No travel offers quite the adrenaline rush that crossing international boundaries provides. Yet, going abroad just means even more that you have to take care of and keep up with. The following paragraphs outline tips you can use to go overseas without stress.
Travel with a credit card only to be used in emergencies. Even if you intend to use one or more cards for paying for a lot of your trip, at least one card should only be for reserve expenses. The primary intent here is to protect yourself, so keep it in your hotel safe in case you are mugged.
Converting your native currency over to the local variant is a tradition of travel and even provides you a collectible. However, do not do it too much. You risk robbery and the conversion fees are sometimes heinous. Travelers checks on the other hand are a great buy.
Know where the embassy or consulate of your home country is in relation to where you are going to be. In the event of losing your passport, you might need to spend some time there getting your papers in order. In the event of natural disaster or civil unrest, you might need to evacuate to there.
Only stay in hotels that offer you safes to use. Keep your passport, emergency credit card and personal valuables that will fit inside of it.
Always keep your eyes open. Safety first is not just a rule back home but everywhere that you go. Of course you are keeping vigilant to pickpockets, but also stay visible and within sight of crowds. Also be mindful of crossing streets. Traffic patterns and rules are very different sometimes, and pedestrians might not have the right of way you are used to back home.
Never ever leave something that you care about out of your sight or unattended. The chances are pretty good that you will never find it again. Even if it is not stolen, you might just lose it. Sometimes, it might be mistaken for someone elses or just cleaned up by a janitor. If you want to come home with it, keep it close to home.
Check with your existing insurance providers back home, covering all policies from auto to health, and see what kind of coverage you have when you are overseas. Know your lacks and gaps in coverage and get a travel insurance policy that fills in these holes for you so that you are protected. Also know the health care situation where you are going. Some nations have universal health care where all individuals on their soil are covered for everything for free.
With the ideas that are presented in this article, you should be able to travel overseas without incident or issue. Keep your eyes open and your wits about you, and you should come home jazzed from an adventure in a foreign land, full of stories to tell and pictures to share that make your friends, family and coworkers envious of your time off.
