Travel expands the mind, or so the saying goes. The world has been in various stages of lockdown and the freedom to travel where and when you want is still emerging from the shadows of Covid-19. We will be posting on some of our favorite travel destinations in the posts below but here are some tips to help you prepare for travel when it finally opens up again.

Identification for travel within your country

Do you know the identification requirements to travel within your own country? In the USA, for example, for travel by commercial airline after May 3, 2023 you must be able to show your Real ID or a passport. Not all drivers licenses qualify as a Real ID. To check if your ID qualifies to get you past airport security checks go here.

The requirements for travel in each country are likely to be different. Check well in advance of making airline bookings to avoid disappointment when trying to board your plane.

Identification for travel to international destinations

Once you have the correct identification documents keep them with you, safe and secure, at all times. Do not hand your ID to strangers – other than airline & security/border control personnel – and anyway do not let the documents out of your sight. After check-in, security checks, border control etc. make certain you have your ID with you before leaving the counter or security area.

Travel tickets

If possible, leave a copy of your travel ticket with someone who you could contact in an emergency. Ticket numbers are often sufficient to find and retrieve your tickets when all else fails.

Accommodation

If possible book and pay for your travel in advance. Use a reputable travel agent – including online hotel booking sites – to reserve your room. As with travel electronic confirmations have become the norm but I again recommend taking a printed copy with you. In our blogs we will discuss more the accuracy and reliability of hotel and room descriptions and reviews.

As with tickets, leave a copy of your hotel bookings with someone who you could contact in an emergency. Reservation numbers are often sufficient to find and retrieve your booking when all else fails.

Travel funds

Have sufficient funds available to travel at your level of comfort, whether it is a budget camping holiday or a luxury tour. Traveller checks and cash may have largely given way to credit cards but its always good to have some local cash currency available.

Using credit cards internationally

What is a currency conversion penalty? Banks buy and sell international currencies at different rates. Buy (from you) rates are always less than sell (to you) rates. Banks are businesses and that’s how they make money.

Covid-19 documentation

Covid-19 has upended travel since early 2020. There’s a lot of discussion around the pros and cons of “vaccine passports” and freedom, etc. As a traveller just be aware that if a country has a rule that says you need to have a vaccine passport or any other form of documentation to show you have been vaccinated with the country-specific vaccine – please get the vaccine and take the required documented proof with you – or you have the freedom to not visit that country.

Travel insurance

I strongly advise all travelers to buy travel insurance. Wherever you book your flights and hotels etc. you will see an option to purchase additional travel insurance. Depending on the the type of insurance you can be covered for trip cancellation, lost luggage, medical expenses, repatriation to your home country and so on.

My personal preference is, instead of buying it for each trip from your travel agent, is to research the options available to you. A google search for “travel insurance” will bring up a multitude of companies providing insurance, ratings, and by visiting individual sites you can see the types and costs of insurance.

When I was traveling a lot (before Covid-19) I bought an annual plan – which cost much less than buying insurance for individual trips. I have had to file a claim and the process was easy and I got my cancelled travel refund quickly.

Just remember to keep all travel documentation to file a claim if you need to. It becomes a lot tougher if you cannot prove your travel plans and give a valid reason for cancellation.

What to pack

When traveling for tourism, pack as light as you possibly can! Airline baggage fees are high. The risk of your bags getting lost or at least delayed are also high. Hauling several pieces of heavy luggage around a strange airport or city is not the best way to enjoy your vacation.

If you can pack everything into your airline-compliant hand luggage you will save time getting started on your vacation by not having to stand around waiting for your checked luggage – or worse, waiting to report lost luggage.

Clothes

• Many hotels have a limited number of clothes hangers (so consider taking some with you) and these are often the type that slip onto a ring permanently fastened to a pole in the closet – so you can’t hang it elsewhere. Taking a few wire clothes hangers doesn’t add much weight to your bag and it lets you hang clothes to dry if you decide to wash them yourself.
• Many hotels also provide an iron or ironing board. These may be in your room or you can request it from reception or housekeeping. Check with your hotel(s) before you travel. If your hotel does not provide an iron consider purchasing a travel iron. These are small and not very heavy and can be a worthwhile investment with repeated use.
• You could also take clothes that do not require ironing, or well, you may just not iron your clothes anyway. It all depends on the kind of travel you are undertaking and what you are doing and where you are staying, etc.

Shoes

Wear comfortable shoes when traveling but consider taking some good walking shoes for doing touristy stuff. If you will plan on attending elegant social events during your travels then you should also pack some good dress shoes.

Toiletries

Don’t forget the essentials such as toothbrush and paste, shaving blades and cream, makeup etc. Instead of taking large bottles of lotions consider buying travel-sized bottles or, transfer some of the lotions and liquids into travel bottles.

Electronics & Electrical

Most countries use either 110V (110 – 127V) or 220V (220-240V) residential electricity. A few countries like Brazil and Cuba have both 110V and 220V and this can be very confusing to a traveller. As a rule, always ask before you plug in your electronics. This is one instance where it really is better to be safe than sorry. Plug your device in to the wrong voltage and the device will likely heat rapidly and catch fire or even explode. Don’t let your hard-earned vacation go up in flames – ask your hosts/hotel reception before you plug any device into an electrical socket.

• If you have a smartphone, iPad, laptop computer, or camera and are taking it with you on your travels check if its charger is compatible with 110V – 220V electricity. Most chargers are but its best to check.
• Even if it is 110V – 220V compatible the plug end may not be compatible with the plugs in the country you are visiting. Take at least one international plug converter/adaptor with you.
• Plug converters or adaptors do not adjust the electricity voltage – they only make it possible for you to connect your plug to the socket in various countries.
• If the country you are visiting operates on a different residential voltage from your home country you will need a “step-up” converter (from 110V to 220V) or a “step-down” converter (from 220V to 110V) voltage transformer.
• If you are taking an electrical appliance such as a hair dryer, hair curler, or other appliance with you check that the voltage transformer (converter) can handle the maximum power requirement (measured in Watts) of your appliance – if not it may burn out the converter.
• Travel voltage converters are available from various retailers including online.
• If you only remember to get a voltage converter when at the airport en route to your destination it may be too late – airport convenience stores usually only stock the plug converters.
• Check the outlet voltage when checking in to your hotel – they may also have converter/adaptor plugs, hair dryers, irons etc. Most hoteliers will also be quite helpful and can check your appliance to see if it will work with the hotel electrical voltage. This is not just for altruism – using the wrong appliance can result in fire damage to the hotel!

Cell/mobile phone

In most countries other than the US and Canada a cellphone is referred to as a mobile phone. For the international traveller staying in touch with friends and family back home and having access to a navigation app will make your travel very convenient. Depending on the cell/mobile telephone plan international roaming and calling rates may be very high! The first time I travelled using my own phone I ended up with a bill of around $140 for a 4-day trip!

Consider buying a telephone that lets you use various SIM cards. Not all phones do, my US Apple iPhone for instance would have to be “unlocked and jailbroken” in order to work with a SIM from any carrier other than my home network carrier.

In the US (and perhaps Canada?) it is difficult to buy an unlocked phone. Also, unlocked cellphones are significantly more expensive in the US. Consider buying your phone at your next international destination. I bought my current travel phone, a Samsung, for less than $100 and it still works fine – I charge it occasionally to keep the battery conditioned.

Internationally SIM cards are freely available with great data and calling rates that are much better than your home carrier. In some places you can even buy the SIM card at the destination airport, sometimes from vending machines!

Having a local SIM-enabled telephone can help make your trip enjoyable in so many ways – from getting a taxi or minicab, to walking around the city or countryside while still staying in touch with home. You can also use a wireless hotspot to connect your primary cell/wireless phone to the internet when the travel phone just won’t do!

I still use my iPhone for photographs and when I log into a wireless network but with data roaming turned off! Yes folks, TURN OFF YOUR DATA ROAMING WHEN YOU TRAVEL INTERNATIONALLY – and that includes cruises. Otherwise expect a big bill. I got a hefty roaming bill because, thinking I would connect to the US cellphone system, I turned on my roaming while on a cruise liner in a US port. Instead of the land-based cell tower the cruise liner kept hold of my signal and charged me for the data.

Some US carriers have plans that allow substantial data for roaming but my experience has been they may change the plan on you or find a loophole to charge you big bucks if they possibly can.

Batteries & Chargers

Consider buying a portable rechargeable external battery for your smartphone. If you use your smartphone for calls, browsing the web, mail, photography, and navigation your phone may quickly run out of power – potentially leaving you stranded in some unfamiliar area. The portable battery can be used to charge your smartphone thus avoiding a potential disaster!

If you use a camera having extra (rechargeable) batteries can keep you happily clicking away all day!

Just don’t forget to recharge all your equipment and batteries when you return to your residence each day!

Luggage

The lighter the better. Baggage fees are already high so don’t waste your baggage weight allowance on the bag itself. Wheeled luggage is good but make sure the wheels are sturdy – they tend to be the first things to break – usually when they are carefully and lovingly transferred between aircraft and airport by baggage handlers (some dark humor).

Luggage size

• For carry on luggage 45″ (add length + height + width in inches – including wheels) seems to be common to most airlines.
• For checked baggage the limit is usually around 62″ (add length + height + width in inches – including wheels). Check with your airline for specific limits.
• Even if the size of luggage you can carry on or check in may be smaller than you would like there are ways to maximize the use of space. “Space bags” allow you to compress your clothes (doesn’t work for shoes and other hard objects) by compacting them inside the bag.
• If you are traveling by rail or bus the luggage size limits may be different or there may be no limits. But, do you really want to be hauling around 20 pieces of luggage…can you even do it? Don’t count on there being porters or luggage carts handy. Will you have to hire a moving van at your destination because all that luggage won’t fit in your taxi?

Luggage weight

The downside of stuffing your bag with compressed items is that as you get more packed into your bag the weight of the bag increases and you come up against the weight limit on bags. Typical weight limits are 50 lbs per checked bag but check with your airline for bag weight limits.

Identify your luggage

Identify your bag(s) inside and out. Attach a luggage tag with your name and contact details (I typically don’t include my address but I do include my email and phone number) to every bag. You can use one of those expensive leather tags but expect it to get ripped off your bag soon after you first use it. I prefer the free tags that are usually on the check-in counter. Next time you travel grab a handful to use on future trips.

Secure your luggage

Strap and lock all checked luggage. Use a TSA-compliant lock on your bag. Bag locks are small and will not stop a thief who is determined to get into your bag (so don’t pack valuables in checked luggage) – but it will deter thieves who may not have time to break into your bags.

We hope you find the suggestions useful. If you have suggestions or corrections for this article please contact us.

In the next blog post we plan to discuss how to travel safely to and from your vacation destination and within your destination.