Pals Journey

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

International travel needs more preparation and planning. If you are traveling to Europe you will have more infrastructure facilities than say traveling to Asia or South America. Major cities around the world will be easier to navigate than say a smaller town in a remote country.

Most of the items have been mentioned in the Domestic Travel section. Below are some of the additional information you may require for International Travel

ESSENTIALS

Passport & Identity Card – Passport is mandatory if you are flying. From USA you can visit Canada or Mexico with your Driver’s license provided your are not flying and traveling by land based vehicles. Depending on your passport, some countries will require you to either have a Visa or a pre-approved document that you can file online. Many countries have visa exemption which means that you can fly to the country and immigration will grant you an fifteen day or a month’s stay.
Most countries require that you have at least six months validity on your passport when you enter. So check your passport dates before you fly. If your travel dates are very near the six months validity, it is better to renew your passport than travel all the way wondering if you will be let in. Some countries would not let you in if your six months validity falls within your length of stay in the country.

Credit / Debit Cards – Carry at least two Credit or Debit cards from different bank. I would recommend at least three. Mainly you would be using the Debit card to withdraw cash in local currency. Do not depend on these cards to work. Because of fraud issues, many banks would not let you use the cards, and may just block or cancel them on your first use.
Before you travel, notify the card companies of your travel plans. Even with such notification, the cards may not work. It is important to keep reserve cash with you for these circumstances.
Using Credit card in a foreign country will incur an additional charges of up to three percent on the transaction amount. This will get reflected on the card statement. Also the exchange rate may not be favorable.
For each Debit card use, you will incur a set amount of charges ranging from three to five dollars for local banks plus another three to five dollars from your debit card bank. These add up and it is better to withdraw a maximum amount possible than do many small withdrawals, as the extra charges remain the same no matter what the amount is.
Automated Teller Machines in some countries or in remote locations are dicey. Many card frauds are committed when you use an unsafe ATM. Best place is use the ATM located within or just outside a bank.

Travelers checks – The safest way to carry money, apart from Debit card withdrawals. The most acceptable Travelers Checks are from American Express. It needs planning as you need to go to a bank in your home country to collect them. You will be signing those checks in front of the teller.
Though most of the major cities around the world have banks that will en-cash these Travelers Checks, you may not find such facilities in smaller towns. You need to find a bank that accept such checks and you need to go within the banking opening hours. You will then sign each of the checks in front of a teller or bank representative, and you will be given cash. It used to be free, but now most banks impose a set fee per check when you en-cash them. As mentioned before, it is a safe way to carry and get money. Also the same set of checks can be cashed in multiple countries.
Over the last decade, less and less number of overseas financial institutions are accepting them and is getting harder to en-cash them.

Currency / Cash – Carry cash on International travel. Some do not pay heed to this and get stranded when the Credit or Debit cards do not work. There are two kinds of cash you will need.
Local Currency – Of course you will need a bit of currency of your home country, but you should be able to manage with Credit or debit cards.
Currency of the Countries you are visiting: Strictly you can get by without them, but it can be a hassle and you end up paying much more for you omission.
No matter which country you visit, you need local currency of that country to get by. Specially just after you disembark from the plane. You might need passport photos to get an instant visa at the airport. You will need cab or bus fare to your hotel. If you want to buy some food or drinks, you will need some cash. Sometimes you will find that your hotel booking never went through and now you have to go around and get another room.

Now though I do recommend against exchanging your money at the airports, as the charges are high and the exchange rate is poor, it is the easiest way to get some local money, and the trick is to only exchange what you think you will need the first day, and a little extra. Be it the Airport of your home country or the destination country, expect to be overcharged. Do not exchange all your money at the airport. When you reach you destination, you will find much better exchange rates at the local banks or money exchange places. Then you can exchange as you need for a few days expenses.
These banks and exchange places can be finicky about the quality of the currency notes you bring from home. Often soiled, marked or torn notes are rejected. Sometimes older notes are not accepted. Bring fresh notes that you can get from your home bank if you give them a few days advance notice.
Most of these places would also pass it through infra red machine to detect if the notes are fake or not. If your notes are rejected, go to another bank or exchange place. Somebody or other eventually exchange them.
Also, the exchange rates vary per location, so do shop around. A round around your hotel would give you a good idea the best rates you can get. Avoid exchanging at the hotel as their rates are not that good.
If your idea is to withdraw money from ATM machines using your debit card, expect processing fees subtracted from the amount you get.

 

NON-ESSENTIALS

Locks – For your luggage. When you go out of your hotel room on day trips or such, everybody has access to your room. Most of your valuables should be in a room safe, if they are available. Otherwise you do need to lock your passport / money in your check in suitcase. For flights, use TSA approved locks.

 

MISCELLANEOUS

Luggage – Do not buy cheap luggage. Luggage from a reputed manufacturer at a slightly higher price will last many years and can be trusted not to fall apart with rough handling. Wait for sale or discounts to buy them, as the list prices can be rip offs.

Hotel / Room Safes – Most of the room safes are easy to get into though they are made of steel and often bolted to the shelf or wall. It is unlikely someone would take the whole safe with them. It is very easy to open these cheap safes, and there are a lot of YouTube videos about them. I keep my money in different places – safe, suitcase, carry-on bag. Some try under the mattress (first place a thief would look), or on top of a cupboards.

DOMESTIC TRAVEL

For any successful travel, both within the country or Internationally, there are some basic items and things you need to take. Yes, you can get by without some of them, but I find these useful to carry.

While traveling domestically, the items you need depend on where you going, and how long is the trip. If you just flying from Point A to Point B, all you probably need an Identity Card, your flight details, your credit card(s) and your phone.
If you are going on an trip from a few days to a few weeks, you will need to carry more items. The rule is the more remote the place is, and the longer you plan to stay, the more you need to carry things with you. But there is a danger of over packing items that you would hardly use or carrying six pair of trousers when three would do. Many small things you can buy at your destination, so traveling light is always preferable.

Identity Card – Can be any government issued photo identity card, like your driver’s license. Even you are not flying, it is important to carry one or more IDs with you.
Beginning Oct. 1, 2020, if you plan to use your state-issued ID or license to fly within the U.S., make sure it is REAL ID compliant. If you are not sure if your ID complies with REAL ID, check with your state’s department of motor vehicles. Otherwise you will be refused boarding.

Printed / Electronic copies of your passport and identity card. In case they are lost, you should be able to access them online. I keep printed copies in carry on and check in baggage within letter or A4 sized envelopes. Also I have back up of scanned images in Google Drive.

Cash – Carry cash with you. There have been many times when credit and debit cards are not accepted and there is no nearby ATM. Sometimes the ATMs are out of cash or broken down. Have some in your wallet or purse, and the rest in your carry on bag. Better not to keep cash in one place.

Credit Cards / Debit Cards – For domestic travels, most of the time the cards will work, specially if you have Visa or MasterCard. The other cards like Amex or Discover are sometimes not accepted by smaller merchants. In some remote places, you may be charged an extra fee by the merchant for using a credit card. Though illegal, many small establishments get away with it.
If you do not have enough cash on you, pay by credit card, and try to get a photo proof that the merchant had charged extra for using the credit card. Such extra charge would be displayed on a small note near the cash register or pasted on the wall. Take a photo. The credit card charge that is made is all inclusive of the cost of the items plus the extra credit card fees – you cannot separate later on how much extra you paid. When you get back home, call your credit card company and reverse the extra charge. Though it may be a small amount, sometimes less than a dollar, this kind of extras should be discouraged and reported.

Trip Details -Make sure you have all your itinerary listed out which includes dates, the location, your flights and hotels. If you are traveling solo, it is important for someone else to have a copy. As most of my travels are on my own, I usually sent a detailed email or message to one of my friends closest to the location you are traveling.

Flight booking details – You will need it when you check in. Though at airport the agent can look you up by your name or even your driver’s license, it is much faster if you have a the flight booking details with you. Now with the automated check in machines at the airports, you will need your flight details. Have it printed out or should be accessible on your mobile.

Hotel booking details – Another omission people do is to not have the hotel booking details with them. It may happen that you booked a hotel three months back and the confirmation email is buried within hundreds of other email. It has happened numerous times that I had showed up at the hotel and was told that I did not have any bookings with them. This is more prevalent if you are booking through a third party hotel booking sites. You will need the booking or reference number for the hotel to locate you. Either have a printout which you can hand over to the hotel clerk, or show the details from your mobile. Also local phone numbers of of the hotels, and the local numbers of the booking sites in case you need to call up for changes, cancellations or any other issue.

Travel Insurance – Is that important? Most think it is not. Most often you will not need it domestically. If you travel often, it is better to have one. Make sure you take a annual travel insurance instead for a single trip unless you are going to make only one trip within twelve months. It is cheaper to get an annual one than buy many single-trip insurance.

There are a couple of types of travel insurance – the main difference is whether you want trip cancellation included or not. The difference of premium is substantial so you need to think whether it is worth it or not.

Medical Cards – Carry you original medical cards. If you have to go to a doctor or even an hospital, they will want to see the original cards.

Phone & Chargers – Take your primary phone. If you have a secondary one, take that one too. Right now phones and tablets may have different connectors from USB-A to USB-C, or Lightning. Carry the chargers for each of them. Do not depend on strangers to lend you one. I generally carry one charger in my carry on with a couple of different USB cables. Other chargers are in my check in bag with other USB cables. Remember that chargers for your iPad or Laptop increases the weight of your carry on. Also, buy an international plug adapter, specially for overseas travel. This is different from voltage adapter, which I never needed but you might depending on the electronics you are carrying. Most of the modern chargers and electronic items can deal with both 120 volts and 220 volts.

Emergency Contact -Information in your wallet / handbag / luggage including your name and phone number / email address.

Non Essentials

• Zip lock bags
• Small trash bags
• Pacsafe or similar safe bags.