Trip Planning

Trip Planning

To Enter your destination Country
You are shortly travelling, so there are things you need to look for.

A passport for one thing, however your travels maybe are to a neighbouring country, where you may not require such a document. You will know about that so we shall not dwell upon it here.

Should you need a passport, it is normal that most countries require the validity of the passport to be at least 6 months after your intended visit dates.

A visa (not a credit card) maybe required too. This is a separate document issued by the country of your destination, which authorizes you to visit their country for Tourism purposes. If you are visiting for business reasons, a separate visa will be required.

If you are planning on working in your destination country, a work permit will be required.

Embassies and Consulates
Most of the western world countries will have an Embassy or a Consulate of the destination country you propose to visit. If not a little research will be required to find the information you are looking for to visit your intended country or countries. A good travel agent or maybe the yellow pages will help you with addresses etc.

If you were looking for British Embassies, you would consult the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Tourist Offices
Again in my case if you were visiting London they are represented by the British Tourist Authority abroad and in the case of visiting the UK, by the London Tourist Board, who will be able to supply a list of addresses of local tourist offices, maybe in your country.

Trip Planning

Documents for Travel
When you travel by air to your destination, you usually have to produce your passport and Visas, if necessary, to the check in airline representative. If the airline is not happy that your documentation is in order they will not accept you as a passenger on their airline. So as you appreciate it is important to establish you have the required documents to travel.

What is also important of course is, can you get back into the country where you reside. If you are travelling on a passport of another country, from your country of residence, you must of course ascertain, what is required to get back into your home country. This often arises when people emigrate to one country, then go travelling and find they cannot get back into their country of residence because they have been out of the country for too long. In some cases, 3 months, in others 6 months. It can be very embarrassing when groups of people arrive back home and some people cannot get in when their friends are accepted. Be careful.

A good idea too, is to photocopy your passports pages and visas and while you’re at it all your credit cards and ID’s, birth certificate as well. Give a copy to a relative, family not travelling etc and a copy for yourself separate from your travel documents. Its amazing how often documents can be lost or mislaid and a new passport is perhaps had to be obtained in the foreign country you are visiting, so that you can get home.

Identification
When you travel 2 pieces of Identification (ID) is a good idea, passport of course, driving license is essential if you are driving in your destination area, birth certificate, bank cards which show your picture on is useful too. Somewhere else in your luggage you have copies of all these documents you can produce, should you have to replace the originals.

Money
Most people recommend Travel Cheques issued by Thomas Cook (Travelex) or American Express (AmEx) or even from your own bank, should they be acceptable in your chosen destination country. The main acceptable currencies being US Dollar (US$) or British Pounds (GB£). If Europe is your destination then the European Union Euro (EUR€) is probably best.

You probably know too, when you exchange travel cheques in a foreign country the applicable office whether it be a travel agency, or Bank or Bureau de change usually makes a service charge to changing them. On one of my recent trips the charge was quite high and a fellow traveller said why don’t you use the ATM machine. What a good idea, instant money and no charge. But when I got home there was a debit on my Bank account, to the effect that I had used my debit card in a foreign country and the charge was higher, than the service charge I was charged in the country concerned. So be careful.

Travel Cheques/Checks are one of the safest ways to carry money as they are insured. If you lose them you can usually get them replaced within 24 hours providing you have an office of the company who issued your cheques in the first place in the area where you are travelling. Maybe that is why most travellers have Amex or Thomas Cook Cheques.

Packing
Lots of people have different recommendations and you probably have your own too. On the comical side, I usually put out on a spare bed somewhere what I think I should take about two weeks before I go. One week before I go I reduce the amount of things by half as I’m thinking well if I take more money with me should I be short of something I can always go out and buy that item.

Do you notice too, that you always come home with more than when you went? Take old clothes with you, so when you have worn them and are ready for the wash, dispose of them or give them away to the locals, perhaps, if you are in Africa. They will appreciate them.

Souvenirs are usually bought, so if it’s a clothing item, wear it on your travels and bring it home for washing.

Your bags are usually heavier too when you come home and in fact get heavier every day of your travels, so go light in the first place and maybe a couple of days before your go, reduce the items on your bed by another percentage and then do your packing. Happy Packing

The Travelite FAQ is a good source for tips on travelling light.

One last thing too about suitcases. Can you carry them up stairs and down of course, as there are not always ramps for you to wheel them up or down. Have you noticed that? So a manageable suitcase or maybe a back-pack is the way to travel.

Trip Planning