Preparing for your Trip
Traveling, especially to other countries, requires advanced planning beyond which tour company you'll go with, getting the best airfare, where you'll stay, and which sites you'll visit. Unless you pay attention to the follow details of travel, a trip to the most exciting, beautiful and exotic place can be ruined.
Travel Document Requirements - A passport or visa and sometimes both are required to enter most countries. Check the U. S. travelstate.gov website several weeks prior to your scheduled departure date to determine the Country Specific Information to get requirements for the country you will be visiting.
Travel Warnings - When you exercise reasonable precautions to protect yourself and your belongings, traveling within the United States and abroad is safe. Travel to some countries, however, may involve increasingly greater risk. Therefore, before finalizing your plans to visit another country, I encourage you to visit the US Department of State travel website to determine if there are travel warnings or travel alerts for your destination.
Embassy Registration - When traveling to a foreign country regardless of its perceived safety, you should always register with the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in the country you are visiting. Registration lets the consular officer know where you are and how to reach you in case of an emergency and to provide evacuation assistance if necessary. Emergency assistance may be necessary if a country is experiencing civil unrest, has an unstable political climate or has experienced a natural disaster such as an earthquake or a hurricane.
Traveler's Health - Always carefully research the various conditions at your destination that may affect your health. These conditions include water, food safety, high altitude, pollution, required immunizations, etc. You will find the most current updates at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website. Depending on your destination, early research on required immunizations is especially important since you may need a series of immunizations over a period of several weeks.
Traveler's Insurance - Most of us think of travel insurance as a policy to cover cancelled flights and lost luggage. And these can certainly entail major losses. However, insurance to cover medical treatment, hospital care and medical evacuation is the most critical coverage for anyone traveling to a foreign country. These expenses can easily exceed $50,000. Since U.S. medical insurance is generally not accepted outside the United States and Social Security Medicare and Medicaid programs do not provide coverage for hospital or medical costs outside the United State, obtaining an inclusive short-term traveler's insurance policy is critical. Following are some othe companies offering traveler's insurance policies: http://www.insuremytrip.com/, http://www.travelguard.com/ and http://www.medexassist.com/. Also, check with your credit card company to determine if your benefits include international traveller's insurance. Finally, most insurers require that you purchase your policy within a fixed number of days after making your travel reservations. Be sure to research this requirement with your preferred provider.
Medications and Prescriptions - If you have pre-existing conditions, don't forget to carry sufficient medication for the entire duration of the trip. You may also want to carry a letter from your attending physician describing the medical condition and any prescription medication, including the generic names of the prescribed drugs. Any medications being carried overseas should be left in their original containers and be clearly labeled. Travelers should check with the foreign embassy of the country they are visiting to make sure any required medications are not considered to be illegal narcotics. Don't forget to take an extra pair of prescription glasses or extra contact lenses and solution. You may also want to take along a general medical kits that includes aspirin, bandages, insect spray, etc.
Personal Care Products - Birth control and sanitary protection products for ladies and safe sex products for both men and women are not readily available in some countries. Don't leave it to chance. Take your own.
Packing for your trip - When it comes to packing, I offer two words - pack light! Just remember that it is unlikely that anyone else will notice if you wear the same outfit on Wednesday that you wore on Monday. Don't sweat it. Besides, storage on trains, airplanes and rooms may be limited. And who wants to lug around a huge, heavy bag? Check out www.onebag.com for tips on "going pretty much anywhere, for an indefiinite length of time, with nothing more than a single (carry-on-sized) bag.