Some pre-traveling advice...

PharCyDe · Joined: 10 Apr 2004 Posts: 64 Location: Tennessee, USA

Here are some tips I have found useful. I will continue to add to this thread as I think of things to do. Feel free to add your own tips as well!

1. Plan your trip in depth.
2. Do research on prices.
3. If your traveling by car: Get the oil changed, check the tires, and make sure all lights are working properly.
4. Try to use everything that could spoil while your gone. If its not used then throw these items away.
5. Make sure all bills are paid.
6. Put your newspaper and mail on hold.

If you have any more tips please add them!

peachexploration · Joined: 09 Apr 2004 Posts: 10

Good Tip: Always check the weather especially when going to another country. They're winter may be our summer in the USA. For instance, if you like warm weather, the best time in Sidney, Australia would be in January when the average high temperature is 80F :D

cocodrilo · Joined: 12 Apr 2004 Posts: 494 Location: Western Japan

Since I'm always travelling all over the place, I make it a point to call my credit card company to let them know where I will be and the duration of the trip. This can help prevent fraud. Also, if they notice exorbitant charges (they call it "unusual spending habits") they may suddenly decide to cancel your card. This happened when I was in Austria and boy what a hassle that was!

As for advice on some things to do & NOT to do-
*NEVER carry excessive amounts of cash.
*ALWAYS have heavy-duty locks for your bags as well as luggage tags with the name INSIDE(I've heard stories of people on a tour where a fake conductor said "Oh, Mr Smith, we will bring your bags to your hotel." They read the names on the tags & then absconded with the bags!!!)
*Don't tip the Roma when in Roma. (Roma are known derogatorily as "gypsies") This only encourages them. The parents force their kids to do go begging, then use the money for booze and the like.
*ALWAYS have a "Plan B"
*ALWAYS carry your passport with you. If you are whitewater rafting in a foreign country, carry a copy of your passport in a waterproof bag.
*NEVER completely trust hotel safes or safety deposit boxes.
*ALWAYS bring stomach medicine & immodium.
*If you're a photographer, buy a lead pouch for your film. The pouch will protect your undeveloped film from harmful x-rays while going through security. "Film safe"? yeah, right...
*When in a foreign land and someone asks to buy you a drink, ladies, politely refuse. I have heard horror stories about bars from Bali to Greece where girls have been slipped a mickey, then.....You can guess. Bottled drinks are the safest, as it is harder to be drugged this way. If you leave to go out for a dance, finish your drink and get a new one when you return.

This above is not paranoia, yet honest advice from a seasoned worl-traveler and party animal.

PharCyDe · Joined: 10 Apr 2004 Posts: 64 Location: Tennessee, USA

very good tips! thank you for posting them because I would have never thought of some of them! I learned a few good things hehe!

Laura · Joined: 16 May 2004 Posts: 446 Location: San Francisco

When travelling in areas with suspect water, bring your own personal filtration system. I got a great one (I think at Magellan's) that is a sports bottle with an ingenious system of fliters in it. You put the water in, and it's filtered and treated as you squeeze it out to drink it. It's great if you're thirsty and there are no water vendors around -- you can just fill up at a random water fountain or tap.

If you have a cell phone and it's not Tri-Band GSM, switch to one the next time you have to replace your handset. International cell phone calls are expensive (99 cents a minute if you're in England, $4.00 in China) but they're good to have in an emergency. And you can save a lot of money if your phone supports SMS -- on my plan international text messages are only 35 cents each -- much cheaper than a phone call!!!

Use one of the free web-based email companies to give yourself a temporary travel-only address. This way people can reach you and you can reach them, but you won't have to deal with your home mailbox which is probably collecting spam and a lot of other things that can wait until you get back. You'd be surpised all the places in the world where you can get email...even in Kathmandu Nepal and Lasha Tibet!

Leave a photocopy of your passport with a friend, and bring a photocopy and a couple of extra passport sized photos with you when you travel. It makes it easier to replace a lost or stolen passport that way.

If you are travelling in Western Europe and many places in Asian (Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea...) don't worry about bringing traveller's checks or chaging money before you leave the US. Just bring your ATM card and credit card and use it there. You get the "bank rate" of exchange consistently applied, and the convenience beats shopping around for a good money changer. Just makes sure you check to see what extra fees, if any, your bank applies so that you don't get any rude suprises!

PharCyDe · Joined: 10 Apr 2004 Posts: 64 Location: Tennessee, USA

Oh my...that water bottle sounds amazing. I am very picky about water and would love to know if it is indeed Magellans or not...how much are they? I definately am interested in getting one though.

Laura · Joined: 16 May 2004 Posts: 446 Location: San Francisco

This isn't the brand I have, but it looks pretty much the same to it:

http://www.magellans.com/store/Health___Hygiene___Water_Bottles___PurifiersFH321?Args=

squirrel · Joined: 11 Jun 2004 Posts: 74 Location: Bucharest, Romania

Hmmm... I've been hearing about people who don't drink water from the tap when they go to other countries...
I went to Paris this year (my first trip outside Romania...) and had tap water... nothing happened! I guess it all depends on the place you go to and how well you adjust to the local environment...

Laura · Joined: 16 May 2004 Posts: 446 Location: San Francisco

I wouldn't expect people visiting a major city in an industrialized first-world country like France to have problems with the drinking water, to tell you the truth. However, if you're going someplace with less advanced sanitary technology, then you need to watch out. We were explicitly warned by the hotel management in a couple of places in Burma and Thailand not to drink the tap water, and were provided with bottled water to drink instead.

I drank the tap water in China in the hotels (but not on the train, no way), and didn't get sick at all. Of course, I was in major cities...it's probably different out in the countryside in places where there's not even any sewage treatement.

cocodrilo · Joined: 12 Apr 2004 Posts: 494 Location: Western Japan

Most deluxe-grade or above hotels have their own water purification systems (Cabo San Lucas in Mexico has their own desalinization systems!!!) so you are generally safe drinking water at the reputable hotel chains around the world. I have never had any problems in any part of Asia, when staying at the nicer hotels. If I have to buy my own water, I usually stock up on a few liters(I chug water at night!) and bring a refillable bottle with me when I go out during the day.