Foreign Travel.......Another A-Z post. (Fort Sumter post click here)
Foreign Travel takes far more preparation, planning and organization then traveling within your own country.
- Do you have a passport?
- Do you need a visa?
- What type of currency do you need, and how long do you need to give your bank to obtain the funds?
- What is the exchange rate? Are you charged if you use your charge card?
- Will there be a language barrier?
- Will your electrical devices, such as your phone, computer and i-pad be compatible with the electrical outlets where you plan to travel?
- Do you need to make special telephone arrangements? Is your cell phone set up for foreign travel?
- Do you need to purchase skype or other such service to minimize the cost of phone calls back home?
- Do you need to upgrade your Garmin (or other GPS) to have directions in your travels?
My Canadian passport doesn't look as fancy as those! All very important things to remember. :) I always have things organized ahead of time.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the visit Christine Rains, good to hear from you again. I saw a big difference in my newer passport and that of my friend, so apparently they change them off and on.
ReplyDeleteI've traveled extensively throughout the U.S., but I've done very little foreign travel. No matter where I go I tend to plan carefully and make sure I'm ready for just about anything. The two foreign trips to Latin America I've taken went very well. I used to travel a lot in Canada before the passport requirement was put into place. I made a lot more preparations for those trips because I was usually working there.
ReplyDeleteI'm now following your blog.
Lee
A Faraway View
An A to Z Co-host blog
Great tips here. I rarely travel abroad so I'm very likely to forget many of these.
ReplyDeleteI don't get to leave the country much but I would love to go to Ireland and Scotland.
ReplyDeleteHeather
Heather M. Gardner
The Waiting is the Hardest Part
Stormy's Sidekick
Blogging from A to Z April Challenge Co-Host
We often travel to France from the UK to see my brother and his family. Usually I plan everything well, except for the one year I failed to notice my passport was out of date LOL!
ReplyDeleteSuzanne @ Suzannes Tribe
x
How did you deal with that?
DeleteGreat list. We get local SIM cards and generally don't call home from overseas unless it's an emergency.
ReplyDeleteMy Dad is approaching 90, so I need to be able to reach him and him me is the primary reason we make sure we can communicate.
DeleteI've never been out of the country. Except for one day in Canada and about five minutes in Mexico. I don't think either really counts.
ReplyDeleteThat visa one is important. Another thing that is helpful to pay attention to (if you are planning on country hopping) is checking if you need to travel countries in a particular order. Some countries won't let visitors come into their country from certain specific other countries. Some may simply make it more difficult to cross the borders, others won't let you cross.
ReplyDeleteA nice checklist for new foreign travelers. I didn't even think about that GPS tip. You can switch out your chip for a European chip to save yourself money with your cell phone. Cheers.
ReplyDelete