Going on vacation is great and lots of fun. Some things need to be left behind when you start out the door. Regardless of why you think you need them, while away from home it is usually a mistake to take them with you on vacation.
Take the First Step Before Your Travel Starts
If you are traveling to another country, the smartest thing you can do before setting one foot out the door is to set up an account with STEP. This is the Smart Traveler Enrollment program, which is sponsored and operated by the United States State Department. Enrolling in this program could save your life if you get into trouble when traveling abroad.
Travel Itinerary and Copies of Travel Documents
Make sure you leave photocopied images of your passport, including the pages with your approved travel visas that are relevant to your trip, with a good friend or family member. You should also leave a copy of your travel itinerary. It should be as complete as possible.
Valuables – Real or Imagined
Never bring expensive jewelry with you on a trip. The nicer an item appears to be the more it is a magnet for thieves, pick-pockets and muggers. This goes for fake, but expensive looking costume jewelry accessories too. If you have lost your valuables while travelling abroad, not even your travel insurance policy could help you recover those items. But for other things such as your health or other bodily injuries or illnesses you incur during your trip, your travel insurance policy may cover your unexpected medical expenses. Be sure to go online to compare travel health insurance quotes to save time and money from multiple insurance providers.
Laptop – Game Players – Expensive Cameras
These are good examples of things to leave at home. If you want to spend all day in front of a computer or game monitor, why spend the money to go on vacation. More importantly is that, as you travel, these things weigh you down. They actually get heavier as you walk from one end of an airport terminal to the other end of a second terminal. Traveling light is the best way to enjoy your vacation. It is also the best way to travel safely. Traveling light is traveling smart and ready to adjust to any situation.
The smart phones of today are necessary to bring, only because they can help you keep in touch with friends and relatives back home. These modern wonders also take excellent photography and can provide you a connection to the internet, with which to send photos back home. Other than short daily updates and posting pictures online, most of us do not need to bring expensive cameras and equipment.
Drugs of the Illegal Nature
If you have medicine prescribed by a licensed doctor, make sure you bring enough for 50% more days away from home than planned. That will almost always ensure you do not run out until you get back home.
Any other drugs or so-called medications that you may use from time to time should never be taken with you. Absolutely do not bring them with you on vacation because, in some countries, having them with you can ruin your life. In many countries, outside the United States and Europe, being caught with illegal drugs is punishable in the most severe ways.
Your Provincial Inhibitions and Biases
When you travel to foreign countries, remember that you are a visitor and a guest in that country. As long as your important personal morals are not threatened, be open to new things, new places, new foods and new ways of doing everyday things in life. Remember, you represent your country, like it or not, when you are traveling abroad. Think about what you say and how you say it, in the context of someone judging your country from abroad.
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