Travel Tips

A FEW TRAVEL TIPS

Global Connections' mission includes helping people travel safely, wisely, & enjoyably. Some rules for traveling safely & comfortably are obvious. Others aren't so obvious, but can make all the difference in the enjoyment of your trip, the condition you are in when you return home, & the memories you will have later.

Please keep in mind, this page has odds & ends of travel tips, not a comprehensive treatise on safe, healthy, & enjoyable travel. (For that, we have some great Travel Books & Travel Helps to sell you.) Also, Global Connections cannot be responsible for the way you understand or use these tips, or for the accuracy of the information in them. Any tip you get should be taken for what it is--a piece of information for you to consider how it may work for you, and to check out on your own before you depend on it.

Here are some of the tips we have found, in no particular order:

	In a recent issue of "Travel and Leisure" I recently found these two tidbits:
	1. You can get overnight delivery of any of 75 foreign currencies from the Chase Manhattan Corporation by ordering online at www.currency-to-go.com, or by calling 1.888.CHASE84 & saying "Code 2040." There is a $10 delivery fee which is waived for an order of more than $500.00.
	2. The amount of merchandise you can bring into the U.S. duty-free ranges from $200 to $1200, depending on your destination. You can find your limit by going to www.CUSTOMS.GOV/TRAVEL.HTM and clicking on "Know before you go."
	"Know Before You Go" is certainly a wise motto. Learn something about the places you are going to visit. Get a good travel book & study it before you go. Go to the library & read about the geography, the history, the people & the customs, & learn a few words or phrases of the language. Take a small dictionary or phrase book with you, such as one of the Language Aids for travelers we have for you.
	Make copies of all important documents & carry them separately from the originals. Copy your passport & visas, your itinerary, record of your traveler's check numbers, & numbers of your credit & bank cards. Keep your most important items in a security wallet under your clothing. Take extra passport pictures.
	For children traveling with you, put a copy of their passport & your itinerary in a Security Pouch around their neck.
	Take all money, tickets, credit & bank cards, & medicines with you in your carry-on bags or securely on your person. (This should be obvious, but we know a traveler who recently put all of her money in checked baggage that was lost!)
	Before you leave, check your local newspaper for currency exchange rates for the countries you will be visiting. Change only a little money (e.g., $50) before you leave, because you will always get a better exchange rate abroad than at home.
	Take some traveler's checks for "back-up," but exchange most of your money by using your major bank's ATM card. ATMs give you the very best rate of exchange. Minimize your transaction fees, though, by estimating your total monetary needs as best you can & changing it in one transaction, as most ATMs charge the same fee for all transactions, large or small. Remember, though, not to change too much money, because changing money back costs you both ways.
	Take only a few (or one) major credit cards with you. The exchange rate with credit cards is almost as good as with ATMs. Leave your gas & store credit cards at home. You can rarely use them overseas, but if you lose them, you have a lot more cards to cancel.
	Pack lightly. A good rule of thumb is to put out everything you think you will need, & then make yourself leave half of it home. Pack it into your bags & carry them around for a few minutes. If they are too heavy to carry easily, take some more out! Take some old clothing to discard on your trip to make room for your souvenirs.
	Keep a running log of all purchases, with prices written down in the foreign currency & the U.S. equivalent.
	Carry a string or fold-up bag everywhere you go. In many parts of the world, bags are not provided for purchases.
	In countries where the water isn't safe, buy bottled water, but make sure the seal is intact. Remember that ice can carry virulent germs. If you definitely want iced drinks, take sealable "baggies" with you, seal the ice in the bag & immerse that in your drink.

The above is just a little random "potpourri" of travel tips. Check this page from time to time to see what other tips emerge.

Do you have some great travel tip you would like to share? If so, please tell us below: