Well! You have taken care of the holy trinity of travelling .i.e. Airfare, Visa procedures, and Hotel accommodation, but is that enough? Travelling abroad can really be a daunting task. You don't really want to spend a fortune and suffer a below par experience. Would you enjoy a hassle-free trip where everything is well organized? (Who wouldn't?).
Then, it is essential to sort important tasks such as researching about activities at your destination, managing your finances and keeping important things handy. Hence, we present to you a comprehensive list of things to take care of before you leave your home.
1. Travel insurance: It shouldn't come across as a big surprise. You wouldn't want to go through the harrowing experience of losing your passport or luggage, missing your connecting flight, or falling miserably sick in a foreign country. Therefore, it's absolutely imperative to have good
travel insurance with you before you start your trip. It's even more significant if you are a senior citizen, but don't worry! There are quite a few companies out there offering
senior citizen travel insurance tailored to your requirements.
2. Taking care of your finances: Calculate how much money you are willing to spend on your trip and keep close to 30% on you in cash. You don't want to be hunting for ATMs in a foreign location where people speak another language altogether. Moreover, you can save on ATM fees for transacting on a bank other than your own. Lastly, don't expect that the local stalls or stands can provide the convenience of card transactions. So, make sure you have cash or local currency handy. Keeping a mixture of cash, debit cards and credit card is your best bet.
3. Keep a copy of all the details on you: Keep scanned copies of your passport, travel insurance policy, visa (if required), itinerary, Hotel receipts,
international travel insurance policy document, etc., in your email. Mail a copy to your friends (just in case). You never know when you need these details.
4. Research on your trips: Make sure you do a thorough research on your destination right from weather, culture, transport and so on. You never know where you find hidden gems. For instance, Udaipur offers tourists to travel rural India on cycles; you can enjoy a plethora of water sports just 550 kms from Mumbai Who knew?
5. Take care of anything expensive: It's always a good practice to keep your expensive phone, camera, tablet etc. at home to enjoy your trip thoroughly. You don't really want to keep an eye on them throughout your trip and worry about them getting stolen. In case, you think they are an absolute necessity, make sure you keep them in a separate bag and carry it everywhere you go.
Stay tuned for the next part for more enthralling travel trips.