Must haves for the international traveler

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CLKeenan

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So my new position at J&J is with Corporate Internal Audit which will require me to travel a lot internationally. The most 'international' I've been so far has been to Montreal. With that said, what do I need? What are some of the must haves? I have the passport already so Im one step ahead of where I was 3 months ago :)
 


1. Get a plug adaptor for your electronics - you can get an all in 1 for like $24

2. If you plan on lugging your laptop (obviously) get a roller bag. Changing terminals and flights are long walks, you dont want to carry that bag.

3. Never exchange all your money at the airport, just enough to get you into the city. Go out to the city and exchange little at a time, till you find some place that has the best rates.

4. When travelling to Asia pacific, and taking a cab, make sure they turn on the meter. Once they see its a foreigner, they will charge whatever they can whereas the meter is always cheaper.
 
if you have a smart phone - a currency converter app would be good.

Also, remember that outside the US they use the metric system. So know how to convert that. They also use Celsius, not Fahrenheit - to convert that take the number in celcius, double it and add 30. So if it is 12C --> 12+12 = 24+30 = 54 degrees.

I would also recommend that you take a photo copy of your license and passport with you when you travel and keep it in a place other than where you keep your actually passport/license. In the off chance that you have your shit stolen, it will help you out at the embassy when you need apply for new IDs.

Brookstone has a good adapter that will convert easily to just about any country that you will travel to.

If you can, exchange money at a bank and not an exchange stand. you get more value that way. Also, it may behoove you to open an account at a bank that has international branches like HSBC of research some others.
 
acemenace said:
taking a cab, make sure they turn on the meter.
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make sure they have a sign on top too. got into a mercedes "cab" outside the train station in prague, asked "how much" after we started off and the guy hands me a card with rates on it. 30 euros to go like 10 blocks. hahaha.
 
If you end up traveling somewhere really crowded, carry a really small bag (like 3 changes of clothes, toiletries, and laptop).
 
I'd advise you to make sure you know what the roaming charges and phone usage charges are for your cell phone if you bring it, and if it's not covered by your company.

Otherwise you may end up with hundreds or thousands in charges.

If you are relying on your own ways of communication, I would also look into skype and vonage. You can make cheap calls from wherever you are in the world as long as you have broadband access.
 
As for using cellphone -

1. get an unlocked phone and use the local sim
2. get the truphone app for iphone, nokia and other phone models. calls other truphone subscribers for free or pay very low rates for non subscribers. its a voip service, so you will need wifi on your phone.
 
I would also recommend that you take a photo copy of your license and passport with you when you travel and keep it in a place other than where you keep your actually passport/license. In the off chance that you have your shit stolen, it will help you out at the embassy when you need apply for new IDs.
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Might consider scanned copies in your email box or other secure online storage so you always know where it is.
 
1. One week of clothing appropriate to the season. Including one semiformal shirt and pair of pants. Think T-shirt, one pair of shorts, and a multipurpose pair of shoes.

2. Backup photocopies or scanned copies of all important documents. Health insurance, passports/visa, credit cards, debit cards ect.

3. Debit cards, credit cards, and $200.00 worth of small bills in the local currency. (Travelers checks are not accepted in a lot of places and are just a hassle)

4. Small cable lock for securing luggage while in transit or in hostels, a small padlock for lockers.

5. Electronic dictionary for primary language spoken.
 
I usually keep my passport and other important stuff in the hotel safe. It is much safer actually to leave your documents in the hotels than carry them around in strange places. I also carry at least two credit cards -- I leave one in my suitcase and keep the other in my purse. Comes in handy if you lose it -- been there and done that. =)
 
An open mind helps a lot and an understanding things get done differently in other places.
 
Check out TravelSmith (not an affilliate) for clothes: jackets, hats, vests etc. that won't crush and have a dozen hidden pockets for passports, cash, etc. A lock for your luggage, a water bottle carrier for your belt, a small digital camera with extra battery and memory, good shoes, and a hand sanitizer and you should be good to go.
 
Get hip on your immunizations. See if you can get shot records. Most companies require that you get a physical before you travel abroad anyhow. Be aware of the countries you're going to and disease.

Always have a good friend you can count on to call if you get thrown in jail or something.

Make sure you know how to do wire transfers abroad.

Also, make sure you got net backups available for all your portable devices.
 
All on employers dime and I'll be staying a hotel. Usually the hotels they put people up in are pretty nice so I won't need to be as paranoid about the security of my items while in the hotel.

Thanks for the tips so far guys!
 
jenzkc said:
you should always leave the passport in the hotel room safe and keep a photocopy on your person.
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My brother did that in Russia and when he got stopped by police he got a 'fine' for not having his passport with him.

Here in France you have to have ID with you at all times which means either an identity card or passport. I've never been stopped (seeing I'm white and female I'm not likely to ever be stopped) but my husband has a few times. Sometimes they have a scanner thing they use to check that the passport isn't fake. So a photocopy isn't enough.
 
- Get one of those hidden pouches for papers and money. I have one and it is great.
- Get a good roller bag, not cheap, good. Get a small one for short trips and a larger one for longer trips.
- Copies of important papers. Passport, Visa, etc.. I normally keep papers in the hotel safe and take the copies with me.
- Adapter for electric outlets

::emp::
 
I travel internationally a lot for work too. In addition to what has already been said:

- Get a second passport so you can be travelling and applying for visas at the same time.

- Get as many pages in your passport as possible, a lot of countries have standard and business passports, business ones have more pages.

- Keep your stuff locked up in the hotel safe, even in fancy hotels staff can not necessarily be trusted.

- See if you can get a bit of local currency before you leave. Airport converters always rip you off.

- Make sure you have a good system for keeping track of your receipts, assuming the company is reimbursing your out of pocket expenses.

- Sign up for points systems with both OneWorld and Star Alliance airlines. Figure out which one should be your primary airline and try to fly with them all the time so your points accumulate in one place. The other one is your backup when you can't fly with your primary airline.

- Get in the habit of recording a travel diary. Dates/flights/countries etc. You will very quickly forget where and when you have been.

- Make sure you have a good system for keeping all your boarding passes and ticket information in one place for when you have been too hungover to do the travel diary, or your travel agent didn't put your points number in and you have to retroactively claim points.
 
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