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Preparation Tips
Cash - Find a nice, thick rubber band. Cut a piece of
cardboard about the side of a folded dollar bill. Use this as a backing for the
half-folded cash you need just for that day. Wrap the thick rubber band
around it and it helps keep it in place when you are seated on that chicken bus,
train, etc.
Air Evacuation Insurance: Think about air evac insurance. I have
back issues so thru our auto association, I purchase a travel insurance package.
An excellent general insurance program that includes air evac is here with
Travelex
Plus. This outfit was recommended by a travel agent. Note the
$500,000 air evac coverage.
Check with your employer's health insurance. Find out what is and what isn't
covered overseas.
Meds - Take only what you need in the form of prescription. Leave them in
the dispensed container. Carry them in your carry-on luggage (my budd, when he
met us in Costa Rica, packed his insulin materials. You guessed it...luggage
showed up...not).Put a small plastic bag (zip 'n
lox works well) in your purse. When you queue up for the x-ray machine, put
all that schtuff in your pockets into it. Beats fishing it out of their
silly plastic tray when you are scrambling to catch that announced flight.
Jewelry - Do an inventory. Are those rings, watches, necklaces, etc.
necessary, needed, and country-appropriate?
Credit Card/ATM Check:
1. Open your wallet and take out every piece of plastic. Do a
'yes/no' to see if it is really needed. Take only those needed.
2. Xerox the front side of each, now the flip side.
3. Give the data to a trusted friend. Fold a duplicate into 1/4's and slam it in
the back of your passport. Make sure numbers are there for reporting lost/stolen
cards.
Credit cards ... Take the one that offers the most travel assistance and
take the contact numbers for the "I am in the soup...help-line." In our
case, it is our Continental Airlines Chase Card.
Call that credit card company and say, "I am going to be in Panama. Note in
advance that I authorize hotel, food, in-country transit, etc." Chase keys this
right into the account so that when they run the outliers software, I don't get
pinched when I am out looking for some obscure coffee bean on a plantation that
interests me. Our daughter has the account number to cancel if lost/stolen.
ATMs...do a quick net search to see what ATMs are available. Flip the
card over and type that provider and the name of the country.
Leave a signed check with a trusted friend/relative (in our case, the
travel insurance has a hotline which expedites the transfer of those funds).
Leave a rough itinerary (I need to keep quasi-in-touch) in case of
emergencies. My daughter has periodic phone contacts with hotels that I am
likely to be at. She can find me every 3rd day or so.
Accounts - Our daughter has the number, address, etc for every account I
have-- bank, mortgage, brokerage, savings, retirement, etc. As well, she has a
key to our strong box at the bank and the addresses/phone numbers to the HR
offices of my wife's and my employers. In the unfortunate case of our deaths,
she:
1. can access and draw on the accounts to handle probate;
2. has a copy of our will, and
3. knows that between all of our work insurance, the travel insurance, and the
credit card purchase insurance, she and her sister are wealthy women<grins>.
Have good travel suggestions to send along? I would be
glad to post the best ones. Send them along
here.
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