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You are excited about your trip abroad but worried if unexpected events could disrupt your plans. Making a travel checklist can help make your experience relatively hassle-free. • Being well-informed about your destination in advance keeps you confident and relaxed. Get all the information you can on the places you are visiting from the Internet, travel agencies, travel guides and tourist offices.
• See that all your travel documents are in order. This includes your passport, visa and ticket. Some countries require that your passport is valid for at least six months when you enter. Children above a certain age (varies for different countries) require a passport. If the child traveling with you is not your own, it is advisable to carry consent forms from the parents or other responsible guardians.
• Be aware of airline security rules and basic baggage rules which specify what you can and cannot carry in your hand baggage. Due to security threats, there are many restrictions on what you can take with you. Knowing about this in advance would make it much easier to go through airport security.
• Make sure your hotel bookings are made in advance as it may be difficult to get reservations at the last minute in a foreign country. You can even plan itineraries and sightseeing in advance.
• Travel budget planning is important. You don’t want to spend more than you have to. If you can estimate how much you are going to spend on food, hotel stays, shopping, travel insurance and emergencies, you would have a good idea of how much you trip would cost you before you travel. • Be aware of your credit card limit so that you don’t get into trouble with the law for exceeding the allotted amount. Make sure you have the phone numbers of your credit card companies. • Try to travel inconspicuously so that you don’t become a victim of thieves and pickpockets. Going with local customs when dressing helps. If you have any valuables, keep them in the hotel safe or in a secure bag strapped to your body, if you want to carry them around. It’s best to leave your expensive jewelry at home. • Tag your entire luggage (inside and out) with your name, address and telephone number, so that it can be identified if misplaced or stolen. • Every country has a specific list of articles which are prohibited. So find out what applies to your destination and make sure you are not carrying these articles. Finally and most importantly: get travel insurance to enjoy peace of mind. It can cover many things – from trip and hotel cancellations or interruptions, lost baggage, and medical emergencies and evacuation and to natural disasters and acts of terrorism. Make sure you buy a travel insurance policy from a reputed provider such as IMG (International Medical Group). Rich, a Fort Worth police sergeant from Texas, USA, has this to say about Patriot Insurance from IMG which came to his daughter’s rescue during her hospitalization abroad, “I recommend that everyone traveling abroad gets insurance from IMG. I certainly will!"
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