Here are a few general travel tips. Take a look at may Travel Guide section to see travel tips for individual countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Italy, Austria and much more….
Passports
Your passport is your most valuable possession. It is a good idea to take a photocopy of your passport with you, when you travel and keep it somewhere safe. Also have a note of the passport number.
Lost Passports
You have to go to your nearest consulate or embassy, to get a temporary passport which will enable you to travel home. You will need a police report confirming the loss/theft of the passport, your copy of the lost passport or at least the passport number, 2 passport photos and a credit card or money to pay for the temporary passport.
Staying Healthy
In Asia only drink bottled water. Check that the seal on the bottle top is intact.
Use hand gels to wash your hands before eating. Getting sick is not always a result of what you have eaten. It could be he bacteria from something you have touched, for example money, so religiously wash your hands before eating.
Don’t eat salad – you do not know what kind of water it has been washed in.
Avoid ice in drinks – ice is not necessarily made from mineral water.
Peel your fruit – again you don’t know if the fruit has been washed or what kind of water it has been washed in, so it is better to peel the fruit.
If you do get sick in Asia and it is effecting your trip then see a doctor. Most hotels will be able to call a doctor, who will see you in your hotel room. They have different and more effective types of medication to deal with symptoms such as stomach upsets or diarrhea.
Avoiding scams
Most Asian countries are safe for the foreign traveller, but there are many scams around.
When you are out and about people will talk to you and usually they are after something. It could be someone posing as a student who says they just want to practice their English or it could be someone posing as a guide – they will ultimately try to get you to a restaurant and leave you with an extortionate bill. Or they may try to get you into a shop with very pushy sellers. The best advice is to ignore anyone who tries to strike up a conversation with you on the street.
Taxi and Rickshaw drivers may try to take you to their ‘cousin’s shop’ or some other shop even if you don’t want to go there. You just have to be firm and say ‘no’. They may also try to overcharge you. If you are staying in a hotel, ask the concierge to organise a taxi for you. Out and about, it is better to fix a price in advance and if you have fixed a price for a return trip do not pay until the return part of the trip is completed.
Money Matters
My advice is to take a reiable ATM card, a credit card and some cash with you when you travel.
Let your bank and credit card company know which countries you are visiting.
Insurance
Make sure you have valid travel insurance when making any trip abroad. It is not worth risking travelling without it. If you were to get sick, have an accident or get hospitalised and you had no insurance, then you could end up heavily in debt, stranded and in a whole lot of trouble.
Even if you visit a European Union country and are from the UK, I would still recommend taking out travel insurance, as if you were hospitalised, you have the support and back up from your insurance company to get you home. Or if you have to cancel for medical reasons or you miss your flight through no fault of your own, you are well covered.
If you were hospitalised, the insurance company would also usually arrange accommodation and take care of a family member travelling with you or in serious cases maybe even fly someone out to be with you.
So always check your policy.
Always declare any ailments or illnesses you already have, when setting up your claim. If you fail to do this, your insurance company is not obliged to cover you in the event of an illness. It is called a pre-existing condition and if you have one then declare it.
If you travel more than once a year it is definitely worth taking out an annual travel insurance.
Keeping in Touch
Many hotels have free WIFI, many charge a fortune for it. Look for free WIFI. I have never been a great fan of McDonalds or Starbucks but nowadays I love both for offering free WIFI.
Try taking a spare unlocked phone with you, so that if you spend more than a few days in a country, you can buy a local sim card and phone cheaply. In Asia I find it VERY cheap to phone the UK from India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka.