Trip Book

A number one requirement for me when I go traveling abroad is having a Trip Book along. This is a stiff cardboard folder full of plastic page protectors into which I put things like airline flight schedules, B&B confirmations, and car rental reservations. It's always proven to be extremely handy to have these materials available in my carry-on luggage when frustration sets in, when some clerk declares they don't know what I'm talking about when I tell them I've had a car reserved for six months. In essence, every piece of important paper where someone has confirmed something in writing or by email, I include. Naturally, you'll want to digitize most of this stuff and put it up on the web as well (see the post below for information on web storage).

Paperwork

One of the toughest aspects of world travel as I see it is trying to anticipate what paperwork might be required of you on the best days as well as the worst. In other words, having the confirmation of your flights, your various hotels, and your rental car is just common sense. But the need for paperwork doesn't stop there. For instance, you'll need an international driver's license if you intend to drive a car. They're only good for a year, so you will need a new one nearly every time you go abroad. And if you were to lose it, what would you do? Well, I make a digital image of mine and store it on the web so it can be accessed from any computer worldwide. I'll explain what I mean by, "on the web." I have signed up with a company called "Filesanywhere.com." If you don't exceed one gigabyte of information, you can securely store anything you like on their site and they make it accessible only to you -- FOR FREE. So, not only is a copy of my international driver's license stored there, but digital images of just about any piece of paper I think might be useful while on vacation is stored there as well. Things like passports, medical prescriptions, and credit card emergency numbers are up there as well. I also have proof of purchase documents for my laptop and my camera equipment. And how about birth certificates? I bet you can think of a need for one of those should you have to replace your lost passport while vacationing. So, there you have it. Think about establishing your own secure file storage for use in emergencies. Filesanywhere is not the only game in town. I've heard that "Dropbox" is good, too. Happy traveling, as Rick Steves would say.

The Cruise Packet Arrives

Yesterday the packet arrived from the cruise company. Though the envelope was pretty beat up and half open, it appears as though everything that was supposed to be inside is actually inside, including the e-tickets, the baggage tags, and a list of our fellow passengers. Counting down now as there is less than two weeks to go.