7
Documents and insurance
Getting your documents in order for a long trip isn’t nearly as much of a hassle as it sounds – just a case of sorting out your passport, any necessary visas and travel insurance. Many countries either don’t require visas or make it easy for you to pick them up in neighbouring countries. But it is useful to consider the all-important departure countdown.
Passports
Without a passport, you’re looking at a short trip. Probably to the airport and back. Even Canadians need a passport to enter the USA these days. You can supposedly travel without a passport within the EU, but bring it along anyway. Many hotels still want to see a passport, and besides, do you really want to risk finding out if the Portuguese immigration police will just whisk you through with a smile and wave of the hand?
Two or more passports
The important thing for dual or triple passport holders is that you pick one passport – presumably the one that grants you the most visa-free access into other countries – and only use the other for emergencies or to get around work-permit issues. Leave a third passport at home with your document copies so it can be mailed to you if a crisis should arise. It may be tempting to swap when you can save a little money on a visa, but, especially when travelling among neighbouring countries, this isn’t a good idea as you need to be able to demonstrate a clear travel history to customs officials. Any gaps will raise suspicions. To keep the customs process at borders moving smoothly, it’s best if you avoid bringing up your multiple citizenship.
OBTAINING A PASSPORT
Australia Normally issues passports within three weeks; can be done online or at a post office, but you must be interviewed. Additional fee to process in two working days. Detailed guidelines on website.
Valid for: ten years
Canada Can take up to four weeks (not including mailing time), ten days if you show up in person. No renewal available, new passport must be purchased, and photocopies of identity documents (eg driver’s licence) must be signed by a guarantor. Express handling: two to nine days for an additional fee. Urgent: same day or next day (only available on case-by-case emergency basis).
Valid for: five or ten years
New Zealand Ten or three working days, depending on how much you want to pay. Or call-out service, when urgent delivery falls outside of working hours.
Valid for: ten years
South Africa Four to six weeks, so apply well ahead of time. Form DHA-73 can be picked up at any Home Affairs Office, which also accepts your completed application.
Valid for: ten years
www.home-affairs.gov.za/index.php/civic-services/travel-documents
UK Three-week service at Post Offices, and one-week service at Her Majesty’s passport offices (not possible with first-time passports). Passport Customer Service Centres in London, Liverpool, Peterborough, Glasgow, Newport, Belfast and Durham offer a premium one-day service after completed pre-booked appointments.
Valid for: ten years
USA All first-timers must apply in person. Handling takes four to six weeks. Two to three weeks expedited processing can be requested, with an additional fee. Or make an appointment to visit one of the fifteen regional passport agencies near you. If you’re lucky, they will expedite in eight days.
Valid for: ten years
Visas
Visas are essentially stamps (but increasingly stickers or entire documents), inserted into your passport by immigration officials or embassies or consulates acting on their behalf, that grant you permission to enter their country for a specified period of time. There are other conditions that can be included as well – such as the right to work, the right to re-enter the country multiple times and the right to extend your visa – which may require special approval. Much of this depends on which passport you hold. Each country has its own set of agreements with other countries, with fees yo-yoing (with diplomacy) in the region of £20–90/$31–138.
Many countries require no visas for some passport holders, or simply hand out visas at the airport or border crossing for free or for a small fee. Otherwise, they can take anywhere between a day and a few weeks to process, but they can usually be taken care of within a few days if you opt to pay an additional fee to expedite the application.
The big question is whether you should arrange for these before you leave or at embassies and consulates along the way once you’ve started travelling. For shorter trips, you should try to get it all taken care of in advance. For longer trips it simply may not be possible. Some visas are activated the moment the stamp goes into your passport, and may expire long before you even set foot in the country.
Keep in mind that you may not want to disclose your real job on a visa application. Doing so could mean additional paperwork, higher fees and a shorter visa stay. A journalist or travel writer is often better off writing “editor” or “author” or “writer.” Consider if there may be any sensitivity to your job before filling in the blank.
It’s uncommon but not unheard of for some developing countries to issue 48-hour visas at the border that have to be extended in the capital, which may mean some unpleasant backtracking, depending on your itinerary. And those who are winging it with their travel plans should watch out for visa applications that require itineraries, with specific ports of entry and exit. If you want to keep your dates and itinerary loose for the moment, take care of the visa when you’re in a neighbouring country and have a better idea about your intended route. Plus, if you’re turned down for a visa at home, you can certainly try again at a neighbouring embassy.
Strategy for getting visas before you go
If you’re planning to work legally in a country, apply for that country’s visa first since it must be arranged from your home country. Next on your list should be the first country or two you plan to visit, if a visa is required at all. Then look at the country/countries you may plan to use as hubs, since extended and multiple-entry visas can sometimes be more difficult to arrange at borders, but only pursue these if the visas are activated on entry. After that, go for as many visas as you have time for, looking at the more “exotic” countries first (again, only if the visas are activated on entry – if not, they may expire by the time you arrive).
Getting visas once you’re on the road
It’s almost always possible to pick up visas at neighbouring countries (or even distant countries, provided there’s an embassy), but do some planning. Arrive before the office opens to secure your place at the beginning of the queue, which will invariably develop. With a small staff, all it takes is one person with a complex case in the queue ahead of you to delay the entire process for hours. Remember that granting visas is not compulsory, and appearance counts (more at some places than others), so dress as smartly as your limited wardrobe allows. A clean shirt and trousers should be fine, though you’d be advised to subtly cover any startling tattoos and remove conspicuous body-piercing for the visit. Also, you may be asked about where and when you plan to exit the country, so you should arrive with some idea: bring along a guidebook to help you figure things out if you need to make some last-minute decisions. Bring plenty of photos as well. It’s likely you’ll be asked to provide two to four identical photos. Most don’t mind if they’re colour or black and white, but bring both just in case. Every major city has such photo facilities, but it’s better to have plenty taken in advance, so you don’t need to get more taken for every application.
Knowing the entry requirements – and how to get around them (a must-read for those buying tickets as they go)
Some countries require you to have an onward ticket and substantial funds to support yourself while in the country. A credit card or two plus the crisp notes of your emergency cash are generally sufficient for the financial aspect. It also helps if you look presentable. In fact, you should make a point of pulling out your backpack’s best for border crossings and flights because officials can, even if you’re holding a valid visa, deny you entry. As for the onward ticket, it may seem a little problematic if you’re travelling overland or buying plane tickets as you go. There’s an easy solution. As noted in the section on one-way tickets, you can simply make a fully refundable booking using your credit card on the internet at a reliable site, print out the confirmation of the ticket and booking and then cancel the ticket without penalty once you’ve entered the country. You can also do this at a major airline office, which can issue you the actual tickets. Just make sure to confirm (ask for a confirmation in writing) that they can be cancelled without fee from the city where you plan to cancel them.
Other important considerations
- Some countries will not allow entry if you have a certain stamp in your passport. Israeli stamps, for example, may mean refusal into some Arab countries. In such cases, consider getting the stamp on a separate sheet of paper, which can be temporarily taped to your passport. The other two options require substantially more effort: obtaining a new passport or altering the order in which you visit countries to avoid stamp conflicts.
- Be aware of local holidays, as visa-issuing offices at home and abroad are likely to be closed.
- Some countries don’t have embassy representation. In such cases, find out if it was formerly a colony, and of which country. Then contact that embassy or high commission instead. It may not be able to offer you a visa, but they should certainly be able to point you in the right direction.
- Many countries require that your passport is valid for at least six months beyond your anticipated stay.
Insurance – why bother?
Here’s the single most important thing you need to know about travel insurance for an extended trip: get some. Why? All it takes is one mishap – a drowsy bus driver, a patch of sand when you try to brake your rented scooter, a knee twist during a trek, a bite from a malarial mosquito – and your family might be stuck selling their home to cover your rescue by helicopter, air-ambulance ride home, surgery, plus ongoing treatment (which may not be covered by your home insurance policy). All this could easily top £70,000/$107,800, not including any ongoing medical expenses. A comprehensive health-insurance plan may cover some of your medical expenses, even those incurred overseas, but it’s not likely to pick up some of the major rescue and repatriation costs. Even among countries that have reciprocal health agreements (such as those in the EU), you will not be fully covered, and certainly not for repatriation. Not all travel insurance is created equal. Most of the best policies aren’t cheap, but that doesn’t mean the most expensive policies are the best.
If, at the last moment before your trip, you get terribly sick, called up for jury duty or robbed, you don’t want to get stuck with cancellation fees on top of it. A good policy will cover this, which is why you should book some flight insurance at the time you book your ticket, provided you’re booking more than a one-way flight to get an overland journey started. Also, if your trip is disrupted for an emergency, the insurers should assist with arrangements to continue your trip once you’re ready.
Also, no one plans on defending themselves in court while abroad. But if it happens, it’s unlikely to be cheap. Say you hit a local cyclist while driving a rented car on a difficult-to-navigate road. Or scuff a Mercedes. Travel insurance is about the only way to prepare for such an unfortunate event.
DEPARTURE COUNTDOWN
You could theoretically get everything together in less than a week. You might pick up an ulcer in the process, but you could do it. You’d also pay more, not be fully vaccinated (you’d have to look for places along the way to get the additional shots) and miss out on valuable pre-trip research. Better to start six months in advance.
SIX MONTHS BEFORE DEPARTURE
- Get a passport. If you have a passport, make sure it has several blank pages left, and will still have six months of validity left by the end of your trip, as some countries require this cushion for entry.
- Start thinking about the things you’d like to do and see.
- Figure out what sort of jobs, volunteer programmes or courses you’d like to do. Gather applications and apply for those that require advance submissions.
- Consider your budget. If you don’t have the funds for the trip you want, perhaps pick up some extra work before you leave.
- Start surfing the web for plane tickets.
- If you want to get a hepatitis A and B combination vaccination that’s good for ten years, you’ll need six months to get the injections. If you plan to travel for more than a year and hit many developing nations, this is certainly worth considering.
FOUR MONTHS BEFORE DEPARTURE
- If you’re going by yacht, check ideal times and places to start your trip.
- If you’re going by cargo ship, try to book passage.
- If you’re flying, book a plane ticket and take out insurance at the same time to cover you in the event of cancellation.
- Arrange visas for any extended stays due to work, volunteering or study, plus the first country of entry (if necessary) and any countries with complex visa requirements.
- Make arrangements for your flat rental.
TWO MONTHS BEFORE DEPARTURE
- Get a medical check-up.
- Check the CDC website ( cdc.gov) to see which vaccinations you’ll need, then call around to
find the best rates.
- Get credit cards and bank cards and meet your banker to set up your finances so they can be handled while you’re away, either with help from your parents or via internet banking. Try to set up a line of credit.
ONE MONTH BEFORE DEPARTURE
- Buy your travel gear. If you’re bringing or sending ahead new hiking boots, start breaking them in.
- Get any discount cards (ISIC, Teacher Card, Youth Card, HI Card) you need.
- Sort out your mobile phone, if you plan to take one.
- Visit a dentist.
- If you need to get more rugged glasses, order additional contact lenses or determine your prescription, visit an optician.
ONE TO TWO WEEKS BEFORE DEPARTURE
- Start taking anti-malarials if you’re heading directly to a malarial region.
- Leave parents or friends scans of your documents (credit cards, passport etc) that can be sent to you in case of an emergency. Or store them on dropbox or a secure online site
- Take care of any veterinary needs your pet may have before dropping it off with a caretaker.
- Arrange for your mail to be forwarded if your parents or roommate aren’t willing to handle it.
TWO TO THREE DAYS BEFORE DEPARTURE
- Pack.
- Reconfirm flight.
DAY OF DEPARTURE
- Run over this checklist one last time.
Finding the right insurance policy – you need to check two things
1. Find out what you’re covered for already so you can pick out an insurance package that covers the gaps. Without this knowledge, you’ll most likely waste your money on double coverage. Unfortunately, this means digging through the fine print. You might start with your homeowner’s insurance policy to see if it covers lost luggage (even your parents’ policy, if their home is still your official residence, may have you covered). Airlines will reimburse international travellers for up to 1131 SDRs (Special Drawing Rights), which equals about £1240/$1910 per passenger, but the process is time-consuming and potentially exasperating. Check to see what kind of travel insurance your credit-card company offers, and whether it is solely for tickets or goods purchased using the card. Some credit cards offer flight insurance in the event of a plane crash or other transportation accidents. Then take a look at your medical policy. Will it cover you for illnesses or accidents incurred overseas? If so, photocopy the list of activities it will cover you for (or ask your insurer to send you the list). Finally, check out your life-insurance policy. Will it still pay out if you die bungee-jumping in South Africa or mountain climbing in the Andes?
2. Check the small print. Oddly, insurance policies have their own little small print for what they will and won’t cover. There are really no rules or reason to it. Most prefer to bury this information, knowing you’d rather hack off your arm than dig through the fine print of their policy (instead they pad their list of benefits with things like “money transfer referrals” and “embassy referrals” – which is nothing more than a referral you could find in half the time with a search on the internet). So you need to do a bit of digging. But only a bit. Click on the PDF outlining the details of the policy. It’s typically three to five pages. Simply scan through it for a paragraph with a lot of exotic activities. Once you find it, check if it says you can or can’t do these things with coverage. If you plan to do some rock climbing in Thailand or trekking in Nepal, for example, you want to make sure you’re covered for these things.
You should try to find a policy which covers plenty of other activities, too – you may work up more courage than you think once you start travelling, and it’s hard to anticipate what opportunities may come your way. Even timid travellers work up considerable nerve to try new things after a few months on the road.
Rarely included
Base jumping, boxing, cliff diving, competitions, crewing on vessels between countries, cycle touring, endurance tests, free climbing, heliskiing, horse jumping, hunting, ice caving, ice hockey, martial arts competitions, motor sports/rallying, mountaineering (free climbing), open-ocean yachting, parachuting, piloting a private aircraft, polo, scuba diving (below 30m), ski acrobatics, ski jumping, skydiving, solo sea-sailing, stunt flying, using weapons, yacht racing.
Sometimes included
American football, bouldering, bungee-jumping, canyoning, caving, football, glacier crossing, gliding, hang-gliding, high diving from platforms, horseriding, horsetrekking, jet-skiing, marathon running/triathlon, martial-arts training, mountaineering with ropes, mountain biking on trails, motorcycle touring, rock climbing with ropes, rugby, skiing (off-piste may require a guide), sledding on bobsleigh/skeleton/luge, snowboarding, snowcat skiing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, speed skating, tobogganing, trekking (over a certain altitude), waterskiing, whitewater rafting, yachting in territorial waters.
Usually included
Abseiling, baseball, canoeing, cricket, cycling, deep-sea fishing, elephant trekking, fencing, go-karting, hiking, hot-air ballooning (commercial tour), ice skating, kayaking, mopeds, motorcycling up to 125cc, mountain biking, overland expedition, paintballing, parasailing (behind boat), passenger in light aircraft/helicopter, quad-biking, safari, sailboarding, scuba diving (above 30m), sea canoeing, cross-country skiing, on-piste skiing, soccer, surfing, walking high altitude, weightlifting, windsurfing.
Other vital considerations
Some policies won’t cover you if you get hurt or injured in countries that
appear on your foreign office’s travel-warning list. Some provide excellent
emergency assistance, but little medical coverage. Best to get a few
brochures or websites and compare (start with insuremytrip.com, worldtravelcenter.com,
travelexinsurance.com or travelinsurance.co.uk).
If you’re checking online, be aware that some policies only apply to certain
nationalities. Find out who the underwriter of the insurance is (it’s almost
never the travel agency issuing it), and try to contact that company
directly and make a deal. Again, check what you’re covered for already. You
might take a look at the popular policy providers sosinternational.com and
travelguard.com if they
don’t appear in the comparison sites.
If you’re beginning your trip with an outbound ticket and no return ticket (you plan to wing it), mention this to the insurer up front as it can influence which policy you may be able to get. Some insurers allow you to give a “latest return date” instead of a precise date, and some allow you to extend your policy while you’re away.
Many policies provide 24-hour emergency assistance – a reverse-charge phone number you can ring from anywhere and get access to an English-speaking operator, who will keep you on the line while you sort out your troubles. With standard inexpensive travel gear, you needn’t bother with protection against theft unless it’s either included already in the policy you want or you’re carrying something expensive (very nice camera, watch, etc). Such items may be covered in your homeowner’s insurance, though. Besides, in the event of a theft, replacing your backpack, some clothes, toiletries and a pair of sandals with items available locally is going to be quite cheap and a lot less hassle than trying to get reimbursed for every little well-worn item.
Find out if your insurance provider will pay your expenses directly or reimburse you. In either case (but especially the latter), ask for and hang on to receipts for everything.
In addition to the comparison sites above, there are a few other insurance
providers worth checking out. Rough Guides – brace for propaganda – offers
travel insurance via World Nomads. It’s one of the easiest policies to
understand and offers an upgrade for more adventurous types. For a quick
online estimate, see roughguides.com/travel-insurance.
Documenting your possessions
Before final packing, shoot a short video or a bunch of still images of all your stuff. Date mark them and keep them in your camera in case any customs official accuses you of buying items (your iPod, camera, etc) in their country and tries to extract a duty fee from you. Useful also in case of any later insurance claim.