What to have organised before you leave home

So you wake up on a the soft warm white sands of Costa rica to find that while you were asleep ,
your wallet BAG and WALLET that was sitting next to you has be TAKEN .
And no its not a practical joke . lesson learned : BE MORE CAREFUL OF YOUR THINGS!!.

I could sit here and write a million words to the tune of what you can learn before you go on the TRIP OF A LIFETIME.. but some lessons in life are best learned when the actually happen .
Nothing personal against Costa Rica . i just used it as an example.

Did you have a back up plan for losing everything valuble? Because if you had to cut your trip short due to losing valubles it could have been a preventable disaster.
I learnt this the hard way in my first week at the start of my trip in the usa, with greyhound usa or the dirty - dog as i like to call it .

Make sure your bags are clearly named with a contactable address , email , and phone number

I think its time we write a list of to do's before you leave home and stop this random rambling....

FIRST ABOVE ALL --just imagine for a moment the worst has happened ..

You were that person in costa rica who woke up without your bag and wallet.
What are you going to do , probably curl up in a ball and cry . You may as well forget about your old bag now . its long gone..
But are you prepared to deal with this situation?
-Did you take out full travel insurance for the duration of your trip?
-Do you have back up identification , get a spare 18+ card or similar as back up before your trip

well heres a list



1) In your wallet make photo copies of licences, passport,credit card numbers, insurance card, travel intinerary,18+ plus card , photo of your loved on , ooppsss , anything worth copying COPYit
2) If you don't have a credit card , get a debit card or both so you can use it to make travel bookings over the phone ,or on the the internet . Your bank will help you with security ideas

for travel and will usually issue a debit card within a week to anyone with an account .

Put some emergency fund money in a sepperate account should the need arise

If you can pay off any debt owing before you leave home -GOOD ON YOU it's freedom

3) Take a cheap unlocked mobile phone that you can use in the country of countries your visiting , you could have a roaming plan or buy a sim card when you arrive if its cheap enough

4) Have an email account set up that you can store back up photos onto , and if you going to look for work while your there make an abbreviated resume' you can print out at an internet cafe.

5) Do a little research/reading up on some of the places you've planned to visit , learn a little of the local language if you can . at least the basic niceities like thank you and please

You'll be amazed at the nice response you'll get . probably the start of a one sided conversation you just dont understand, personally i think people become really interesting when they don't speak the same language as one another. Hand sign language starts coming out . funny faces
a great time all round really . Just remember your in their country they don't have to know your languange KEEP COOL

6)Tell a few people of your plans , i know you will any way . but you could give them a copy of your basic itinary if you have one and keep in contact by email every now and then

Note: Backpacking is safe , but you still need to exercise caution .

7) Organise your first nights stay after the long trip on the plane , and maybe a couple of days before each new destanation, it really helps when know where your going.

IDEA : you could have a sentence translated at http://babelfish.yahoo.com/?fr=avbbf-us very quickly on paper ALREADY PREPARED with an address you can hand the italian taxi driver who doesn't speak english , something in italian like:



Ciao Potreste prenderli prego al mio hotel all'azionamento
di mia dei 156 Mama, pizzaville. Roma Quanto quel costo?
poveri im Grazie Craig

TRANSLATION

Hi
Could you please take me to my hotel at 156 Mama mia drive , pizzaville. Rome
$$$$How much will that cost? i'm poor
Thank youCraig
Cheers to my Italian flatemate Fabrizio ,for that knowledge
Sorry if the translation is bad , but im sure the taxi driver will understand


When i arrived at 1;30 am at divinci airport in rome i didn't know the airport was 40 odd kms

from the center of rome , and i had no hostel reservation .

1)There are no city buses for 3 euros at this time of the morning

2)the taxi drivers didn't speak english

3)i had no address to give them anyway

4)i had limited euros on me

I heard the driver say 6 euros , he meant 60 euros at the hotel . i dint have the euros to pay him after the trip . he took me to the police station, i understood police in italian . i signed a form i didnt understand and paid him what i had.. 35 euros sorry driver.

i slept in a hotel reception for the night.

Lesson learnt.
i could have saved alot of trouble if i was prepared

in fact I might start using this with all taxi drivers , even in my home town now if they dont speak english well .

Side note : If your getting in a taxi ask a few different drivers for prices first , you might get a cheaper price if you have to take a taxi

Alright i got go to bed im tired

Good night
Craig M