Protect Yourself While Traveling Cheap

Vacationing on a budget brings a host of hazards including illness, travel delays and unsafe conditions. Particularly if you are visiting a third world country, you need to consider your back-up plans for worst case scenarios. Assess the potential risks of your travel destination to appropriately prepare.

State Department Advisories

If you are planning a trip to Africa, the Middle East or South America particularly, there are some inherent risks due to political and social turmoil. You may think you are an experienced traveler and can handle the risks. You may also be traveling to a remote tourist destination far from the controversy. Do not be so sure. The US State Department issues regular travel advisories for areas at risk of problems like political coup, infectious disease or hostility toward foreigners. Check the website before you book plane tickets.

Travel Insurance

Buying insurance can bloat an already tight travel budget. This is not an expense to spare, however. Travel insurance is particularly important if you are taking cheap flights with multiple layovers; your luggage is easier to lose or damage. If you are staying in hostels, your belongings are at a greater risk of theft. Likewise, if you are staying in less expensive border towns, the security will be looser. Travel insurance can protect you in all of these scenarios.

Check Passport and Visa Rules

Traveling in Zimbabwe, you are required to keep two blank pages in your passport. Similar rules exist in a number of smaller nations. If you do not meet this requirement, you can be sent home or, in worst cases, detained. Just because you are backpacking, hiking or otherwise “roughing it” does not mean you will face less of these rules or regulations. You may meet more regulation in these less-modern hotels and motels than in fancy resorts. Arm yourself with the knowledge of your requirements and rights.

Bring Cash Reserves

There are still a lot of towns, cities and even countries that do not take credit cards and traveler’s checks. When you are traveling to inexpensive destinations, you are most likely in places where Westerners do not like to go. Once Westerners frequent the areas, they become more expensive. Without a high number of Western tourists, these areas will not have Western conveniences like credit card processors. The good news is: unlike pricey European cities where the dollar is worthless, it is a hot commodity in developing countries. You don’t need much cash to live like a king, but you do need some.

Read the News

Many of us ignore the papers while we are on vacation. We turn to a good book, a cold drink and a little conversation. Do not ignore the news outlets while on vacation. Simply turning on the television for 10 minutes or picking up a local paper once every few days is all it takes. If the political situation is changing, if a flu pandemic is hitting the country, if a tourist has been beat and mugged down the street, it will be in the paper. You want to know about these things.

Tags: Passport, State Department Advisories, Travel insurance, Travel news, Visa