GETTING DOCUMENTS TOGETHER
So you are planning a trip abroad, have you gotten your passport in order? Have you checked to see if you need a Visa to visit the country your have chosen? Getting a passport takes four to six weeks under the normal schedule and $165 in fees, but they can expedite it in two to three weeks for an additional $60 fee and the cost of overnight mail. So plan ahead! Since the passport is valid for ten years, you can have additional pages put into the binder if you are traveling a lot and run out of room. I heard a horror story recently about a family at the airport on the way to the Bahamas when the woman who had planned the whole trip realized her passport was expired. Needless to say she didn't get on that plane; MORAL...better safe than sorry!!!
You also need to check to see if there is a visa requirement in the country where you are traveling. We have run into "surprise" nuisance fees like the $50 visa in Bali Airport to $300 Visa to enter Brazil; you had better have it in place before you head there, because there is no option to do so once in immigration. We met a couple in Buenos Aires that had purchased tickets to Rio but didn't check on the visa..the Brazilian government would not allow them in. So they bought tickets on to Argentina and dumped their Rio vacation at quite a loss. My husband has traveled many times to Saudi Arabia, and you must have an invitation letter from the King to get your visa, and it can take weeks.
If you find that you need to purchase a visa, we can recommend VisaHQ.com as a good company to work with. You overnight them your passports, they walk it through the visa process (for a fee) and then send it back to you. This does NOT happen in 24 hours...so again, TIP... plan often and early.
TRAVEL AGENTS VS. OWN YOUR OWN
Some of you will prefer to use a tour set up and controlled by agents. Certainly there is less risk in that, but waiting in the bus for some errant person to get themselves ready to go is not for us. Neither my husband nor I have the patience for that. So we travel as the master's of our own fate, even if it means that we have to get our messes cleaned up ourselves. Absolutely there is no guarantee that even if a travel agent has planned the details, that the details will work smoothly. I think the deciding factor is does your travel agent plan backup resources in each country and/or area where you will travel. In other words...you may be stuck making an international phone call from Italy to an agent in your hometown to try to resolve a problem that is immediate. Remember at best there is five to six hours difference in time, and your agent may be happily in bed while you are struggling through the problem in Italy.
WHERE WILL YOU GO?
So do you have this romantic image in your head of a lovely evening sitting at a restaurant on a hillside overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and watching the sun go down? Yes? Okay then where do you go to find that dream and make it a reality? Certainly you can watch the shows of various travel experts on television...that is a place to begin. You can also talk to your friends who travel and begin to formulate your ideas based on the experiences of others. You can also use the power of the Internet to research specific places and see what other people are saying about it. (TripAdvisor.com is a very good place to do this type of research.) For our trips I've done all three.
I remember one weekend catching a series of shows by Samantha Brown about South America. I had never even thought about going to South America, but by the time I watched all her shows in the series, I was packed and ready to go. Not literally, but serious enough to begin researching just how and where we might plan a trip to South America. What I ended up doing was buying a cruise from Santigo, Chile all the way around the continent to Rio de Janeiro. A cruise then is a great "survey course" It allows you to get a taste of a city or country without investing a week in each port. You will then know what areas appeal to your sensibilities enough to go back and sink into the place and the culture. For my husband and I, Buenos Aires was this place. We will definite go back to South America, and we will most likely head straight for BA...
I find that I plan a trip around a central point of interest. For example, 2012 was our year to go the the south of France to soak up the culture. Now we have been on the Mediterranean in April and nearly froze to death, so what exactly was it we wanted to see and do there... PROVENCE and the LAVENDER FIELDS!! So I researched when the lavender was in bloom...late June to the third week in July. That is where I began my search. Start with that event or sight that you've dreamed of and dig into the details from there. We also planned a three-week adventure into the United Kingdom based on seeing the Scottish Tattoo in Edinburgh. Tulip fields in the Netherlands are only available in the middle of May and you would kick yourself for going to Amsterdam in March and missing it...sides that, it is freezing cold there in March (been there done that.)
HOW WILL YOU GET THERE?
Planes, Trains, Ships, and Automobiles...all forms of travel have their pluses and minuses. Once you have decided on a place to go, figuring out the transportation is a really big deal. In today's market, the price of gasoline makes driving a challenge, and it also has greatly affected air travel. In the early 2000s we were paying $400 US to get to Europe. In 2012 we paid $1500 to get to Paris and back to Charlotte, NC. SO...if your transportation cost to get to a continent is larger, consider staying longer to get more value from your travel dollar. I consider that at home I would have daily living expenses too, so adding the cost of a place to live is the only additional cost once you are there.
If you are using an "Internet Travel Site" to research the purchase of transportation abroad, do NOT actually buy the ticket through the site. Use the site only for browsing the airline fees, and then go directly to the airline to see if you can get the ticket at the same price. Most likely you will be able to, AND when you need help with the ticket, the airline will be able to help you.
TRAP: The Airline cannot change a ticket created by a travel agent or travel site, and if you don't have immediate access via 800 number from Europe or where ever you are, you cannot get service to change tickets. I learned this the hard way after years of using Expedia, I finally ran into the need to change a ticket in France; Air France couldn't help, Expedia, France couldn't help, and the 800 for Expedia USA was for domestic contacts only. Only after I rented a car to get from Paris to our house in the south of France, did I find out that Expedia has a direct dial number hidden in their Contact US page where I could have received help. I'll just deal with the airline directly from here on out.
The best advice I've received about when to buy airline tickets is...6 to 4 weeks ahead of departure. Why on earth would you buy a ticket 3 to 4 months ahead of time and give the airline all that money to use at no interest. Prices generally are lowest in the two month prior to departure. That said, if you want to use your Frequent Flyer points, book early. There are only a few FF seats on any plane and you want to get your choice of routes. It's also good to know that when you fly using airline miles, you may not get the choice flight schedules or you may have to part with many more miles to get the schedule you want.
TRAINS in Europe are an excellent way to travel. Here's the thing to know...if you are traveling less than three hours, I wouldn't bother with first class ticket charges. You should investigate Eurail Passes (www.raileurope.com). With a pass you can travel multiple days through multiple countries...TRAP..Be SURE that you have your pass validated in the country where you begin your train trek. We forgot once and a snippy conductor made us get off the train and have them validated before getting back on; that was a lot of heaving luggage for my husband and a run to the ticket office for me. Also, if you are habitually late, you will not make the trains...they are punctual and wait for no one!
WHERE WILL YOU STAY?
Hotels/Resorts/Vacation Rentals Believe me we have stayed in our share of hotels...some good and some not so good. If you are not confined to a typical senior's budget, you might can afford the Ritz, but we cannot. Notably hotels in large cities are very small...I mean my bathroom is bigger than some of my hotel rooms. When looking for a place to stay I will scan what is available and price on a travel site, but I will also check out what people have to say regarding the place on TripAdvisor.com.Vacation Rentals Because we truly love having at least a partial kitchen available to us, in recent years we have begun to rent apartments in big cities as they usually give you more space than a big city hotel room, and you don't have to buy all your meals out. Once again, I only rent apartments or houses from people who advertise on acceptable websites like TripAdvisor and where I can read reviews by former clients. You will find, however, that most apartments or vacation rentals require a minimum of three days to a full week in order to book. So you will be limited to a hotel or B&B. When using a hotel, I like to use Booking.com because for the most part they do not pre-charge your card the way Expedia does.
On apartments and vacation rentals (villas or houses), be very clear to your emails to the manager or owner about your needs. In our case my husband is 6'3", and we just cannot sleep together in a "double bed." So when you seen an apartment listed with a "large double bed"...ask specifically how many centimeters that bed measures. What you will find is there are very few true King sized beds in Europe and NONE in England that I've found so far. The Brits will say they have a King bed, but in reality the bed is an American Queen. So here's the count: King Bed= 6ft in width or 182.88 cm Queen Bed=5ft in width or 152.40 cm Double Bed=4.5ft in width or 137.16 cm. Of course you can usually be safe if they have single beds but that isn't even as large as an American Twin in most cases.
If you have bad knees be sure that the apartment building has a "lift" or elevator. MANY do not and it can really be a problem. Also if they say 1st floor that is not on the ground level. Ground is street-level and 1st is the second floor by American usual count.
Timeshare My husband and I own timeshares and use them quite regularly. I've been trading my Outer Banks, NC timeshare since 1985...all over the world. People who get frustrated with timeshare trades are either not very computer savvy or don't want to plan until the last minute. TIP: start your search months before your target travel time. I've worked with RCI and Interval International and find most of their properties to be acceptable. Again...READ the reviews people from people who have stayed there before you choose. Also check the accessibility to main roads or a city (if you don't want to get a rental car.) Very often we put in a request for an exchange six months or more in our target area. That gives us a long time for a unit to become available and our exchange to work. There are very few timeshare trades in major cities as the resorts are usually in vacation areas rather than big cities. However, my daughter recently went to San Francisco on one of my trades. We actually put a request in for the exact dates she could travel for San Francisco, Vancouver, and New York City. She got lucky and we popped a spot in San Francisco about two months before her travel date. So start early and give the system a larger time spread if you can and/or multiple areas; you will surely come up with something that is good.
TRAP: Avoid disappointment and do not fall for "cruise deal" from RCI's Vacation Center. Bottom line is that if it seems too good to be true, then it is! Even experienced travelers can be "suckered" into a deal that is not really a deal.
PACKING FOR YOUR TRIP
Obviously you want to bring mix and match garments that allow you to make more than one outfit from the pieces. Also, unless you are traveling with the same people for two weeks, no one cares if you wear something more than once on the trip...so get over yourselves ladies. My husband is prone to wear or pack things for the trip that he calls "one way gear" in other words he intends to leave the piece in the trash in London and pack souvenirs in it's place.
We very often combine a cruise with land vacations because of the high cost of getting there. This begs the question, what about all those cruise dress up clothes you won't need once you are just walking around Tuscany. We take our free 50 lb bag packed with our everyday clothes. We take one extra bag usually smaller and more compact with dinner clothes for the cruise. Last year my husband was able to have two free bags because of his frequent flyer status, but this year we used the second bag as a carry on for him. What ever gets you there with what you need. By packing these clothes separately, we don't have to open it except on the ship.
Your carry on becomes incredibly important on overnight flights. Going over I pack my eye mask, noise cancelling earphones, Ipod, AMBIEN, warm socks, and any meds I need to take before sleeping. I also pack my documents, my Nook (for reading), and a change of clothing because I don't trust airlines. I purchased an under the seat bag that works well...UNLESS YOU ARE ON A DELTA PLANE THAT HAS BEEN MODIFIED TO HAVE BACK OF THE SEAT MOVIE SCREENS, THEN THEY HAVE A BIG BOX UNDER THE ISLE SEATS AND YOU GET NOTHING UNDER IT..uuuurrrrrhhhh
GETTING IN SYNC WITH YOUR NEW TIME ZONE
A few days before you leave, begin to eat and sleep closer to the time of your destination. When you get into Europe which is generally 5 to 6 hours difference than the East coast of the USA, you will arrive early in the morning. The reason I take Ambien on the plane is to try to get some sleep, but even if I'm not lucky on that score, I do NOT go to bed when I get to my destination. Begin then to get yourself acclimated. Eat on the local time frame...that can be quite different especially in Spain and France as they tend to have later dinner hours.
When traveling West several time zones, you will probably see "dinner time" several times. Snack lightly on the plane and then eat a light meal before going to bed on the new time zone. Particularly helpful is to eat a pasta meal and not heavy meats. the meats are not easily digested and you might feel too bloated to rest even though you are tired.
Believe it or not, the easiest transition is 12 hours...Singapore or South East Asia down to Australia. When you flip your world upside down, the transition going there is much easier. Getting back on your home time zone becomes more difficult.
Another tip is avoid salty food and alcohol on the airplane; this is definitely not going to help your system stay balanced and you will have enough swelling in your feet anyway..why add more!
AFTER YOU REACH YOUR DESTINATION...
THEN WHAT?
So you are in Rome and you know the places you want to see, but perhaps are intimidated by the idea of using the underground trains....what do you do? We most always begin a day in a large town by buying a ticket on the Hop On/Hop Off buses. The tickets are generally good only for the day you purchase them...so don't buy a ticket a 3pm. Almost all large cities have them, and they are a great way to get a look at a city while having a commentary about the history of areas in your own language. If you are in doubt as to whether there is a Hop On/Hop Off available just google it for that particular city. I haven't seen them available in Asian cities, but they are really prevalent in Europe.
If you are "underground savvy" you should at least try them in large cities. You do need to understand that it's important to look at the maps and find the destination or end of the line for the train you are entering. So if you're going to Notre Dame in Paris, which stop is closest, what is the color of the line for that stop, and what is the color of the line where you are. You will quickly find that if you know the direction of the train (last stop) and any connecting junctions, you won't have too much trouble.
TIP: Keep your hands on your valuables at all time in the undergrounds as it is an easy place to get robbed. Just try NOT to look like a tourist!
Another avenue is to check with your hotel concierge about local tour guides. I was in Kuala Lumpur with my husband while he was teaching a class. Each day I booked a tour guide through the hotel and these guides showed me the area without me feeling threatened or overwhelmed.
RENTAL CARS
We often rent cars while we are traveling. We have a portable GPS with European maps which we pack to help guide us. Please know that the driver will need BOTH their state driver's license and an International Drivers License: http://www.international-license.com/
In Europe, we have had better service and experience with EuropCar.com. They seem to work well with American travelers and also to work with you to resolve any issues that come up. We have also used AutoEurope.com which is an agency in the US, but one with a global interface. When we were confronted with needing a last minute rental in Paris this year, I was able to call them on an international 800 number to get some help. Never underestimate the value of working with someone who really knows how to support their customers no matter where they are.
TIP: Before you drive off in a rental car...here or abroad...do your own thorough inspection of the car. Take photos with your camera of ANY AND ALL blemishes, dents, and scratches currently on the car and do not take it off the premises until those are documented on your paperwork and you have a copy. I can tell you from a horrible experience in Spain that if they can hide these damages and then charge you for them, they will.
Another piece of important info is that all island nations drive on the left side of the road. That means that the driver sits on the right and all gear shift operation is done with the left hand. Take a page out of our nightmare and DO NOT rent a straight gear car in island nations. It will make your life much easier to have an automatic even though they are often more expensive.
MONEY
Navigating the banking system worldwide can be expensive if you don't set yourself up before you head out on the trip. For example, whereas you used to be advised to go to your bank and invest your cash into American Express Checks...TRAP...no one will take them any more!!!! If your bank charges you a premium for using any ATMs beside their own, you will be hit not only for using the ATM in Paris, but also for a TRAP..Foreign Currency Conversion charge.
I was a customer of a large USA bank for years, but when I saw how much their fees were adding to the cost of my travel, I began to look for another option. I located a small regional bank, who advertised that there were never any ATM charges. I then found out that they DID NOT charge me an International Exchange fee as well. So now everything time we use an ATM machine anywhere in the world, we just get our money and don't have to worry about the negative consequences. Again, today's banking environment is "customer hostile" and you have to be proactive to look out for yourself. If you cannot locate a regional bank that will work with you, look for credit unions as they typically have far less fees.
I have also found that Capital One has several cards that offer both reward points and do NOT charge International Exchange Fees. One cool experience to relate about Capital One (CO). Last year I was trying to book flights going to London. I kept watching everyday hoping that I would get a drop in price 6 weeks to a month from the travel date. One day I notice that Delta had dropped their price by $300 and I jumped right on and purchased my ticket. I had really wanted to use my Capital One points for the ticket, but didn't want to take the time to buy the ticket through the CO site. So I ventured over to the CO site after my purchase and low and behold there was an option to use my points for a new ticket or one I had already purchased. I clicked on the "already purchased" option and chose my Delta ticket and walla..they deleted the charge from my card and applied my points for it. HURRAH a company that wants my business...you got it Capital One.
TIP: NOTIFY YOUR BANKS AND CREDIT CARD COMPANY THAT YOU ARE TRAVELING AND WHERE BECAUSE THEY WILL SHUT DOWN ACCESS AND YOU WILL BE STUCK!
Of course you can make an international call to the bank and get it straighted out, but I made this mistake once with Capital One and they kept telling me to log into my account and send a secure message...now if were on a secure WI-FI, I might have done that but not on an open system where ANYONE could see my transactions and passwords.
STAYING IN TOUCH WITH HOME:
In the USA, we are immersed in technology. We have phones that connect with our email and texting. We have WI-FI in our homes, in our cafes, etc. Believe me it is not necessarily that way in other parts of the world. Now certainly you can find WI-FI cafes almost anywhere, but you will also have to pay for the use of their computers by the minute. You can even get your email on cruise ships, but their charge per minute is really high. So how do you stay in touch with people back home.
- Telephones: Do not assume you can just take your interactive phone with you anywhere in the world and get your email and make calls. Well you can if you are rich enough to pay the cost of the bill when you get home. I have a friend who came home to a $3,000 phone bill. TIP: Talk with your carrier about the REALITIES of using your phone abroad. We keep our phones operational only as long as we are on US soil; then we take the batteries out of the phone and store it in a baggie until we are back. Even then this year in Mexico, we were charged three roaming calls from Mexico when our phones were locked in the safe at the resort. Believe me AT&T took those off, but just how did they know where we were without our phones one???? That's the scary question to me and they wouldn't answer it.
- Because we travel out of the country several times a year, we have purchased an international phone from www.ekit.com. This phone will give us access to calls home and for emergency contact where ever we are and can be recharged $50 at a time. If we are to be in a country for more than a week, we also have some old phones that have been "unlocked" and we buy a local sims card to make local calls only.
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Email: As mentioned before, email is a good way to stay in touch, but if you aren't traveling with a computer and you can't use your phone, what do you do? We purchased electronic readers two years ago (Barnes and Nobel's Nook) and this has given us Internet access/email/and books to read on our travels without loading our suitcases with paperbacks or computers. One thing I also do is to notify my "jokester" friends not to send me jokes via email until I'm back home. This cuts down on a lot of deleting while using a cruise ship's email access!!
- Computer: If you are traveling with a computer, you can generally find access through your hotel or apartment to catch up on emails. My husband has travelled extensively in Saudi Arabia, and we found that using Skype to call from his computer to my phone or to my computer is a very user-friendly and cost effective means of communication. So especially in the Middle East, India, and the Far East, Skype is more reasonably priced than the International Phone from Ekit. TIP: Never use a resort/cruise/or public wi-fi to sign into your financial data online. This is a great way to get your identity stolen. There are new programs coming online all the time, right now a lot of people who are separated by miles are using Face Time since many new computers have web-cam built into them.
- Social Media: Since the increased popularity of Facebook and other social media, it is pretty easy to upload some of your digital travel photos and keep people up-to-date on your travel...as you are traveling. I find my Facebook friends always comment on where I am and how much fun I'm having.
LITTLE THINGS ADD UP!
So if you go abroad with the idea that you must have everything just as you left it at home, you need to stay home. The hotels, the food, the creature comforts are different everywhere you go. For example, I walked all over downtown Cabo San Lucas trying to find a place to buy a comb when I realized that I hadn't packed one...there are no "drug stores" in Mexico. The Pharmacias all over the world are just that...places to buy mostly prescription drugs...not sundries. We can get very frustrated over not being able to get the things we need even in grocery stores. So be prepared and pack the extra types of over-the-counter drugs you might need...like sleep aids, antihistamine/cold tablets, and specialty items that you are "addicted to." I ALWAYS travel with a prescription for TamiFlu and a heavy hitting antibiotic. I tend to get an upper respiratory infection which can easily turn ugly, so I go prepared for the worst. This year in France I got an abscessed gum and really was glad I had my antibiotic with me because I didn't want to have dental work done there.
PROTECTING YOURSELF
Now here's the thing...you need to always be aware of your surroundings. This is true if your in Charlotte, NC, New York City, or Kuala Lumpur. Taking care of your money and documents does require some planning:
- Your Passport is very important to you, but it is also worth money on the black market. When traveling to my destination, I keep everything very close to me in a small bag that goes over my head and fits right up under my arm. It still allows me access to my wallet and passport if needed. Some people recommend...especially for men...that you wear a money belt. Here's the thing, once you are in your stateroom on the ship or in your hotel, your passport and extra money is much better protected in a safe either in your room or in the hotel desk area. ALWAYS keep several copies of your passport ...one on you at all times. Many people ask for ID when you use a credit card and I like that. I've never had anyone challenge me for not having the actual document.
- Don't leave the country with huge sums of money on you. Use your ATM cards to get what you need a little at the time (reference the Money section of Enjoying the Trip. At least then if someone robs you, they don't have everything!
- Beware of SCAMS on the street: You may be approached by a woman holding a baby and be asked to hold the baby for her one moment, at which time she will try to grab your purse. You may have someone spill something on you and start to wipe it off to distract you...you say leave it, I'll get it!
GET SOME INSURANCE
Most USA seniors are used to having our medicare coverage and supplement insurance. However, does your supplement cover foreign travel? Perhaps not. And even if it does you should have a minimum of Medical Evacuation coverage. I have a friend who had a pretty serious illness at a resort in the Caribbean and got medically evacuated to Miami for treatment and then on home.
Here is a link to a site where various vendors of travel insurance is compared: http://www.travelinsurancereview.net/reviews/. I do NOT recommend Travel Guard as it took me 6 months to clear a claim for car damages in France. They are not easy to work with at all
My rule of thumb is that we buy cancellation insurance on big ticket items like cruises. But in 2012 I found Travelex.com and decided to cover our rental car, the bulk of our travel expenses for cancellation and interruption, and all medical, including evacuation. If you are a senior from the US relying on Medicare you must cover medical expenses yourself when out of the country.
Just so you know, if you use your Visa or Mastercard to rent your car, they cover some insurance on your rental car. This link give you a charge on exactly what is covered by your card:
http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/compare-credit-cards-rental-car-insurance-policies-1273.php.
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