There are a variety of travel topics that bear repeating and updating from time to time. Packing lists from ten years ago should probably replace “suitcase full of books” with “download books on iPad”. Tips on using a “cell phone” as sea (don’t) are gone, as smartphones bring new abilities. Safety too deserves another look from time to time as we were reminded on a recent Holland America Line sailing.
Part of the in-cabin television programming was a channel all about the different itineraries Holland America Line offers around the planet. More the stuff dreams are made of for me, the itineraries are broad, diverse and require way more time than I have available but the presentation ended with some good tips for how we can travel wisely.
Let’s hit the highlights:
- Always Arrive A Day Early, No Matter What- A great tip that we have recommended for quite some time, I like that Holland America takes it a step further, making coming in to the embarkation city a must-do. Especially if flying in to the embarkation port, these days there are so many reasons for flights to be delayed that flying in the day of is just not a good idea.
- Never Put Your Home Address On Luggage Tags- In today’s world where anyone can take your address, enter it in Google Earth and see where you live, criminals can virtually “case the place” like they might have had to do in person in the olden days of a decade ago.
- Make A Copy Of Your Passport And Travel Documents Before Leaving Homehas been good advice for a long time. Exchanging those copies with others in your travel party even better. Today we can and should upload those copies to an online storage cloud like your Sky, Google or other cloud drive for worldwide access.
- Don’t Wander Into Unknown Areasis still good advice, worldwide. Every city has a “bad side of town” which may or may not be apparent to someone new to the area. Part of a good personal security plan, also add in not to carry a lot of cash, multiple credit cards or wear jewelry.
The goal of lists like this is to enable us to be travelers as opposed to being tourists. Travelers carry handbags across their chests as opposed to over the shoulder where they can be easily stolen. Travelers carry an extra form of ID in addition to a passport, know a bit of the local language and notify banks and credit card companies when visiting foreign lands. The distinction between a traveler and a tourist can often be subtle but thinking about safety topics in advance enables us to travel wisely.