Once you have booked your vacation and are all packed and ready to go, you are full of excitement and not expecting anything to go wrong. Sometimes, disasters happen though and if you do not want your vacation to be totally ruined, you have to deal with it the best you can and enjoy what time you have left away.
There are things you can do to try and prevent things from going wrong or at the very least to minimize the stress they will cause you.
Copy Everything Twice
Take two copies of all your important documents, such as your passport and insurance papers wherever you travel. Leave one set of them with a trusted friend or relative and take the others with you, but do not keep them anywhere near the originals. There are some disasters where these could prove to be invaluable.
Passport Holder
Passport Lost or Stolen
Losing your passport can be a dreadful experience. You open your purse or case and it has disappeared. You try really hard to remember when you last had it and wonder could you have left it at the airport you have just flown from? You may never find it but one thing is certain, you need to do something straight away.
You should report your loss to the local police and then make your way to the nearest embassy. The embassy will be able to arrange an emergency passport just to get you back to the states at the end of your vacation. They are only valid for a short period though and you will need to apply for a new passport once you are home.
Before you leave home, research what documents you will need for an emergency passport and make sure you take them away with you. These include a passport size photograph, photo ID, proof of US citizenship such as your birth certificate and your travel itinerary. This is also a situation where the copies you took could be very useful.
Wallet Lost or Stolen
It can be a catastrophe if you suddenly find you no longer have your wallet. It could have all your cash and cards in so now you find yourself with no money. The first thing you must do is report the loss to the card companies, and some of them will take steps to get you a new one sent to where you are staying.
There are ways of getting some cash quickly so that you can enjoy the rest of your vacation. Read this to find out more about a quick loan or speak to the embassy. In some circumstances, they will arrange emergency funding, but it will only be enough to cover your basic needs.
Lost Luggage
What do you do when all the luggage from the plane has come along the conveyor belt and yours is not there? The first thing you should do is go to the airline desk and file a claim. Do not leave the airport until you have done this. Hopefully, within a day or two it will turn up and the airline will send it to you where you are staying, or at home if it is the return journey.
The airline will probably have a baggage claim area and you should check to see if it is there. They may need proof that it is your luggage before handing it over.
If you are one of the unlucky ones and they have no idea where it is, you could find yourself without any changes of clothes or toiletries. This can be avoided by making sure you have the basics that you need in your carry on bag. One set of clothes and some soaps and shampoos should be enough to start with, and also you should have some sunscreen in there if you are visiting a warm climate.
If your luggage is never found you will be able to make a claim against the airline, but they will want a list of everything that has gone missing. It helps if as you are packing for your vacation, you make that list and then it will be ready of the need arises.
Illnesses And Injury
Being taken ill or being injured in another country can be very upsetting, especially if they speak a different language. You could find yourself trying to explain what is wrong and the medics not having a clue what you are saying. Many major hospitals have translators, so hopefully, this will not be too much of a problem.
What could be a major problem though is the payment they will expect for the treatment. Before you leave home you need to make sure that your health care policy covers you while you are vacating overseas. If it doesn’t, you either need it added to your policy or you need to take out a separate policy especially for healthcare in the country you are visiting.
Then when you are at the hospital or seeing a local medic, they will be able to claim their payment from your insurance company. You should also consider medical evacuation cover so that if you could be better treated back in the US, the expenses’ of getting you home will be paid.
If you are staying in a remote area or camping have a first aid kit in your luggage so that you can deal with minor injuries yourself.
Before you leave for your vacation, look at the address and phone number for the embassy in the country you are visiting. As well as these details being useful if a disaster happens, their websites usually also contain a list of hospitals and medical services. You can find the embassy by going to USEmbassy.gov. It’s always useful to know this before you travel.
You should have your insurance documents with you as well as the contact information for a friend or relative at home if you are traveling alone.
Then there are sensible things to do that can help to prevent illness, such as only drinking bottled water. There may be nothing wrong with the water where you are staying but it is not worth the risk to find out.
Whatever goes wrong, you should try to stay calm as you will deal with it much better if you do.
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