Keeping in touch on the road
1. Take a trip to your doctor before you leave and find out what injections you need to fend off the nasties in your intended destination. In the UK you can check this out before visiting the nurse by calling NHS Scotland.
2. Don’t bother writing all you addresses and phone numbers down in your diary. Diaries like backpacks, can get lost in transit or stolen. Instead write it all in an E-mail and send it to yourself. This way you can always log in at an internet café and have your digital Filofax at your fingertips.
3. Don’t obsessively plan every little detail of your trip. Room to manoeuvre is always useful because you never know what’s around the corner. That all inclusive travel pass might well be half the price if you buy it when you arrive, instead of over the net.
4. Don’t presume the rule of the road is the same wherever you go. A green man flashing in Sydney doesn’t mean the traffic stops coming and Pelican Crossings in London only work if the driver coming along hasn’t had a bad day.
5. Try and get a quad band phone for your travels. These will work in most countries and will save you a lot of hastle in the case of an emergency. Once you’re set up where you want to be, look into buying a cheap Sim Card and get your phone unlocked. This way you save money and if the card’s a dud, you still have your original to fall back on.
6. Never buy travel insurance with your airline. Check out www.insureandgo.com for the cheapest deals around. They also provide cheap cover for diabetics where others charge through the nose for this.
7. Last but not least, pick up something you can only buy in the place where you stay. It might not seem exotic to you but for someone special back home, it might make their day.
