International Travel scenario

dream45 · May 24, 2010

Back packing in Greece provided some the the best memories I have had traveling. LIke any big city be aware of your surroundings. I was approached by a overly engaging person who captured my attention for about 15 second. A buddy of mine had my back and whistled from across the plaza. In the time it took me to turn around and back again the overly engaging person was gone. My buddy explained that as one guy had my attention another was picking my open zipper on my pack. Luckly I had my valuables in a locked zipper and I had someone watching my back.

Have fun but be smart.

chemist · May 24, 2010

Do NOT carry your passport with you - It's worth many thousands of dollars to the bad guys, and you DON'T NEED IT. Carry a photocopy of your passport, and leave the real one in a secure location. Verify my advice on the State Dept. website!

Carry cash, in multiple locations on your person. Nothing works like cash - In whatever medium is the local currency.

Carrying weapons in a foreign land is a mistake. Bare hands. your voice, your feet, but no tools. Think about how a cop in THIS country reacts to an alien who's packing a shiv. It's much worse in other places, where they see Americans as heavily armed and spoiling for a fight. Situational awareness beats any chunk of metal anyway.

I travel a lot - I'm going back into the breach in less than two weeks, and what a time it is to visit Korea! I've been there around eight times (and the same for China) in the past several years. Plus Britain, Japan, and nearby locales.

Americans are well taken care of in most civilized countries - nobody wants to yank the tiger's tail. Not that I'd venture into Nigeria or Yemen, mind you! But Athens? It sounds fascinating, and I'd bring lots of SD cards for video and stills.

Go! Go, by all means go! Only one in eight Americans even has a passport! It'll give you a perspective on the wider world that's irreplaceable. We live in just one country among hundreds, all of them filled with people who are remarkably like us.

Security-wise, I'm more concerned about my Better Half when she travels to Louisville, KY this week than I was for all her sojourns to Latvia or Dubai or Serbia. (We're a traveling family.)

It's a big world, and 99+% of your interactions with the locals will involve the coolest, most unexpected pleasures. A simple thing like a pocketful of US spare change really brings a thrill to country folk who don't get out much. Don't worry, but don't talk politics. Common sense!

drand · May 30, 2010

Take a small tactical flashlight. I would recommend one of the cheap made in China ones, don't spend hundreds on a Surefire that you would be reluctant to give up if you need to. Make sure that everything that you take you would be willing to give up and potentially walk away from and that doing so creates nothing more than an inconvenience.

Take multiple credit cards/ATMS on different systems and call them ahead of time and let them know you are going. Leave one in your hotel safe, carry one in a money belt and hide another one in your shoe or someplace someone won't think of looking. Create a fake wallet with the amount of cash that you think you will need for the day and no more, if mugged give it up and run. Have a piece of paper with a copy of your birth certificate and passport with all of your CC numbers and the bank telephone numbers to call if you lose one or have a problem. Always have $400-500 worth of cash either in your money belt or in your hotel safe. I have had ATM cards eaten by ATM machines, been in towns that only had one bank/ATM that wasn't on the systems that my cards used and now always make sure I have a few days worth of cash.

I do recommend taking a small multi tool like a Leatherman Micra, one of the very small rolls of duct tape (they have ones now that are an 1" or so tall and 20 or 30' long so it takes up no space), TSA locks for all of your bags, a small sewing kit, hand sanitizer (and get in the habit of using it every few hours), small first aid kit, a small laundry kit (like both of these <broken link removed> <broken link removed> ) as having laundry done by your hotel can be expensive and it is nice to be able to take only a few days worth of clothes and wash it in your hotel sink every couple of days.

Talk to your doctor before you go and get a prescription filled for Cipro and if you start to feel any stomach issues take the Cipro, I would recommend not taking the Immodium (do take some) for 4 hours or so unless you have to like on a travel day. I have found that I have had better luck letting my body get it out of my system and let the Cipro take the battle, I seem to recover a day or two faster this way.

If you have favorite OTC cold medication take it with you, while you can find many things most everywhere, you may not find the cold medication you are used to taking. You will be exposed to germs you are not used to, I almost always get a cold at some point for a few days on every trip and while I will take just about anything when I get one, my wife only likes to take her favorite remedy.

Enjoy your trip, if you use situational awareness and walk with confidence you won't have any problems and have a great time. The more you can interact with locals, the better your trip will be.