While planning your next vacation or overseas trip can be exciting, its important to keep your safety and well-being a top priority during your organizational process. By taking some extra time prior to your trip to plan for the unexpected and to ensure all documentation required is in order, you are helping protect yourself from potential risk or a wrench being thrown into your plans.
Often overlooked, here are some important tips and items to consider when traveling abroad or across the border:
Keep Your Wallet and Valuable Items out of Sight.
Take precautions when venturing out on your vacation to ensure you don’t become the victim of a pickpocketing crime. Whether it is keeping valuable items in a money belt or in a buttoned up pocket, protect yourself and your items by keeping them safe and secure from unwanted attention. For an extra layer of protection, don’t store important items on the outer pockets of knapsacks and avoid using fanny packs as they may advertise the fact that you are carrying valuable items.
Check the Visa Requirements for the Countries You Will Be Visiting.
Whether you have a Canadian passport or you are a temporary resident who is currently living in Canada, it’s important to verify if there are specific Visa requirements for the country you will be visiting during your travels. Its important to check these requirements early on in your travel planning process in order to ensure that you have ample time should you need to request your Visa weeks prior to your travel dates. Canadian passport holders can check Visa requirements to their destination countries by visiting the Government of Canada website: http://travel.gc.ca/travelling/advisories
Check Travel Health Notices Before International Travel.
Before you head out to your international adventure, make it an important step to check the Public Health Agency of Canada’s website to see if there are any notices posted for your destination. This website, which is regularly updated, informs Canadian travelers of the various health risks, and recommended measures, that they may experience when visiting specific countries. Fore more information or to see if your international destination poses a current health risk: http://travel.gc.ca/travelling/health-safety/travel-health-notices
Keep a Scanned Version of All Important Documents.
From your passport, to your visas, to your travel insurance policy and contact information, be sure to scan all documents and store them somewhere safe online, such as emailing them to your personal email address. Should an unfortunate situation occur and you end up losing physical copies of your important documents while on your travels, having an online version ensures you are not left in the dark.
Heading out for a Weekend Trip to the U.S.? Make Insurance a Priority.
Although your brief trip across the border may seem harmless, without the proper travel health insurance, an unexpected slip and fall may end up costing you a great deal of money. By equipping yourself with the right travel health insurance, you can ensure that you wont have to experience financial implications due to a medical event across the border.
If you have any questions regarding the information above or would like to speak to a travel insurance specialist regarding an upcoming trip, our travel insurance partner, SecuriGlobe, is here to help you out. Representing up to 14 of Canada’s largest insurance providers, you can have the peace of mind in knowing you are getting the best travel insurance advice and policies available in Canada.