From losing your luggage to getting involved in an accident, one can get themselves into endless unforeseen situations when traveling. While planning your trip, it is highly advisable to have multiple contingency plans for yourself and others with you.
Your contingency plan can entail elements that you can control on your own – first aid box, extra luggage, and trackers for each other. However, how will you plan to cope up with safety, security, and hazardous weather conditions?
To answer your question, we have made a list of useful, lifesaving links to help you plan and equip for any out-of-control and uncertain situation.
Travel State Government to know about the safety and security conditions of your intended travel destination. It is pivotal to access a repository that has an updated record of the risk associated with traveling to a certain destination. One can also know visa requirements, laws, and U.S embassies/consulates information from there.
Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) is another service to assist you in making more informed decisions while you are traveling. It is a free service that alerts U.S. citizens about any emergency or safety conditions of their travel destination. Their services are divided among occasional, frequent and non-travelers.
Travelling Checklist will make you forget all those expensive travel planners. This tool is provided via the travel state government. It is a list of all the important items and documents that you will need to travel, from passports and travel consents to insurance documents, etc. Since these requirements can vary from one destination to another, they have provided a helpline to contact U.S. embassies or consulates from anywhere in the world.
Medical assistance is crucial when traveling abroad as you never know what medical emergency you might have to face in foreign lands. So travel state government highlights a list of options you can avail to deal with any medical emergency.
Apart from enlightening yourself on the medical regulations and insurance policies, you can benefit most from the option to ‘find a doctor or hospital abroad’. This lets you access an updated repository to find medical assistance in real-time.
To contact or visit the U.S. Embassy or Consulate, immediately visit the emergencies tab of travel state government. This is extremely useful when U.S. citizens are traveling abroad and are in need of immediate assistance.
It might always be any unfavorable situation; it can only be the language barrier, or navigation barrier, etc. but having contact details of U.S. embassy or consulate will surely help you get out of any situation.
Moreover, be very careful in getting medical insurance coverage. Most local insurance coverage options do not cover medical emergencies abroad. So make sure to discuss things with your local medical insurance provider. It is highly recommended that you get a flexible visitors insurance plan even if you are traveling for a short period.
Ideally, go for travel medical insurance that covers non-travel uncertainties, such as canceled flights, and stolen luggage to be fully at ease in your travel.