If I have travel insurance; pay for my flight with a fancy travel credit card, and have documentation to prove everything I own is actually mine then I should be alright. Unfortunately, for years I’ve cheapened out on travel insurance; bought the most inexpensive ticket (I’m a teacher after all) that has no ‘just in case’ clause, and have had no proof that grandma’s ring is actually mine let alone any documentation to prove its worth. And so a quick getaway turns into a nightmare…knock on wood, I’ve had some close calls but none that have turned into nightmares.
99% of the time nothing will happen… it’s that one time rushing to catch a train that the passport and wallet get swiped. The laptop falls onto a hard stone floor. The camera ends up down the Mekong with myself following it over a waterfall… all things that have actually happened.
And, as a fast rule, I try to never travel with anything that I can’t part with… kind of like I don’t argue with muggers and just hand over the damn wallet. In this day and age, however, just like everybody else I am tethered to my electronics that have a value beyond their initial cost: e-tickets, travel pics, work contacts, noise-canceling peace… So I’m not leaving home without them.
Okay, so no problem: I got the travel insurance and that fancy travel card that promises to replace everything; I'm covered right? Absolutely. That is until I have to prove that my grandmother’s ring I’ve worn every day since she passed is actually mine.
So planning forward for my next emergency I started looking at the advice given to diplomats and international business people from global rescue companies and have started to plan. Here is some of their advice.
Document: take pictures and upload them ideally on the cloud where you will have access to the information :
Scan any important documents: passport, birth and marriage certificates, SS cards… anything you might need to prove who you are and what you do.
Make copies of any credit and travel cards front and back.
Keep a running record and pictures of every country you've entered and exited including addresses, dates, and photos of visas and passport entry/exit stamps. (this comes in handy if you have to be found or are trying to prove something in case of a crime.)
Photos of all electronics with serial numbers and any information about a purchase (receipts, if you have them, would be great)
Document banking information - How are you planning on paying for that life-saving surgery if you're unconscious?
Make decisions: This is the difficult one but makes everything easier in an emergency and again upload all documents and decisions to the cloud.
Who makes life decisions for you?
Do you have a power of attorney in place?
Do you have a do not resuscitate order if you’ve been in a major accident?
What hospital will be flown to?
What if you're kidnapped? Is there money for a ransom? What directions do you want to be followed?
Have you written a will?
Trust: Someone who is NOT traveling with you and give them access to the cloud account. Remember minutes count.
This person needs to be:
Level-headed and have a good sense of urgency in an emergency.
Be able to tell time across time zones even when they are woken up at 3 am.
Have a passport and be willing and able to jump on a plane at a moment's notice.
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