Tips for Traveling OverseasA trip to an offshore spot that you have never visited is always invigorating. It’s aneye opener that there are a lot to see, learn and enjoy. I was only 20-year old whenI boarded my first international flight to London. Later I was on my business tripsseveral times but the ‘first thing’ always comes with some special feeling.Before my first foreign trip, I ended up messing with everything during packing andit reminded me of two famous characters in ‘Three Men in a Boat’ by Jerome KJerome. And I left my passport at home, set for airport and returned from half of theway. By the time I reached airport, I wore a tired and disheveled look, picking upglances from many for wrong reasons.

I don’t like you to do those mistakes. Here are three important tips – or you can say itsuggestion – for you before jetting to overseas.

Hotel business cards: Asking for the business card at the front desk is the first thingthat I do upon my arrival at an overseas hotel. Even if I lose my way, I will still havethe name and physical address of the hotel written in local language. Though Englishis an international language and second most spoken tongue in the world, havingsomething written in a local language will always be of great help.Carry cash: Though you can get quick cash through ATM, some US banks chargehefty fees for using ‘out of network’ ATM service. As an alternative option, you maycarry a good amount of cash so that you can pay that much fee at a time at an

airport ATM. However, I will always discourage you from carrying a hefty sum ofcash; otherwise you may find yourself left with too much local currency after yourtrip ends. Both Fidelity and Charles Schwab provide checking accounts that won’trequire minimum balance and will pay you back for all ATM charges includingoverseas fees.Six-month passport regulation: The date of expiry on your passport is quitemisleading. In US, the foreigners are allowed to use their passports until the datementioned on them. However, some countries will deny you entry if your passport isgoing to expire in less than six months. This is because if some unexpected reasonsforce you to stay there longer than your planned vacation, it is important for you tohave a valid passport. To avoid such kind of problems, it is better to renew yourpassport in time, at least nine months ahead of expiry date.Experience makes a man perfect. After a few overseas trips, you will find yourself inmy shoes i.e. you will start advising others who are jetting to an exotic destinationfor the first time in their life.

Author BioGet to Know Me Better. Hi, I'm TINA! I am a financial planner, blogger, and freelancewriter and digital marketing consultant. The idea of starting a finance blog has been hitting me for long; I took it seriously after falling into a spiral of finance debacles and recovering from it.