9 Tips to Safeguard Your Travel Documents

Loosing ones travel documents is not a thing anyone wishes for…but it happens!. From suddenly realizing your passport is missing to finding it soaked in puddles of water….May sound carefree right? It definitely can happen to the best of us.

Traveling is an exhilarating experience, but it comes with the responsibility of carrying essential travel documents. As light and weightless those folds of papers seem to be, they are capable of disrupting a finely set up trip if they as much as find their way out of your possession. Replacing a lost or damaged passport is pricey and most times time consuming especially if you aren’t in a capital city.

Here are some practical tips to ensure your travel documents are securely carried with you wherever you go. This knowledge will equip you to handle your travel documents effectively.

A quality travel wallet or organizer is purpose-built to hold passports, boarding passes, tickets, credit cards, and other crucial documents. Look for one with RFID(Radio Frequency Identification) protection. RFID is a technology used in modern U.S. passports (and most other countries) to store personal information. RFID passport contains a host of your personal information that you don’t want to fall into the wrong hands.

However, RFID passport can be vulnerable to skimming where someone can use a device to read your personal info without your knowledge.

This is why The U.S. Department of State recommends using an RFID-blocking passport holder or sleeve for added protection. This blocks the radio waves which can be used to read information on your passport.

This always works! All you need do is Duplicate physical copies of passports, visas, itinerary, and emergency contact information. Additionally, you can store scanned or photographed copies in a secure cloud storage or email them to yourself for easy access in case of loss or theft.

Now, not everyone fancy going around with neck pouches or waist belts, but then, it’s safe!

It’s no rocket science that the best place to keep your documents is on your very own body as this reduces the chances of theft or forgetfulness to some extent.

Money belts or neck pouches worn beneath clothing provide added security for passports, cash, and cards. These concealed pouches reduce the chances of theft.

Some border controls do not accept bent, rough or damaged passport. In as much as its important to protect your documents from theft, its also very necessary to ensure they are in good shape & conditions.

Extreme sun or humidity damages a passport, if you will be going on hiking or other water related adventures, it’s best you keep your documents at your hotel or the necessary ones such as driver’s license in a water proof bag. Your wallet should also be large enough so that your documents don’t get bent or wrinkled.

Thieves are everywhere. Yes! Read that again, no country is free from thieves & pickpockets…Its just that the level and frequency differ from country to country. Study your surroundings and do not get carried away. If at all you need to access your travel documents in a public space, don’t be carefree about it!. Be vigilant, take out your documents with caution and be sure you keep it back to its original place.

Do not leave room for doubts!.

The safest way to carry your travel documents is to put them in varying sizes of zip-lock bags before keeping in your bag/wallet or pouch as the case maybe.

This way even if you get something spilled in your bag, say your bottle of lotion, oil or syrup you wouldn’t have to worry about your documents getting damaged.

You yourself get drenched in rain, how much more your luggage or bags? So what happens if you just carry your documents In your wallet or bag without protecting it with a zip-lock pouch? You have successfully exposed your documents to a great damage and what happens to damaged documents?

They likely get rejected at border controls.

So always ensure your documents are in Ziplocs. It’s better safe than sorry.

Locks has always been a safe way of keeping your belongings off thieves. It may not be 100% foolproof, but to some extent it makes a thief take a pause and think twice before targeting your bag.

You use lock not only for your big bags but also for your back packs especially when traveling or in a crowded place.

Its always worth the extra efforts please.

As much as its important to keep your documents hidden and safe, it’s also of great importance to make them easily accessible by you.

Don’t go keep your documents beneath your clothes luggage where you have to fumble to bring it out each time you are required to present them.

Try separating your cash from your documents so you avoid dipping your hands into where your documents are each time you need your cash.

Using cloud based storage system such as Google Drive or Dropbox can also be helpful for storing scanned paper documents. They enable you to have 24hr access to your documents.

In a case of theft or misplacement, these copies stored in cloud can be easily downloaded, printed or used for verification as the case may warrant.

In conclusion, keeping your travel documents safe is key to having a hassle free trip!. It requires maintaining a balance between accessibility and security.

Accessibility in the sense of keeping them where you can easily bring them out when needed and Security in the sense of keeping them well protected and easily accessible only to you.

So the next time you plan a trip, remember to come back to these tips again in order to save yourself some headaches that come with document storage.

Do have a stress free trip!