Travel Tip #9: Let your family and friends know your itinerary

Create a trip document to stay safe and organized

When travelling, a lot of things work together to ensure you can go from home to your destination and back safely. Almost always everything runs smoothly and you have the best time. Rarely it doesn’t, and if something does go wrong, it is best to be prepared. Here’s how to do it.

Create a trip document with all of your flights and hotels listed with their contact information. This is information you already have from your confirmation emails-you are just copying and pasting into one master document. Also, put the telephone numbers for your credit cards (on the back of your card-remember that if you need to call to report a stolen card, you do not have the card to get the telephone number), the address and telephone number for the nearest US consulates, and any pertinent medical information (nearest pharmacies or clinics) if you have a chronic condition.

When the trip document is created, email it to your emergency contacts (Mom and Dad) and anyone else who may need to know (your friend that you tricked into picking you up from the airport or your sister who is looking in on your cat), and most importantly – yourself. This serves two crucial purposes: first, it allows your loved ones to know where you will be in case of an emergency on their end or yours and second (yet no less important) it allows you to brag to them about all the awesome things you will be doing (you are taking a Swissair flight from Amsterdam to Zurich and then staying in Murren? Lucky!).

We have been fortunate enough where we have never had an emergency, but if we did, hopefully this will make it easier to weather. And just because you did not use your travel document does not mean it was a waste. Not only did it help you stay organized on this trip, it can serve as a reference for future trips.

Know Before You Go

Creating a trip document and emailing it out will take you less than 15 minutes.

Bottom Line

Let your emergency contacts know your plans, so in case the worst should happen, it will be easier to track you down.