Travel Question + Passports
 

Hey guys,

Have a few international trips on the calendar and have been wondering what is the normal protocol for carrying your passport.

I have found that in first world countries (Holland, Australia) that it’s not really necessary to carry it with me every day, and will just lock it up in the hotel safe for the duration of the trip. I am going to Argentina, Brazil, and China in the next few months and have started seriously considering the security of my passport and having it on my person at all times.

Am I required by law to have it on me? And if so, what is the preferred method for securing it? I have photo copies of the information page that I keep in separate spots for safe keeping in the event that the passport is lost.

Thanks!

Make some photo copies of the passport, and keep that on your person, keep the passport secured while in places like China.

One of my friends also makes a high quality PDF scan of his that he keeps on his cell phone. He always has the cell phone with him. And he keeps the cell phone password protected at all times.

I don't know if that is a great idea or a bad idea.

on person isn't the most secure in places like China. especially if yer a foreigner. keep a high quality copy on you. the photo page and your entry visa page with the customs entry stamp.

Great advice here. I personally always carry mine with me, because we've had stuff stolen from hotel rooms, so I never trust the hotel. We also have color copies and photos in our cell phones of the passports, visas, etc. Also we will email them to family, just in case everything else is lost.

I keep it on me all of the time traveling. I have been to China an never had a moment of being threatened.

Just make a color photocopy and take photos with your phone.

Amalgamation of advises below; carry on inside jacket pocket, color paper copy in your back pocket and photo on iPhone.

Further... I have lived and worked abroad, mostly in the Sandbox.... A few years in Israel , in the Sinai, then a stint in Egypt, then Saudi Arabia...

I lived in Israel for 2-1/2 years...my passport lived in a safe the whole time I was there..When I got a job Saudi Arabia, I had to go the the embassy in Tel Aviv and was issued a replacement passport to replace the passport that I entered Israel with... The Saudis frowned on people entering with Israeli endorsements on the pages of there passports...Granted this was in the late 70's

Back then I never carried my passport in country none of us did...

In 2006 I took a few week trip down the spine of the Americas....Costa Rica>Ecuador>Peru never carried the passport while out and about....Was even pulled over on Carrera Panamericana near Nazca,Peru and with rudimentary spanglish I was let go on m way...

Don't be afraid of traveling, worrying about every little detail..... go enjoy.. explore..Its an amazing world we live in so much to see , so much to learn about..

I'm in China right now. The departure card states "Aliens shall carry a passport for ID"....

I don't carry my passport in any other countries, but I do here.

I always keep a photo of my passport details on my phone.

I travel internationally on average 3 times per month. Just landed at noon today from South America.

I have hi rez copies in my briefcase, on my cell and at home + office.

I always carry it with me. Protect it from humidity as some agents are picky about rough looking passports. I have been stopped at check points in South America, Zambia and the Phillipines and they required it. Same at a train in the Czech Republic.

A hotel i was staying was closed up after the 2010 earthquake and i was out when it happened. Glad i had my passport with me...

I carry it on my pocket on a zip lock bag. My passport is quite thick with extra pages.

By all means, get the Global Entry

Get one of the "credit card" passports. They are no good for travel, except ship and road. But they are fantastic ID if you do lose your paper passport.

Europe, I'll leave my passport locked up at the hotel and just carry the passport card. Elsewhere, I keep wallets and passport in front pockets only, never let them off my person.

Make a photocopy and take an image and Email it to yourself.

The best advice on the thread.

On topic: We always have copies & the hotel safe works just fine.

Ian

I kept mine in my front pocket in China. Im pretty sure it says on the customs form or in a corp. travel email that I had to have it at all times. I keep my photo copies in my computer bag. I've lost a phone and my luggage on overseas trips, so the computer bag is probably the safest place for me to keep those. I also have an extra set of passport photos with the copies just in case I lose the passport and have to go to the embassy. Have fun!

I,m visiting Cuba in Dec. Should I worry about US customs frowning on my passport stamp?

No. They only care about their own citizens traveling there. The Cuban stamp is a blue airplane.

Ian

Not if you're Canadian.

No, even Americans don't get hassled, my mother visited Cuba last year while she was on her winter stay in Merida, Mexico. She had no problem re-entering the states with a Cuban endorsement in her passport.

Wise words from obviously a seasoned traveller and not a tourist ;)

To be really safe swallow a capsule with a microfische copy inside it or do the above

I would do the above