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The thread about crime in Jamaica prompted this thread...

If you're traveling out of the country, especially to an unfamiliar place, a good place to check is the U.S. State Department website, http://www.state.gov, and specifically the section on "Travel": http://travel.state.gov.

As part of the Travel section, there are consular information sheets for numerous countries. These sheets include current facts about travel to a given country including entry requirements, health concerns, crime situation, and consular contact information (including duty officer phone numbers for if you have a weekend emergency and the Embassy office is closed). In some countries it's a good idea to register with the U.S. Embassy in case an evacuation is required (I dunno, say, if you got it into your head to visit some ridiculously dangerous country... or even a country where a natural disaster is a strong possibility....).

You should always take contact information for the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate with you whenever you leave the country, if nothing else in case your passport gets lost or stolen.

First.. We get a passport..

note to self.. get on the passport thing..

or for me .. just to be different ..

www.smarttraveller.gov.au

My dears, a thread of this brilliance should be made into a stickie... (sticky?) ...one of those things that stays at the top of the forum.

Thank you.

creeky wrote:or for me .. just to be different ..

www.smarttraveller.gov.au

There I go being U.S.-centric....

I'd be willing to bet Canada and most other major countries have analagous traveler websites for their citizens, but I'm not sure what those sites are....

SchoolGirlHeart wrote:

creeky wrote:or for me .. just to be different ..

www.smarttraveller.gov.au

There I go being U.S.-centric....

I'd be willing to bet Canada and most other major country have analagous traveler websites for their citizens, but I'm not sure what those sites are....

Canada......... let's see here Canada.........




They used to keep Lord Stanley's Cup................



Can't remember the last time they held it though

SchoolGirlHeart wrote:

creeky wrote:or for me .. just to be different ..

www.smarttraveller.gov.au

There I go being U.S.-centric....

I'd be willing to bet Canada and most other major country have analagous traveler websites for their citizens, but I'm not sure what those sites are....

Nah - I am used to it .. but I usually check ours - as there is usually a travel alert to the USA ....

creeky wrote:Nah - I am used to it .. but I usually check ours - as there is usually a travel alert to the USA ....

I always check, out of pure ingrained habit... Even for Anguilla, as benign a trip as that is, I hit "print" on the consular info sheet so I'd have the emergency contact info...

Not sure about your site - but with ours - you register your trip with the govt - all your movements - approx dates etc - so that in the event you have to be contacted urgently .. or there is a disaster in one of the areas - the government can find you quickly.

creeky wrote:Not sure about your site - but with ours - you register your trip with the govt - all your movements - approx dates etc - so that in the event you have to be contacted urgently .. or there is a disaster in one of the areas - the government can find you quickly.

Ours is different. It's an informational site only. The registration and ability to find you happens at the embassy/consulate level in each country.

SchoolGirlHeart wrote:You should always take contact information for the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate with you whenever you leave the country, if nothing else in case your passport gets lost or stolen.

It's recommended you photocopy your passport and other important documents and bring a copy with you and leave a copy with someone in the US (or where ever you call home) just in case your stuff gets stolen. It's an easy thing to do and takes 5 minutes.

I haven't had a chance to look at the site you posted but I'm sure this suggestion is in there.

If I let crime dictate where I travel, I wouldn't even venture to downtown Atlanta.

SchoolGirlHeart wrote:

creeky wrote:Not sure about your site - but with ours - you register your trip with the govt - all your movements - approx dates etc - so that in the event you have to be contacted urgently .. or there is a disaster in one of the areas - the government can find you quickly.

Ours is different. It's an informational site only. The registration and ability to find you happens at the embassy/consulate level in each country.

I thought the US State Dept. did have a way for you to register your trip. I've never used it, but the paperwork for my passport gave the link to https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs/home.asp

Wonderful info! Again this is why BN is the BEST!

PJ wrote:

SchoolGirlHeart wrote:

creeky wrote:Not sure about your site - but with ours - you register your trip with the govt - all your movements - approx dates etc - so that in the event you have to be contacted urgently .. or there is a disaster in one of the areas - the government can find you quickly.

Ours is different. It's an informational site only. The registration and ability to find you happens at the embassy/consulate level in each country.

I thought the US State Dept. did have a way for you to register your trip. I've never used it, but the paperwork for my passport gave the link to https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs/home.asp

Great info! I didn't realize that! Thanks!

ragtopW wrote:First.. We get a passport..

note to self.. get on the passport thing..

yeah, good luck with that.

Three months after they received it, the passport website reported that my passport was done and would be delivered on or around June 16th. Never got it. Checked again, they now have a link to a delivery confirmation number...which says my passport was delivered to NH.

Finally get a warm body on the phone at the passport call center...only to find out the my f'ing POSTMASTER decided it couldn't be delivered and sent it back. He KNEW it was a passport, he marked it on the envelope. Delivery was never attempted, they could have left a note in my box to pick it up at the PO...but no. He just decided it was undeliverable. Other postmasters are admitting that they have LOST passports. The level of incompetency between these two agencies is beyond belief.

So now my passport is somewhere in NH...and there was an urgent message sent electronically to that location stating that they needed to find it and overnight it to me...on their dime. We'll see if that happens...I'm sure not holding my breath.

Here's a tip...pay the money to get an overnite envelope and include it with your application...you MAY get your passport that way. The lines at the Fed Building in L.A. are up to 3000 people per day...most of them people who had already applied months ago and never received their passports.

i've probably already given this advice before in another forum.
i've been to 7 foreign countries in the last few years and the
best advice i can give is to try to blend in with the natives.
be proud to be an american but don't be the "ugly american"
that the rest of the world expects to see. try to learn a little of
the language where you'll be going. if you at least try they appreciate
it. if you go to europe, alot of people speak english, but don't get
upset if the don't. the next person along probably will.

PJ wrote:

SchoolGirlHeart wrote:

creeky wrote:Not sure about your site - but with ours - you register your trip with the govt - all your movements - approx dates etc - so that in the event you have to be contacted urgently .. or there is a disaster in one of the areas - the government can find you quickly.

Ours is different. It's an informational site only. The registration and ability to find you happens at the embassy/consulate level in each country.

I thought the US State Dept. did have a way for you to register your trip. I've never used it, but the paperwork for my passport gave the link to https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs/home.asp

This is great info - my company does this for me when I travel for work, but we are going to Europe on vacation at the end of this month. Will do this for sure.

Wondering how others are doing with passport situation, figured I'd wait until the summer rush is over. Any updates???

Does anyone know how long before the renewal date you should send it in? Mine expires 09/2009.... so do I send it in June of 2009? Just curious