RHS'69

Fall Canadian Cruise - Getting Ready

Honolulu

After traveling for over 40 years I have made corrections on some of the repeated dumb things in trying to have all the comforts of home and yet not over pack, but still have it when emergencies arise.

For the next 18 days I will give you helpful tips on how to pack and not forget a single item that you never think about having until the need hits you.

In my prime I could be packed in 90 minutes and ready to leave without forgetting the small stuffs.  Packing your shirt, pants, undies and socks are easy.  It is all the small important stuff that you cannot do without and are the ones that will put a stop to the entire trip. These tips I give you will help prevent a stop to your travels.  

The first couple of tips are in order of importance.  Government documents and prescription will take a week, and some will take months to complete, like your Passport.

When I travel I always have a zippered travel bill fold.  It is designed to carry a passport, TSA Global Entry ID, all my medical prescription information, copies of all my traveling credit cards and Hawaii Driver's license.  I also put my airline tickets and hotel & auto conformations.   I go to this one bill-fold when I need to be identified.

All these documents never leave this bill-fold, ever. Even at home I store it in a save place.

Nothing needs to happen until you make a commitment to go somewhere.  The farther the destination the less your Hawaii Driverís license means anything except as a photo ID.

Your US Passport is your most important and only ID document you can use to show who you are!

A few years ago, we booked a Baltic cruise and our travel agent said my passport was not valid. Most countries will not accept a passport if it is 1 year from expiring.  I had to scramble because it takes 2 to 3 months to get a new passport, good for 10 years.

Two years ago, Wendy lost her passport in Barcelona, Spain and she was due to leave Spain in 2 days.  Luckily the US Embassy was only 2 blocks away and she got a new one, the same day.  

How comes so fast? Make copies of the page with your photo and information. Put a copy in your luggage, back pack, purse and with important documents. Does not help if you have a copy with your passport. When you lose it you most likely lose both! Wendy handed her copy of her lost passport to the US authority and another form of ID and then sit and wait till they process the paperwork.

Almost that easy, when you have the right information.  Do not leave home without it!

If you have a trip over 6 days, do not put all your medicine in one bag.

In our case we are traveling for 18 days.  I have my first 7 days in one Ziploc and it goes in my back pack. The last 14 days are in another Ziploc and I pack them in my luggage.  If I lose one I have the other.  It takes time to reorder when you are in a foreign country.

I was in Budapest and tried to get a prescription and the Pharmacist had no clue what it was, even with my hospital reorder form.  Luckily, I was traveling with the Head of Pharmacies of Tripler Hospital and we went back to have her ok the substitute.

Do not pack all your bottled medicine and take it all on your trip.  Your pills will hate you being rattled around in the bottle and not be able to see the sights.

Bottles of pills are 90% wasted space. Buy pill baggies, $2.69 for 50 baggies. Label each baggie with the day and the date. Do both because the change in time zone will mess you up. Trust me it will, at our age.

Make sure you have enough prescription for your trip and then some. In May I was getting ready for our 18 day Panama Canal cruise and I was short 4 pills and by the time we got back I would have only 4 daysí supply left.  Plan and reorder well ahead.  When you pack your daily needs into the baggies, pack 4 days extra.  In case of a delay or missed connection and you must spend a day or 2 or 3 or...

How to Travel

#1 Documents and Passports

#2 Daily Medication and Prescriptions

More tips each day...

Vincent's trip will last a little over two weeks and will be a rolling blog. Each day he'll provide pictures and stories about that day's activities and they will be added added as they come in.

He will also have a tip or two each day of lesson's learned from his years of traveling to make your next trip better. He starts off with two important things to remember.

Read some of Vincent's other blogs: Rubbing the Crystal Ball, Tomodachi Tour III, A most Excellent Staycation and more...

Day 1 - Arriving on Quebec City and ready to cruise

Autumn is arriving and on the mainland that means the leaves are starting to change color.

What better time for a cruise to check it out.

RHS'69 Reunion chair Vincent Yim and his wife Wendy are off cruising eastern Canada and U.S. to watch the leaves turn for Autumn.