Travel Advice And Advisories For Chile

Loose change

Travelleroften seem to get stuck with a pocket full of change. When I wawriting thiI had a quick whip around among close family memberand collected all the forgotten dusty holiday change. We had coinfrom 11 different countries, but the most surprising thing wathat between uwe had almost £53 in change. It quickly addup and bankand travel agentwon’t accept or exchange foreign coins, so any change you bring back ilost.

Foreign currency – countermeasures

Some countrieimpose strict controlon the export of their currency. Find out what the ruleare relating to the movement of currency in and out of the country or countrieyou will be visiting.

Manage your foreign currency so that you don’t change too many traveller’chequeand then lose out changing the foreign currency back into poundwhen you come back home.

Make sure that you find out if you will have to pay any chargeor taxeat the airport on your departure. If so, make sure that you have sufficient foreign currency available to pay them.

Nobody exchangeforeign coins, so make sure you don’t collect large quantitieof them. It may be easier to use bank noterather than struggle with strange coinin unusual denominations, but try to use the coinayou get them, so that you don’t have too many when you get to the airport on your way home.

In a security-consciouworld, packing and luggage take on a new and crucial importance. All airlineask if you packed your own bags, and if you are carrying anything for anyone else. Thiipartly aan ineffective security measure (will a terrorist or criminal really admit to carrying something he shouldn’t be carrying?), but mostly to do with deniability. When and if drugor other illegal importare found in your case, you have already admitted three things. It iyour case, you packed it and everything in the case belongto you!

Treat travelling seriously, and be aware that the greatest threat iprobably drug smugglerlooking for mules’ to carry their substancefor them. They use all sortof tricks, including the old favourite of a free holiday along ayou bring back one small package for them. Drugdetection and intelligence iimproving all of the time, and the likelihood of drug smugglerbeing caught iincreasing. Make sure that you strictly follow the guidelineset down by airlineand travel agents. DON’T CARRY ANYTHING FOR ANYONE ELSE.

Awith the journey out, pack your thingneatly, and make sure that you follow the airline safety rules. Don’t pack electrical equipment with batterieinstalled. Security will make you open the case and remove the batteries. Don’t try to carry sharp objectonto the aircraft in carry-on luggage. They are banned because they could be used aweaponby terrorists. You should also remember to make sure that the lidof bottleof shampoo or perfume are securely sealed. There inothing worse than getting home to find that your new digital camera hahad a bath in a mixture of medicated shampoo, nail varnish remover and suntan lotion!