What you need to travel safely

What to be aware of

Having the following items prepared in advance of a trip means you’re likely to have a safe holiday.

• Personal identification, such as passport or photo card
• Medical information, including allergy/prescription information
• Travel insurance, in case something goes wrong or you get sick
• Your mobile phone, which can be your most important tool for travel.

Let’s take a closer look at each of these items and how they can help you to travel safely.

Personal identification

When you travel overseas, you’ll need a passport of course, but when travelling domestically it’s important to carry photo ID too. A driver’s licence is the most common type of identification, but if you don’t have one, you can get a Photo ID card issued by the state you live in.

eSafety tip

Travelling overseas for more than six weeks may affect Centrelink payments, such as pensions, and concession cards. Before you travel, confirm the rules for your circumstances at the Services Australia website.

For accessing payments information while overseas, make sure to link your Centrelink account is to your myGov account before you travel.

Medical information

You might already carry some medical information with you day-to-day, but it’s even more important when you’re away from home.

This information should have details about any serious health issues you may have, but it should also include details about allergies you have and prescription medications you’re using. It’s also a good idea to carry details about your blood type.

Travel insurance

Travel insurance is more than just being compensated for lost luggage! You can get access to all sorts of help and services if things get tricky, especially overseas.

Most importantly, travel insurance can cover certain medical expenses, especially in countries where even a simple trip to the GP for a blood pressure check can cost hundreds of dollars!

Your mobile phone

Your phone can be your most valuable tool while travelling. It can help you communicate with others, back home and at your destination. It also stores important documents, helps you get around with map apps, lets you book or check tickets, and much more.

You may choose to switch to a Roaming plan with your network provider which allows you to use your data while traveling. Alternatively, you can simply connect to Wi-Fi and message friends and family via messaging apps.

eSafety tip

A Roaming plan can be convenient, but the costs for calls and data can be expensive. Many mobile phone providers offer an International Day Pass with a limited amount of data, which you can use sparingly to update friends and family or post a quick photo. When you don’t need the internet, it’s best to keep your phone’s data feature switched off, to make sure you don’t run up any unexpected bills.

Well done!

This is the end of the What you need to travel safely activity. You should now know about the main things you need to be aware of to travel safely.

In the following activities, we’ll look at each of these in more detail, starting with the Travelling safely: Identification activity, up next.