Ruby's itinerary and virtual scrapbook

Ruby's itinerary

Once she booked her own flights, Ruby visited her travel agent, who booked all the accommodation, transport, and activities around her arrival and departure dates.

The travel agent’s computer system puts this all into an itinerary, listing where Ruby should be on what date and at what time, so she can connect safely to the next part of her trip.

Signing up for email with her travel agent

Ruby pays the agent with her credit card, and the agent prints a copy of the itinerary for Ruby to carry with her. But Ruby also gives the agent her email address, so she can get a PDF copy of the itinerary.

By giving her email to the agent, Ruby will also be able to receive any updates or sudden changes to her itinerary, or anything else the travel agent feels is important for Ruby to know, even after she’s left Australia.

The itinerary has a Contacts page

One of the most important parts of Ruby’s itinerary is the Contacts page. This has phone numbers, websites and email addresses for contacting people and services if she needs to. There are numbers to call in New Zealand if she’s in a medical emergency or needs help from the Australian embassy.

The itinerary also has her travel insurance policy number, and a number to call if she needs her insurer to arrange emergency transport or help with lost luggage.

Ruby saves her itinerary to her phone

Even though Ruby can see the PDF of her itinerary using her mobile phone’s email app, she can only do this while the phone has a mobile data connection.

When the phone doesn’t have internet service, Ruby will only be able to view the file if she saves it on her phone, in the My Files app. She uses the Download function in her email app to save the PDF of her itinerary to her phone.

You can learn how to save a PDF to your mobile device in the Saving and sharing files videos for Apple iPhone and Android mobile phone.

Ruby's virtual scrapbook

So that she knows where to find her itinerary, Ruby creates a new folder in her mobile phone’s My Files app, and calls it My Holiday.

She saves the itinerary into the My Holiday folder. This is where she also saves maps, some general information about New Zealand, and some PDFs of brochures about Milford Sound.

Medications and travelling to New Zealand

Ruby has some prescription medications she needs to take every day. While she has enough to last the two weeks of her trip, it does mean carrying quite a few pills.

To make sure there are no problems, Ruby saves a document onto her mobile phone that lists all the medications she needs. She also carries the original boxes that her medications came in, so she can show that they have been properly prescribed to her by a doctor in Australia.

eSafety tip

Different countries have different rules around which medications can be legally brought into the country. You should always do your own research and carry any related documentation about prescriptions that you can present at customs checks.

Well done!

This is the end of the Ruby’s itinerary and virtual scrapbook activity. You’ve seen how Ruby is organising some of the important information she needs for her NZ trip.

Next, you’ll find out some important tips for travelling safely, in the Flying to NZ: Ruby’s day of departure activity.