Thinking about traveling for the holidays? Make sure everything goes smoothly by eliminating your holiday travel headaches BEFORE they arise. These three common sources of woe aren’t the only things that can go wrong while traveling, but they’re very common sources of trouble and are very easily dealt with if you plan in advance.
Poor packing
Whether it’s a suitcase full of flight contraband, inadequate laundry for the trip, forgotten toiletries, or broken electronics, poor packing can turn holiday cheer sour in a hurry. Take the time to read up on both general packing tips for safe and effective packing and tips specific to your travel route, to avoid various headaches with airport security, customs, and gatekeepers. You might be surprised by what can’t travel in a cargo hold or cross national borders legally.
Passport woes
One that takes many people traveling across national borders by surprise, passport headaches can become holiday-ruining nightmares if you don’t plan ahead. Perhaps the most important tip for dealing with passports in general would be to read up on all the finicky details. Whether it’s the long list of minor imperfections that can render your passport photos unacceptable or the strict rules governing paperwork, it’s easy to mess up at any stage if you don’t do your homework, but trivial to keep up with it all if you do. Read up, use a reliable passport photo service, and you’ll be fine.
Failure to keep tabs on travel changes
Make sure you have a reliable source of notifications for your travel route. If your plane, train, or bus is going to be delayed, you need to know immediately. If your driving route is closed due to an accident, dangerous due to a storm, or frozen solid – you need to know immediately. The better you can stay informed of conditions along your route, the faster you’ll be able to make adjustments and get back on track.
The holidays are supposed to be fun, so don’t let holiday travel become an annual nightmare you dread. Take your time, plan right, and make the whole thing move along smoothly.
