7 Strategies For Staying In Touch
Written on December 3, 2008
A lot of people don’t give much forethought to a strategy for ‘staying in touch’ on their trip. Often, all they can think about is leaving it behind! However, this can be a vital component to travelling safely, especially for solo travellers. Consider what will give you peace of mind? And also what the folks at home expect. Agree to a ‘keeping in touch’ plan with friends and family so that they know where you are and can raise the alarm if you don’t turn up as expected. (Of course, that then means YOU have to stick to the plan!).
Here’s a few ideas you could try…
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Leave a paper-trail
Leave a copy of your itinerary with the folks at home, including details of where and when they can contact you. This works well if you’re the kind of person to plan out every detail of your holiday in advance or book a package tour. But if you’re more like me and prefer to just arrive and see what happens next, this isn’t much use.
-
The electronic mail revolution
On my first big trip to Europe in the early 90′s, I felt like a very dedicated daughter when I bought a postcard once a month and dutifully mailed it back home. It gave my folks a sense of how much fun I was having and where I was – but unfortunately, it was totally out-of-date by the time it arrived in their Australian letterbox. Nowadays, you’d be mad not to use email for that purpose. It’s quick to drop someone a short note, it arrives instantly and isn’t very expensive if you’re prudent with your internet access. There are loads of free email services available, all accessed via web browsers. Try the usual travellers’favourites Hotmail, Yahoo and Google mail.
-
Text messages
I umm and ahh about taking a mobile phone away on holidays…I don’t really want work-related phone calls waking me at three in the morning because I’m in a totally different time zone, but I do want the security of being able to call someone quickly in an emergency. I think it’s about finding a balance that works for you…and your budget. Don’t forget that international roaming charges can be huge! If you’re a big mobile phone fan, look at buying sim-cards and pre-paid credit from local providers. Usually texts are cheaper than phone calls.
On a solo trip to Vietnam, I took my mobile phone ‘just in case’. I wasn’t sure what ‘just in case’ really meant, but it gave me some peace of mind when I took off on some adventures. One of the best memories from that trip was the day I took my cyclo driver up on his offer to visit his family in the country for a day. Naturally, this was not part of a scheduled tour and although I had spent time with him driving me around Hanoi for a few days, it was one of those calculated travel-risks that took a bit of guts to commit to. Before we set off on a motorbike down Highway 1 (which is another story in itself and something I do not recommend at all!), I sent a quick text message to a close friend back home outlining the plan and saying that I’d send another text when I arrived back at the hostel that night. I arrived slightly shaken from the crazy traffic and horns of the Highway to a peaceful rural village where chickens roamed and pigs lazed in front yards. I shared a simple meal with his whole family on the floor of his one-room house. My cyclo-driver could only afford to travel home every fortnight, maybe more often if a foreigner like me paid for the petrol, and I felt very privileged to see a side of Vietnam that was off the tourist trail. Needless to say, I sent a quick text back home that night to say I was safe and sound.
I know countless people who send these kinds of messages to contacts at home before they set off trekking, back-country camping or driving through remote areas like the Australian outback. The important bit is to also send a follow up text at the appointed time so you don’t set alarm bells ringing.
-
Join the blog-o-sphere
Setting up your own online travel journal has many, many benefits:
- You can tell everyone about your adventures without sending ‘Look at me now’ mass-emails.
- You can bring your trip to life through photos, stories, videos and organise the information through tags etc.
- Its great to have a record of your amazing adventures when you’re finally back home – sadly, those beautiful tiny details do ebb away over time.
- Importantly from a safety perspective, your folks back home can interact with you through leaving comments on your blog. Trust me, your Mum will love this feature.
- On most travel blog services (like ours on WorldNomads.com), you retain control of the copyright of your work…this isn’t always the case on social network sites and is worth checking out before you hand over your precious travel memories.
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Social Networks
It’s worth mentioning here just how important the explosion of social networking has been to the Modern Traveller. A bit like blogging, you can now upload your stories, photos, links and videos. Your buddies can email you, leave comments or even “poke” you virtually. But best of all for travelling types is the ability to create and maintain a network of friends.
Sites like Facebook really excel in this area – I have searched for – and found – several travel-buddies from years gone by. They were the ones I really clicked with, but their email addresses no longer worked and I felt they were lost to the ether forever. The best thing is that they’re now in my friends list and will undoubtedly keep their own contact details up to date no matter where they are in the world.
Even if all you can manage regularly is a brief status update (…the kind your desk-bound mates at home will wince at), at least it’s a form of staying in touch instantly.
“Christy is drinking Daiquiris in Fiji… ”
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Register with your department of Foreign Affairs
You may also be able to register with the Department of Foreign Affairs (or equivalent) in your own country of residence. This shouldn’t usurp your other efforts to stay in touch, but can greatly help with contacting you in an emergency.
If you’re going to be in the same country for a while, it’s also good idea to register your whereabouts with your country’s consulate or embassy in that country.
-
Be prepared.
To borrow from the Scouts for a moment, “be prepared”. At the very least you’ll probably need to take email addresses and phone numbers of your family and close friends – even just so you can brag about your trip. But importantly from a safety perspective, you should also take these numbers and records;
- Your passport and visa details – travel with photocopies of the personal information page/s of your passport as well as photo copies of any visas. Take a couple of spare passport photos and an alternative photo ID as well.
- Contact and policy details of your travel insurance provider.
- Contact details of your country’s consulate in the countries you are visiting.
- Contact details for the company that issued your travellers cheques and credit card/debit card (to cancel it if necessary), as well as a record of the cheque number and denomination of all of your travellers cheques.
- Health care provider details, such as your regular doctor or pharmacist (if you are travelling with medication or required injections for your trip).
- Details of your next of kin or the persons to contact in an emergency.
It’s also a good idea to leave a hard copy of these with a friend or relative at home in case of emergency. And finally, email all these contact details and scans of your passport to yourself so you have them electronically too.
Once you’ve agreed with the folks back home on how, where and when you’ll contact them, stick to the plan so they don’t worry or raise the alarm unnecessarily. If you’ve got any other ideas on great ways to stay in touch or emergencies when your strategy has really had to swing into action, we’d love to hear about them below.
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7 Strategies For Staying In Touch
A lot of people don’t give much forethought to a strategy for ‘staying in touch’ on their trip. Often, all they can think about is leaving it behind! However, this can be a vital component to travelling safely, especially for solo travellers. Consider what will give you peace of mind? And also what the folks at home expect. Agree to a ‘keeping in touch’ plan with friends and family so that they know where you are and can raise the alarm if you don’t turn up as expected. (Of course, that then means YOU have to stick to the plan!).
Here’s a few ideas you could try…
Leave a paper-trail
Leave a copy of your itinerary with the folks at home, including details of where and when they can contact you. This works well if you’re the kind of person to plan out every detail of your holiday in advance or book a package tour. But if you’re more like me and prefer to just arrive and see what happens next, this isn’t much use.
The electronic mail revolution
On my first big trip to Europe in the early 90′s, I felt like a very dedicated daughter when I bought a postcard once a month and dutifully mailed it back home. It gave my folks a sense of how much fun I was having and where I was – but unfortunately, it was totally out-of-date by the time it arrived in their Australian letterbox. Nowadays, you’d be mad not to use email for that purpose. It’s quick to drop someone a short note, it arrives instantly and isn’t very expensive if you’re prudent with your internet access. There are loads of free email services available, all accessed via web browsers. Try the usual travellers’favourites Hotmail, Yahoo and Google mail.
Text messages
I umm and ahh about taking a mobile phone away on holidays…I don’t really want work-related phone calls waking me at three in the morning because I’m in a totally different time zone, but I do want the security of being able to call someone quickly in an emergency. I think it’s about finding a balance that works for you…and your budget. Don’t forget that international roaming charges can be huge! If you’re a big mobile phone fan, look at buying sim-cards and pre-paid credit from local providers. Usually texts are cheaper than phone calls.
On a solo trip to Vietnam, I took my mobile phone ‘just in case’. I wasn’t sure what ‘just in case’ really meant, but it gave me some peace of mind when I took off on some adventures. One of the best memories from that trip was the day I took my cyclo driver up on his offer to visit his family in the country for a day. Naturally, this was not part of a scheduled tour and although I had spent time with him driving me around Hanoi for a few days, it was one of those calculated travel-risks that took a bit of guts to commit to. Before we set off on a motorbike down Highway 1 (which is another story in itself and something I do not recommend at all!), I sent a quick text message to a close friend back home outlining the plan and saying that I’d send another text when I arrived back at the hostel that night. I arrived slightly shaken from the crazy traffic and horns of the Highway to a peaceful rural village where chickens roamed and pigs lazed in front yards. I shared a simple meal with his whole family on the floor of his one-room house. My cyclo-driver could only afford to travel home every fortnight, maybe more often if a foreigner like me paid for the petrol, and I felt very privileged to see a side of Vietnam that was off the tourist trail. Needless to say, I sent a quick text back home that night to say I was safe and sound.
I know countless people who send these kinds of messages to contacts at home before they set off trekking, back-country camping or driving through remote areas like the Australian outback. The important bit is to also send a follow up text at the appointed time so you don’t set alarm bells ringing.
Join the blog-o-sphere
Setting up your own online travel journal has many, many benefits:
Social Networks
It’s worth mentioning here just how important the explosion of social networking has been to the Modern Traveller. A bit like blogging, you can now upload your stories, photos, links and videos. Your buddies can email you, leave comments or even “poke” you virtually. But best of all for travelling types is the ability to create and maintain a network of friends.
Sites like Facebook really excel in this area – I have searched for – and found – several travel-buddies from years gone by. They were the ones I really clicked with, but their email addresses no longer worked and I felt they were lost to the ether forever. The best thing is that they’re now in my friends list and will undoubtedly keep their own contact details up to date no matter where they are in the world.
Even if all you can manage regularly is a brief status update (…the kind your desk-bound mates at home will wince at), at least it’s a form of staying in touch instantly.
Register with your department of Foreign Affairs
You may also be able to register with the Department of Foreign Affairs (or equivalent) in your own country of residence. This shouldn’t usurp your other efforts to stay in touch, but can greatly help with contacting you in an emergency.
If you’re going to be in the same country for a while, it’s also good idea to register your whereabouts with your country’s consulate or embassy in that country.
Be prepared.
To borrow from the Scouts for a moment, “be prepared”. At the very least you’ll probably need to take email addresses and phone numbers of your family and close friends – even just so you can brag about your trip. But importantly from a safety perspective, you should also take these numbers and records;
It’s also a good idea to leave a hard copy of these with a friend or relative at home in case of emergency. And finally, email all these contact details and scans of your passport to yourself so you have them electronically too.
Once you’ve agreed with the folks back home on how, where and when you’ll contact them, stick to the plan so they don’t worry or raise the alarm unnecessarily. If you’ve got any other ideas on great ways to stay in touch or emergencies when your strategy has really had to swing into action, we’d love to hear about them below.
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