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Tips For The Traveller As part of my career | have had the privilege of travelling to 70 _tinent, even to brush my teeth, and when in a restaurant | countries on six continents, many of them several times.Whenever ask them not to open it. | talk with people they ask if | have any tips on travelling, which is | make a habit of never ordering salad or fruit which something | have given a great deal of thought to, based on experi- _has been peeled. No ice cubes in drinks, which may seem ences over the past 35 years. Many are a result of learning the hard —_ extreme but | have never been sick when travelling, includ- A ing my busiest year, three years ago when | made 46 trips. First of all here are things that need to be done before leaving | was in a small restaurant on the outskirts of Beijing home. Passports are a must, anywhere you go, including the U.S.and —_ enjoying a meal and when | went to the restroom | ac- most countries impose a six month rule, which means your passport _cidentally stepped behind a building. There | saw a man must be valid for six months from the time you enter the country. It is also very important to make a photocopy of the information page and put it somewhere in the bottom of your suitcase. This will come in handy if you lose your passport.With the photo- copy you can go to any Canadian consulate or embassy and have a replacement issued (usu- ally) within 24 hours.Without your passport it will be difficult to prove who you are and the process can take days. It is equally important to carry two extra passport photos. | recall a trip from Avgen- tina to Brazil when visa requirements fc Canadians were introduced the day before l arrived washing lettuce in a large bucket, which was also filled with clothes. | watched him wring out a shirt and hang it on a clothes line and then stared in awe as he took the lettuce from the same bucket and began to chop it on a cutting board. Hotels seem to have their own set of rules. If they ask for your passport do not leave it with them overnight (a common. practice in smaller European hotels). Instead ask them to make a copy or offer the copy you already have. Unless you need two copies of your key only take one.The less opportunity of losing keys the better you will be. There are many opinions on at the border. Not only did | have to spend $80 for a visa, | had to the personal information stored on the card keys. have a photo taken by the only photographer in the area ata cost of | Most hotels will claim they do not store data (so why the $30 per photo. magnetic strip?), while others state they delete the infor- Once you are on the road there are several rules, which have to —_ mation upon checkout. | never return the cards, as | do not be adhered to. | think we all know not to drink tap water in strange want to take any chances. When I’m paying $200 a night to places, but it is important to note that water anywhere outside of sleep, the 15 cent plastic card key becomes a nice souvenir, North America is treated different and may disagree with you. | which | can shred at my convenience. never drink anything other than bottled water when I’m off this con- When you step from the elevator onto your floor CALL US TODAY! marlin~“travel 158 Casimir St., Port Perry 905-985-2268 Jean. | virginia.frewclarke @marlintravel.ca FOCUS - AUGUST 2012 31 08.FOCUS, AUGUST.32 pgsindd 31 12-07-23 9:11 AM