Benjamin Wey is a global financier and a prolific reporter. Benjamin Wey is the CEO of New York Global Group (NYGG). He has traveled to more than 50 countries worldwide on business.
When I, Benjamin Wey was a child, my friends always said this to me: “Benjamin Wey, you can’t be happy until you have traveled all over the world.” They are right. I love to travel, which is a good thing since I live in New York City and do a lot of business globally. The more of the world I see, the more of it I want to see, and there are a lot of places off the beaten track that I still need to visit.
During my years on the road, I have learned that getting there, like the saying goes, is half the fun, but also that there are a lot of things that can take all the fun out of it pretty quick. When your destination is an exotic one, little things going wrong create big headaches faster than you can blink. So, here’s a checklist to keep those little things going your way while you’re on your way.
1. Get That Paperwork in Order. This is kind of obvious, but nothing ruins the mood quicker than having spending time with the authorities dealing with missing or inaccurate forms. Check to see if your passport is still valid before you do anything. If you need to get a visa to travel where you want to go, allow lots of time for your application to go through. If you need shots, find out whether you need a second one six weeks later and allow for that.
2. Have the Vaccinations Early. Some places require vaccinations against various diseases, and for others, they come highly recommended. Get them out of the way as soon as you can. As I mentioned, sometimes you need a second shot, but the best reason to get them early is that some of them do make you feel a little under the weather.
3. Get Travel Insurance. If you need to be evacuated for medical reasons, emergency flights home are expensive. Make sure the policy lets a local doctor decide if you need to be moved, not the insurer. And make sure it covers the costs incurred, not what treatment would cost at home.
4. Don’t Try Eating or Drinking Everything. As much as you might want to try the local cuisine, some things are best left alone. Don’t drink the water, and don’t presume that food that has been rinsed is OK — it probably is risky. If it is cooked, bottled or canned, you’re OK. And for heaven’s sake avoid ice cubes — they melt and become the local water you were avoiding.
5. Do Your Research. Learn a few things about the place you’re going before you go there. Find out what places to visit, foods to try, things to do before you leave home. Learn a few phrases of the local language. Study a few maps just in case the GPS you’re using only has maps of the U.S. and Canada. Find out what the weather is like, and pack accordingly.
6. Create an Itinerary, but Don’t be Inflexible. Obviously, you want to do as much as possible, but there is never enough time to do it all. Guidebooks are very helpful here in deciding what you must see, what would be nice to see and what you can probably skip without ruining your visit.
7. Keep Your Guard Up. You need to be careful when you travel anywhere, but in places where you don’t know the language or customs, it is all the more important to use caution. The guy at the hotel who wants to sell you stuff is someone to avoid. He might be nice enough, but why isn’t he at his shop selling it? Honest businessmen and women don’t hang around the hotel lobby or the baggage claim at the airport.
8. Use Your ATM Card. ATM Cards work almost everywhere these days, and the transaction fees tend to be lower than for credit cards. Travelers’ checks are more or less a thing of the past. While you’ll need a little local currency when you arrive, turning up with loads of cash is a bad idea. Things get lost or stolen.
9. Know What You’re Doing with Your Cellphone. Contact your carrier and find out what the roaming fees are going to be and if your phone will even work where you are going. Sometimes you’re better off buying a cheap phone when you arrive and go with a pre-paid option than using your regular cell.
If you ask me, Benjamin Wey, where is the best place to go on earth? This list clearly isn’t exhaustive, but if you take a little time to look after these, you are much more likely to have a bon voyage. Safe travels!
Benjamin Wey is a financier, professor and a contributing journalist for TheBlot Magazine and other media outlets.
6 Comments
Leave a Reply