Travel Documents and How to Organise Them

I was recently at the hairdressers, and she was saying that she was going on her first overseas holiday. We were chatting about how to organise things like your passport and travel documents and I thought I would share with you what has worked for me over the years.

Passports

I photocopy the information page of each of our passports (the one that has your picture on it.) I copy all of ours onto one page and then I take a copy that goes in with my husband's things, one with our travel folio, one that stays at home with someone back home, and I scan and e-mail a copy of it to my travel e-mail address. If we lose our passports or they are stolen or damaged, this will be a step closer to getting replacements from the Australian Embassy.

I put Dymo labels on the back cover of each passport with the first and last name of whose passport it is. This makes it a lot quicker to sort out than having to flip open to the info page.

I have a travel folder that I put my husband and my passport inside the left side and the kids ones inside the right. Again this just helps me to fast track if I have to get a specific passport out quickly.

In the passport folder, I have a pen there at all times. I use one type of pen for all my travel writing. This means that if I partially fill out a form and have to go back to it, it will still be the same pen and not raise questions as to why it was done with two different pens. (I use kilometrico...don't know why just always do.)I go to the airport before my trip to get the outgoing passenger cards and fill them all out so we don't have to do it at the airport. You will have so many other things on your mind, so do this at home where you can think clearly and not add to the airport stress.

Have a set place to store the passport folder in your cabin baggage or handbag. The night before the trip, I always show my husband that I have each of our passports in the folder in the set place ( I physically pull each one out so we both can see) and have our flight e-tickets and outgoing passenger cards completed. This will mean we both won't stress and second guessing whether we have them in there as we get ready the next day.

Travel documents

I have a folio that I store all my travel documents in. I label each tab according to the places I am going. I usually have a tab for all my flight documents, one for the car hire documents and one for other general travel info. Every piece of paper that is in the folio has been e-mailed to my travel e-mail address. Again, I keep a pen in here and some blu-tac. Why blu-tac you ask?? Well, I break my itinerary down into sections and photocopy it. SO for example, if we are spending 4 days at one place, I have that section photocopied onto paper and I blu-tac it up usually onto a mirror or mirrored cupboard door so we can see at a glance what we are doing each day. The kids like this as it saves me getting frustrated when I have been asked 20 times what we are doing tomorrow. I don't put things like confirmation numbers etc on there as housekeeping will be in and out of the room...it is just a basic breakdown of what we are doing to allow my family to know roughly what is going on so they can be excited.
Before we go away, I sit down with my husband and go through every step of the trip to make sure I have all the documents we will need. He asks questions that often lead to me checking or adding things in. Me saying it all out loud also has me realising where I might need to add things or to be reassured I am well prepared so I will have less "holiday dreams" worrying about getting on holidays and having nothing organised so we waste the trip. ( Be ready for these!)

Note pad

As mentioned above, I have travel dreams, even after all the trips I have done and all the organisation I have put into place. What I find lessens them, is when they start, I put a note pad by my bed so that if at One a.m. I wake with the thought of something I need to do, I can write it down in messy 'pitch black 'writing and mentally forget it and go back to sleep. The more organised my trip is the fewer dreams I have.

Travel E-mail

I set up a travel e-mail that I organise before every trip. I make up folders that are labelled itinerary,car hire, hotels, flights, tours, documentation etc. Every piece of documentation I have for the trip is e-mailed here and organised into a folder. This means that if I lose my folder or papers I can get to a wifi area and print new documents off. This gives me the reassurance that I have a back up. In my documentation, I e-mail my passport information, travel insurance information and credit card emergency contact details.

Phone Contacts

I have within my phone contacts, my medicare card number, and my credit card emergency number to ring both within Australia and Internationally (because even though the number is on the back of my credit card...if I lose the card I won't have the number!) You could add other pertinent information that you might need.

Travel Book/ Journal

Within my travel book and Journal I have all our Passport numbers/expiry dates and issue dates recorded. This is specifically for when I am in the plane and I have to fill in the incoming passenger forms for overseas customs and Australia. It gives me all the details in one place. They are always handed out near the end of the flight when you are jet-lagged and have your eyes hanging out your head so you need to think clearly and NOT make mistakes that mean you fill in the form 3 times!

The Travel Concierge Tip
When the flight attendants are handing out the forms, say you need two forms. This allows you to fill in the second form correctly straight after you make a mistake rather than having to call them back after they have taken a lot of time directing everyone else on the plane how to fill them in. READ the whole form first to check whether your answer comes before or after the question. If you are amazing like me and don't make a mistake (only because I used to make them EVERY time and so now are used to them) you can then pre-fill it in for your next trip.

Itinerary in progress

My itineraries have changed dramatically over the years. It has evolved as I guess I have through my experiences travelling. Right now, I have my itinerary set up in columns. All the things I need to do are noted in red. As I do them, I delete the message and fill in the itinerary with a booking number or details. It becomes quite a thick document, but again, I know that I haven't missed anything.

Date	This column is where I put all important things I need to know each day	This column starts out labelled Follow Up and then as the itinerary rounds out I change it to Notes.
Date	Itinerary	Notes
4th August	HA452 Departing 9:20pm Arr HNL 10:15am Limo booked for arrival time with lei greeting Ruth Chris Steakhouse dinner	Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach. 2335 Kalakaua Ave, Honolulu Booking No: 8219762 Meet Limo driver in the middle section of the airport at the Blue column. (payment in envelope includes the driver tip) reservation for 6pm under the name 'Howard'.
5th August	Orchids Sunday Brunch at 10:45am Walk to Ala Moana- shopping Dinner at CPK Early night to bed ready for tour in morning	A $57.00 Chn. $39 (payment in envelope marked Orchids has tip included) Booking Lanai side under the name of Smith. Notify them it is Machaela's birthday Take Sephora voucher
6th August	Tour of the Big Island	Up at 5am to meet shuttle bus at foyer at 5:45 Book Wake up call. Need picture ID No camera bags allowed Remember travel sickness tabs.