Australians love travelling. Every year, millions of Australians head overseas for business, pleasure and everything in between. Unfortunately not all trips turn out well, but much of the pain and hassle can be avoided by taking these simple steps before you go.
Secure your property. Nobody wants to come home to a burgled home or stolen car. Make sure you have arranged for your mail to be collected/diverted, the bins taken out and that your place looks like somebody is home. Leaving a radio on, a light on a timer and dirty sneakers outside the front and back doors can help create this impression. Or having someone over to house-sit or stay via Airbnb could also ensure somebody is around to deter burglars. If you do have a guest staying over, take a common sense approach to securing your valuables, including your identity documents, but leave a photocopy of your passport, drivers licence and itinerary with your family or a close friend.
Get a will and powers of attorney. If something unfortunate happens to you while you are away (whether you’re incapacitated or worse), you need to ensure a family member has authority to take charge of your affairs. Getting a will and powers of attorney (medical and financial) will significantly assist in enabling important decisions to be made on your behalf, as well as helping to avoid confusion and disputes among family members, and ensuring your wishes are respected if you are unconscious. Even if you don’t need to rely on them while you’re away, having a will and powers of attorney drawn up is a great opportunity to talk to your family about your preferences. You can then stick these documents in a drawer until they’re needed. It is too late to give someone a power of attorney or to make a will if you have lost mental capacity. The best time to create these documents is when you are young and healthy.
Take out travel insurance. If you have an accident or become ill and end up in hospital overseas, it could cost your family a fortune to bring you home – unless you have sufficient travel insurance. Investing a relatively small amount of money in insurance means you have a safety net to help you if things go wrong. Travel insurance can also cover your stolen property, legal liability if you get into trouble (see the next paragraph) and enable you to get access to emergency money. Home and contents insurance policies may cover some of your travel activities, as do some credit card insurance policies. But check the fine print to ensure you know exactly what and how much is covered, so you are not under-insured, or need to pay an unreasonably high excess when making a claim.
Respect the laws of the country you’re visiting. Australians can pay a very high price for ignorance and arrogance about another country’s laws. Even something as simple as the slogan on your t-shirt, the chewing gum in your backpack or your Facebook post could land you in jail in some countries. If you’re taking prescription medication, bring along your scripts in case a foreign customs officer has a query. Do some research and ensure you know the basics about the legal system of the country you are visiting. The Commonwealth Government’s Smart Traveller website is a good guide to security issues and enables you to register with the local Australian consul or embassy when travelling abroad. And never assume the Australian Government will rescue you if you get into trouble – as we’ve recently seen, diplomacy at the highest levels did not spare Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran from being executed in Bali for drug trafficking offenses.
Note: the above is general information and should not be considered as legal advice.