How To Stay Connected While Travelling

Photo by Riccardo

When you have an opportunity to go on an adventure and travel around the country or even around the world, there’s a chance that you won’t be giving too much thought to those that you’re living back home. The thing is, if you’re planning on going on an extended trip, you’ll want to find ways to stay connected to people who’ve left behind.

You’ll want to be able to tell them about all of your adventures and show them pictures of where you are and about the things that you’ve seen and done. Staying connected is a vital component of safe travel, especially if you are traveling alone. It would give you some Peace of Mind to know that you’re still connected to the outside world no matter where you are, but your folks at home will also probably expect you to stay in touch in some way. Putting together a plan for staying connected with your friends and family is important because that way they know where you are and can raise the alarm if you don’t turn up what you’re supposed to be. Let’s take a look at some of the ways that you can best keep in touch. 

1. Leave contact details with your family and your friends. Whether it’s your social media or a copy of our itinerary showing where you can pick up local and international phone numbers. As you travel, you need to think about leaving a list of contact details with your loved ones so that they can get in touch with you in case there’s an emergency, and vice versa. It works out really well for the type of person who plans out every detail of your trip in advance. Getting your new phone numbers when you travel to Wyoming or making sure that you pick up a local Connecticut phone number is going to help you to save money along the way. If you can leave these contact details with the family member, they’ll be able to contact you when they need to.
2. Stay connected to the Internet. Whether it’s via your phone or your iPad or even an Internet cafe, which are kind of dying out these avenues can help you to stay connected with the e-mail. Keeping in touch on your big trip used to mean buying a postcard once a month and making it back home before you got there. It gives your family a sense of how much fun you are having, but it’s also not something that you need to be doing anymore. Not only is the price of postage too high, but if you can send emails to your family and your friends, you’ll be able to connect to them instantly without having to pay.
3. Send a text. When you head to a new location, drop a text to your friends and family. Just make sure that you have a WhatsApp account so that you can use free Wi-Fi and send text messages that way. When you’re traveling through countries like China, where access to everyday apps and websites you use back home may be prohibited, buying a local SIM card and staying connected with a prepaid credit from local providers can help.
4. Set up and keep up with a blog. Before you go on your adventures, set up a blog so that you can log in and write a message on it every day that you’re traveling. You can use it as kind of a dear diary where you can update your friends and family where you are without having to directly contact them if you don’t have the time. You get a chance to write about all of your adventures in depth as well, without having to post every day on social media. You can use your blog to pop your photos online, write lengthy stories, and take videos. You can also organize all of the information through tags. It’s a good way to keep a record of your travels to read when you do finally get home. One day you could decide to print it out and keep it as a book on the shelf of your home so that you can revisit those adventures from when you were young.

5. Social media can keep you connected. Even if all you can manage is a status every other day, it’s a great way to let people know that you are safe. If you’re traveling alone and you’re backpacking, then people being able to see that you are active and online on social media can give them the Peace of Mind that they may need to ensure that you are safe and you are not in any danger. The only downfall of using social media is that it’s not particularly personal, so you’ll be updating everybody on your friends list rather than just updating one or two family members. 

6. Always keep copies of your important document. A good way to ensure that you are staying connected while you are traveling is to keep a copy of all of your important documents and contact details. Your passport and visa details should be with you at all times, but you should always also travel with photocopies that are stored elsewhere, just in case. If you have an alternative photo ID, keep that with you as well, just in case you lose your passport and you need to go to your country’s embassy. Print out all contact details and policy information of your travel insurance provider too, and keep the contact details handy for your bank or credit debit card to cancel if necessary. 

Travel is supposed to be fun and it’s supposed to be exciting. It’s not supposed to be something that puts your life in danger. If you are keeping in touch with friends and family while you’re overseas, you’re going to make sure that they feel secure that you are where you should be. Staying safe while you travel is half the fun.