An important travel tip to keep in mind when preparing for a trip is to scan copies of all your important documents. This is a smart idea because if you end up losing your passport or debit card, it will be much easier to replace it. Make copies before you leave home and keep a set in your travel journal or somewhere away from the originals. Email a copy to yourself and possibly a friend or family member, so you can always access them at any time.
Here are some documents to include and how to keep them safe:
Scan important travel documents
Know all the travel documents you might need or want, like international driving licenses and more – decide if you will need them now because with some travel documents, like vaccination records, you may have to start early to get them before you go.
If you don’t have a scanner, try an office supply place like Kinko’s, otherwise you can take a photo on your phone or camera and email it to him. Travel documents you may want to scan include:
- Your passport – Take photos from the main photo page, as well as any page with visa stamps. You never know what you might need if you lose your passport, so it’s best to keep track of everything. When in doubt, create a Word document that contains your passport number, issue date, and expiration date, as these are the most important fields you’ll need if yours is stolen.
- Any Visa – Take a photo of any important visa that you need to apply for in advance. It is important to have a copy and be aware of your visa number, in case you lose your passport and have to prove that you are not in the country illegally.
- Airline tickets – You most likely have your confirmation for these online, but just make sure you don’t delete these emails. You can even save all your booking confirmations in a separate folder in my email, so you always know where to look for them. If worst comes to worst, you can call the airline, give them your passport number and name and they can find your reservation and resend your confirmation, so you don’t have to worry too much about losing these details.
- Credit or debit cards (useful for having the credit card number when calling or emailing the bank) – If you lose your debit card abroad, it is much easier to request a new one if you can call the bank and tell them what the current number is. This is also useful if you want to book a week’s accommodation online using your card before blocking it, so that you have a place to stay while you wait for your new card to arrive.
- Driver’s License, Student ID Card, ISIC, or other photo ID – Again, these things are always helpful to have, in case you lose them. It always makes requesting a new copy a lot less complicated if you have the details of the old one.
Email files
Easy: your next step is to email yourself the files. You can if you have scanned your documents or taken a photo with your phone. Just transfer the photo / scan to your computer by plugging in your USB or SD card, then attach this file to an email and send it to yourself.
You also send a copy to a friend or family member, so if you lose access to email, you can access those documents while abroad. The documents that you store in one place are documents that you don’t mind losing, so make sure you have your copies stored in many places.
Leave the emails on the server
Check your email account before leaving home and make sure the documents you sent have been sent correctly. Send the documents to yourself without any subject or vague subject, in case my email account is hacked, and save them in a separate folder so that they are not easily accessible via the search function in my inbox .
Also, keep a photo of any important documents on your phone and laptop, so you can easily access them in an emergency.
Download important travel documents when and where you need them
Documents can now be downloaded from anywhere on the planet where you can access the Internet and your email. Print the documents and you will have copies to help you start replacing them. Your first port of call will likely be the embassy if you lost your passport, or a phone call to your bank if you lost your credit or debit card.
This article has been edited and updated by Lauren Juliff.
