Travel Troubles: What To Do When You Lose Your Passport Abroad

by Rachel Friedman on

Some people are accident-prone. Others attract bad relationships. Me, I get into travel trouble. I once broke a piece off a plane mid flight – luckily not one crucial for flying. I’ve been robbed and swindled – in Bolivia, both in the same morning. There are friends of mine who joke that the only sure thing when traveling with me is that our flight will be canceled. I confess to you that I have even been deported.

Amazingly, I’ve never actually lost my passport. (Just a moment, please, while I race around knocking on every available wood surface in my apartment.) However, being embarrassingly prone to travel troubles, I’ve gone ahead and prepared for the highly likely possibility that this will one day occur. Here’s what to do when you lose that prized official ID, according to various subjective (me) and objective (the government) sources.

Panic
What? You’re not panicking? You’ve lost your PASSPORT. You might be stuck in a place that is not America FOREVER. I’m kidding. Do not panic. Definitely don’t. Do you know what happens when you panic? Well, it has something to do with the shift of blood flow and “fight or flight” and sweating and, see, it’s all very scientific so let me simplify things by saying that it’s the reason all those big-breasted, short-skirted girls run up the stairs in horror movies. In your case, it’s the reason you are currently braced against the nearest wall, starting to breath funny, and wondering if 25-year-olds ever have heart attacks. This will keep you from taking the necessary steps to remedy this unfortunate situation. So stay calm, guy. Everything is going to okay.If You See Something, Say Something
Of course, you might not have actually seen anything at all. When I was robbed in La Paz, the culprits set up an elaborate spit-on-the-target-and-abscond-with-her-stuff-while-she-is-wiping-disgusting-goo-off-her-neck ruse. I had no clue who these ninjas were. (Side note: referring to the people who rob you as “ninjas” makes you feel better than admitting they were probably not particularly gifted 12-year-olds.) Still, I filed a police report and you should, too. It’s important for making claims with travel insurance, at the very least. And you can rest a little easier that night knowing you’ve done your small citizen part to fight crime in Gotham City (or wherever you are).

Get thee to an Embassy
Turns out you’re not spending a lazy morning sucking down espressos at that quaint little bakery in rural France. Nope, you’re on the next train back to far less friendly Paris to visit your embassy. Here’s what will happen when you get there, according to the Bureau of Consular Affairs website: “You will need to speak to the American Citizens Services unit of the Consular Section … You will need to complete a new passport application. The consular officer taking an application for replacement of a lost, stolen, or misplaced passport must be reasonably satisfied as to your identity and citizenship before issuing the replacement. In virtually all cases this can be done through examination of whatever citizenship and identity documents are available, conversations with the applicant, close observation of demeanor and replies to questions asked, and discussions with the applicant’s travelling companions or contacts in the United States.” My unsolicited advice: don’t make any jokes about being a double agent or respond “Jason Bourne” when asked your name. I understand the embassy has a terrible sense of humor.

Ask for Help
Before traveling to any foreign country, I make sure to learn a few key phrases. How much does this cost? Where is the nearest restroom? Is what I’m eating right now technically food or are you just hazing unsuspecting tourists? Useful things like that. Another helpful sentence would go something like this: Help, please, I’ve just been robbed and I need to use your Internet/phone/bottle of tequila. (If you lost your passport over-indulging in the local wine, say, I recommend neglecting the specifics of how you ended up ID-less and only wearing one shoe and concocting a more sympathetic storyline. The travel gods will forgive you the white lie.) Losing a passport sucks, no doubt about it. But you might look at it as an opportunity, albeit an unwanted one, to witness for yourself the kindness of strangers. In any given place, even New York City, I promise you, there are compassionate locals ready to offer help. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find them.

Back it Up, Back it Up, Back it Up
This is more of a post (or ideally pre) passport loss piece of advice – common sense but often ignored, as is the way with much common sense. You should have copies of all your important documents: passport and driver’s license, boarding passes, traveler’s checks. If you’re a real overachiever, you’ve stashed copies with a loved one back home and somewhere in your luggage – not to mention scanned the stuff and saved copies in your email. I’ve heard that getting new passport photos taken abroad can by a royal pain in the embassy so you might consider bringing these along for the journey, too.

[Flickr image via Howdy, I’m H. Michael Karshis]

RelayRides: The Airbnb Of Transportation

by Jessica Festa on



We’ve seen travel sites like CouchSurfing and Airbnb that allow people to share their home, but a new nationwide cooperative site is allowing people to share their car.

While many programs exist that allow people to pay into being part of a group car-share program and rent vehicles for a cheap price, RelayRides takes a different approach, and is very useful to travelers without a vehicle. The cars and trucks for rent are already owned by someone, meaning you’re not actually adding a new car to the road. Additionally, renters are required to pass a screening process when signing up for the site. Based on this and reviews, car owners can choose who can rent their vehicle.

So, how does the car owner benefit? By getting paid. When someone rents, they are required to refill the tank and pay an agreed-upon fee set up by the owner. For the person renting, it’s often much cheaper than renting from a corporation, with some cars being less than $180 per week. Furthermore, it’s nice to help the local community instead of big corporations sometimes.

Through RelayRides, renters and owners are covered through insurance, and there is roadside assistance and customer support built in. For owners, the company also handles the billing. It is free for both owners and renters to sign up.

Would you loan your car to a traveler for money?

How To Find The Best Food While On The Road For Business

by Grant Martin on

Business travel tends to bring out the worst in a traveler’s eating habits. It happens for a variety of reasons. Most business district restaurants are built around the lives of 8 to 5 employees, crescendoing at the busy lunch hour and then buttoning up service at 6 or 7 when workers have gone home to their families. At the Comcast Center, where I occasionally work in Philadelphia, the underground food court is opulent and packed at 12:30 on a Tuesday. By 8 p.m. it’s a ghost town.

There’s also the mentality of being on the road for work. Out of one’s comfort zone it’s easier to splurge on meals that are more convenient or for special occasions. It also helps when someone else is paying. But the cost goes beyond the pocketbook – your health is also on the line.

We’re all frequent travelers at Gadling Labs, so we compiled our best tips for eating well on the road and put them into this handy list for business travelers.

1. Escape the room service blues. Wouldn’t you know it? Sitting Indian style in front the television isn’t the ideal posture for consuming your after-meeting engorgement. Moving over to the desk is a better approach, but an even healthier option is to get up, get out of your room and find your food. The exercise that you get on the way will do plenty to counteract the carbs that you’re about to consume. And you’ll probably find something better than what the room service is going to provide.2. App it up. Yelp is the number one resource for any business traveler who wants to eat healthy. Those stuck in central business districts may find that the only visible nearby options are big box franchises, with smaller, more thoughtful places scattered thin. A quick search on Yelp will show the best-ranked restaurants in the area and will give the traveler an idea of what sort of fare is best received. Tip: “Healthy Food” is actually a searchable genre.

3. Home cooked meals are always the best, because you know exactly what ingredients are going into them. Check out the components of this barbecue sauce (only three tablespoons of brown sugar!) and you’ll see what I mean. The problem, of course, is that it’s difficult to cook while on the road. You can get around much of that by finding a hotel with a kitchenette. Homewood Suites and Elements are two great brands that feature stoves and utensils in each room. Stop by the grocery store on your way home; pick up an onion, a zucchini and some pasta and you’re in business.

4. The grocery store is your friend. Even if you don’t have the time or resources to bring food back to your hotel, there are myriad opportunities to find ready-to-eat meals at your local grocery store. Most outlets have prepared meals made from their produce sections, and barring that option there are big-brand-curated meals. Just stay away from the salt-rich TV dinners and you’ll be in good shape. As an extra bonus, it’s also cheaper.

5. Talk to the locals – the real locals. Think your hotel concierge has the best take on dinner options? Maybe. Or maybe he’s going to send you to the same Hard Rock Cafe that the tourists go to – or to somewhere that gives him a cut. Real locals, the ones on the street, have the best opinion on nearby food; you just have to work up the guts to ask them. Take a hint from Gadling’s culinary czar David Farley and ask a cab driver.

[Flickr image via Hamed Saber]

Woman Pays Ryanair $390 To Print Boarding Passes, CEO Calls Her ‘Stupid’

by Kyle Ellison on

Travelers taking issue with budget airline Ryanair is nothing new. In fact, it now seems to simply be commonplace.

First, there was the Norwegian man who was arrested after complaining that the in-flight sandwich he purchased tasted like rubber. Then, of course, there were the passengers who staged a sit down strike in Belgium after being told they must take a bus 225 miles to their
final destination after being rerouted. The list really does go on from here.

The ire doesn’t stop with the passengers, however, as there was also the Ryanair pilot who was coincidentally transferred to Lithuania after publicly making remarks against the company, a move, which ultimately caused the veteran pilot to quit. Recently, there has even been talk of Ryanair making customers pay to use the lavatory.

As usual, this can all be traced back to Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary who also wants to do away with co-pilots and has suggested that long-haul flights offer free oral sex.

Oftentimes, such stunts are attributed to extreme marketing moves meant to gather attention, and it has seemed that recently Ryanair has backed off a bit from their ludicrous outcries.

Or, maybe not.

According to a recent Time Business article, when a passenger traveling from Alicante, Spain, back home to England complained of Ryanair charging her a fee of €60/person to print boarding passes for her family of five (a total of $390), Time reports that O’Leary branded the woman as “stupid” and called the rest of Ryanair passengers “idiots.”While this definitely seems extreme, it’s not exactly a new policy; it’s well known by many European budget travelers that you must print your boarding pass prior to arriving at the airport lest Ryanair levy a hefty fee.

When the woman complained on her Facebook page (and subsequently received over half a million ‘likes’ from those agreeing with her), O’Leary is reported by the article to have responded by saying:

“We think Mrs McLeod should pay 60 euros for being so stupid,”…”She wasn’t able to print her boarding card because, as you know, there are no internet cafes in Alicante, no hotels where they could print them out for you, and you couldn’t get to a fax machine so some friend at home can print them and fax them to you… She wrote to me last week asking for compensation and a gesture of goodwill. To which we have replied, politely but firmly, thank you Mrs McLeod but it was your ****-up.”


What do you think? Does CEO O’Leary have justifiable reason to be angry, is he at it again with his old marketing stunts, or is the woman completely in the right for being so upset over the hefty charge?

[Image courtesy of aromano on Flickr]

How To Turn Your Daypack Into A Traveling Office

by Laurel Miller on

No one is ever going to accuse me of being a tech junkie. But as a journalist, I’ve had to temper my Luddite proclivities so that I can earn a living while on the road.

Compounding the issue is my essential frugality and innate dirtbag tendencies. I only travel with a backpack, using a daypack in lieu of a purse. For low-maintenance or business/pleasure-combo travelers such as myself (although I recognize that not everyone has the luxury of ditching business attire and trappings; I’ve been known to stuff a nice computer bag and dress-to-impress items into my backpack), a daypack easily transforms into a portable office.

Because I also keep my passport, money, credit cards, camera, cellphone, adaptor, and other essential documents and items on my person at all times, it also means my netbook is never left behind. This serves the dual function of ensuring I have access to a computer should I need to edit a story or file a deadline, as well as alleviates theft concerns due to entrusting my valuables to my room or hotel safe. If you’re a budget traveler, I firmly believe it’s better to risk carrying anything of value on your person than entrusting them to the vagaries of youth hostels, dodgy guesthouses, or cheap hotels.

The key to creating a user-friendly portable office lies in choosing the right daypack. I’ve written before about my preference for using hydration packs, because if you remove the bladder, it creates a space to safely store documents. I’m 5’2′, so I also require a woman’s pack, and because most of my trips include some form of outdoor activity, I like having a hip belt (the zip pockets of which double as holders for my mouse and cellphone cord), and multiple exterior and interior pockets.

I highly recommend the hydration daypacks made by Osprey and Gregory. They’re incredibly durable, and have useful bells and whistles. I’m not a fan of CamelBak, as I’ve found they don’t hold up well. The brand and style are up to you, but do check to see if the pack you’re contemplating comes with a raincover. If not, it’s a wise investment, and will spare you the anguish of waterlogged gear and devices.

[Photo credit: Flickr user incase]