Gadling

Taking photos of important documentation that we might need later as a backup is quickly becoming a part of everyone’s travel plans. Stored in our cell phone, critical data can be recalled easily when paper versions of the same are misplaced, lost or stolen. Taking that idea another step further, creating other images along the way can be quite helpful for a number of reasons.

We don’t like to think about it but getting lost while traveling is something that happens, even with the most careful planning. Rare but tragic, kidnapping is something we don’t like to think about but that happens too. On a long trip, recalling the exact path we took later can be difficult when traveling quickly, covering a lot of ground in a short period of time.

These are all good reasons to focus a little attention to photos that might be helpful later. Here are some must-take photo ops you won’t want to miss.

1. Enable location tracking– Be sure location tracking or a similar feature on your phone is enabled, secretly adding your location, where and when the image was captured.
2. Where you are right now– A good idea to make part of what we do when traveling is to take a photo of where we are right now. If you are one of those travelers who back up digital images to a laptop computer along the way, have a folder on your desktop that has one photo from each place visited.
3. “When I die” file photo with location captioned- This is one nobody wants to think about but critical to have someplace when traveling. A “When I Die” file will give relatives or close friends the location of important documents you may have in secured places, website URL’s and passwords that can be helpful for those handling your affairs after your death and more.
4. Places you visited- Simply having a photo of every place you visit can be a great benefit (see #2) down the line when writing about your adventures, recalling your travel itinerary in the future or matching up faces of those you meet along the way to their location on the planet.
5. People you met– Later, instead of “Remember that singing guy we met in Spain?” it will be, “Here’s a photo of Ricky Martin,” if tagged/captioned accurately.
6. Forensic Travel Folder- When viewing, editing or sorting photos, copy some that show your location, places you visited and people you met into a folder intended for family members or law enforcement people that will give a good idea of where you have been.
7. Your Passport and other identification– a no-brainer these days, having an image of your passport, drivers license or other identification can go a long way to satisfying those who need to verify your identity.
8. Back up to cloud/have remote back up– besides having another copy of photos taken along the way, granting a close friend or family member access to your remote backup can be a huge aid to someone trying to find you.
9. Receipts of purchases- Maybe not all, but for sure any receipts received when buying foreign currency, buying items along the way that may have a warranty or receipts that can be used to dispute a fraudulent transaction later.
10. Prescription medications– simply having an image of the bottle your prescription medication came in can be helpful if your medication is lost or stolen. If nothing else, it gives a pharmacist in Africa a number to call for information about your prescription in the U.S. Better yet, take a photo of a prescription before having