Re: Comment catcher: Preparing: A To-Do ListconulyNovember 19 2016, 11:56:41 UTC
Right, no air travel. Okay, so first this didn't thread properly and now when I tried to c+p I cut and paste something entirely different, so let's see if this finally works right.
RE: Re: Comment catcher: Preparing: A To-Do ListfabrisseNovember 19 2016, 16:32:38 UTC
Sidenote on the passport card: if you're getting a passport, pay the extra $45 to get the card, too. My passport is with my emergency information packet, which I am definitely organizing better after this post. In other words, it's at home. My passport card is in my wallet. If there's ever a "can't get home, must leave now" I can still cross a border if I need to.
RE: Re: Comment catcher: Preparing: A To-Do ListfabrisseNovember 19 2016, 18:34:34 UTC
I misremembered. By the time I'd paid everything, including the expediting service, the numbers were swimming. Still, the extra $30 is definitely worth it.
The passport card is also INFINITELY more reliable as a backup formal id than the photocopy of my passport that was recommended to keep on my person at all times when I did study abroad in Russia. That said, since the suggestion was to volunteer the photocopy first to keep bad actors from seizing your documents, I'd probably still suggest carrying photocopies also.
Consider also hoarding a small pile of another stable country's currency. Canada is closer to my house than much of the US (and potentially a lot safer if MA is no longer safe), so I plan on having a significant store of Loonies in addition to Greenbacks.
US$1=>CAN$1.35, approximately today. For most of recent history the canadian dollar has traded for less than the US dollar. Keeping an eye on the exchange rate maybe useful.
We don't use pennies any more. Everything upto $2 is in coins. It can be hard to use $100 bills as small cash as they are more often suspected to be counterfit or too big to break easily.
Re: Comment catcher: Preparing: A To-Do ListsidereaNovember 18 2016, 21:13:02 UTC
Anybody:
I'm applying for my first passport, and am pondering whom to put down as an emergency contact, and realize I have no idea as to the sorts of circumstances one's emergency contact in one's passport will be contacted or what they might need to be able to do. My obvious emergency contact is my sweetie, but they say to pick someone unlikely to be traveling with you, which he most assuredly would not be.
Having my elderly mother as my emergency contact seems unwise, if the intention is to have someone who can in some way be usefully responsive to emergencies.
RE: Re: Comment catcher: Preparing: A To-Do ListfabrisseNovember 18 2016, 21:20:07 UTC
I was always told it was in the event of death or serious injury/illness while abroad.
This person may be identifying your body (it's one of the reason "tattoos or identifying marks" is requested). My sister and I are each other's on the theory that "Home is where if you have to go they have to take you in." We don't usually travel together, but that may be changing. Elderly mother is probably not optimal unless she's very good at coping with extreme stress.
Q. Why is somebody looking at the emergency contact in your passport instead of just asking you?
A.
1. You are present but unresponsive or dead and they are trying to help by contacting someone who can do the needful. 2. Someone with access to the passport database is looking for you. 2a. ...to help you (e.g. police looking for a missing person matching your description want to check in with somebody) 2b. ...to harm you and yours (e.g. political police looking for loved ones to torture)
My wife and I use our parents, all of whom are physically, mentally, and financially capable of getting our bodies properly disposed of in a pinch, and none of whom have any idea what offenses we may have committed or be inclined to commit. If and when our parents are less capable, we will probably switch to siblings (with which we are well supplied) and conscientious friends.
"Friends help you move. Real friends move your body." Isn't that how it goes?
medical paperwork?cellioNovember 18 2016, 21:33:24 UTC
It seems like having copies of some (which?) medical records could be relevant if trying to cross certain national borders. I don't know much about this, but I've heard of people traveling some places overseas needing to show proof of certain vaccines, for instance. Maybe somebody can flesh this out?
If you have dependents, including pets, make sure you have the records you'll need to be able to move them anywhere from across a national border to into a hotel room or shelter. Proof of rabies and distemper vaccines for dogs and cats, for example, can be a prerequisite for bringing them into a hotel -- or even boarding them. Crossing a national border might involve quarantine.
RE: Comment catcher: Preparing: A To-Do Listda_poohNovember 18 2016, 22:33:10 UTC
My first reaction reading this was that this is a leftist version of a prepper's guide, with the most glaring difference being a passing reference to firearms, instead of front-and-center discussion of purchasing, training, handling, etc
( ... )
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Consider also hoarding a small pile of another stable country's currency. Canada is closer to my house than much of the US (and potentially a lot safer if MA is no longer safe), so I plan on having a significant store of Loonies in addition to Greenbacks.
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We don't use pennies any more. Everything upto $2 is in coins. It can be hard to use $100 bills as small cash as they are more often suspected to be counterfit or too big to break easily.
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The highest value Euro notes are commonly used in Germany, but not in much of the rest of Europe.
I know big-cash is easier to carry, it may also be utterly useless away from a bank.
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I'm applying for my first passport, and am pondering whom to put down as an emergency contact, and realize I have no idea as to the sorts of circumstances one's emergency contact in one's passport will be contacted or what they might need to be able to do. My obvious emergency contact is my sweetie, but they say to pick someone unlikely to be traveling with you, which he most assuredly would not be.
Having my elderly mother as my emergency contact seems unwise, if the intention is to have someone who can in some way be usefully responsive to emergencies.
Suggestions?
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This person may be identifying your body (it's one of the reason "tattoos or identifying marks" is requested). My sister and I are each other's on the theory that "Home is where if you have to go they have to take you in." We don't usually travel together, but that may be changing. Elderly mother is probably not optimal unless she's very good at coping with extreme stress.
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Don't worry if that's not your closest friend, as long as it's somebody close enough that they'd drop things to sort out whatever crisis you were in
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A.
1. You are present but unresponsive or dead and they are trying to help by contacting someone who can do the needful.
2. Someone with access to the passport database is looking for you.
2a. ...to help you (e.g. police looking for a missing person matching your description want to check in with somebody)
2b. ...to harm you and yours (e.g. political police looking for loved ones to torture)
My wife and I use our parents, all of whom are physically, mentally, and financially capable of getting our bodies properly disposed of in a pinch, and none of whom have any idea what offenses we may have committed or be inclined to commit. If and when our parents are less capable, we will probably switch to siblings (with which we are well supplied) and conscientious friends.
"Friends help you move. Real friends move your body." Isn't that how it goes?
Reply
Reply
If you have dependents, including pets, make sure you have the records you'll need to be able to move them anywhere from across a national border to into a hotel room or shelter. Proof of rabies and distemper vaccines for dogs and cats, for example, can be a prerequisite for bringing them into a hotel -- or even boarding them. Crossing a national border might involve quarantine.
Reply
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