Traveling Abroad? 3 Traveling Tips for Going Overseas

Posted on August 5, 2008 in Fun-tivities by little mochi

I just returned from a one week trip to Taiwan.  It wasn’t a vacation, although some may call it that.  I went back with my husband’s family for Grandpa’s funeral.  The last time we went back (two years ago), he spent the entire week in the hospital to be with him.  Back then, the doctor said he had 6 months to live.  He lived another 2 years.  So in mid July, we made arrangements to attend the funeral.  Several things happened during this short one week “vacation” that I wish we had prepared for.

1. Tickets to Taiwan in July are truly expensive!  It costed us $1400 per person.  PER PERSON!  Normally, when we go in October, it’s only around $600 – $700.  AND, the weather is much nicer then.  But I suppose everyone is on summer vacation in July.  Before you decide to travel abroad, find out when their peak season is.  It’s best to go when it’s not in their peak season.  You’ll end up paying twice as much for airfare.

2. The weather in July is extremely hot and humid.  You literally in drenched in your own sweat from just sitting there.  Your neck is constantly feeling sticky.  And constantly are washing your face.  The first few days of our stay there, Taiwan was hit with a typhoon.  In retrospect, I really appreciated the typhoon.  In fact, I wished for it to return after a day or two of hot and humid air.  The rain and winds actually made it cooler for us.  In addition, there was mosquitos everywhere!  I brought back a leg full of mosquito bites.  If I had known it was mosquito season, I would have brought bug spray, although my sweat might have washed it off!  Therefore, before you go abroad, be sure you find out how the local weather is so you can bring the necessary gear and clothing.

3. The night before our departure, my husband looked at his passport and laughed at the expiration date.  “Look honey!  I’ve got only one month before my passport expires!  I barely made it!”  I quickly double checked mine.  I was relieved to see that it expires in December of 2008.  Five more months.  No problem, right?  Wrong!  At the check in line, the attendant said we are not able to fly to Taiwan without Taiwan’s permission.  With 2 hours before take off, the lady told us they had to ask Taiwan if we can be admitted with what they call a “standing” visa.  That’s a one-time 30-day visa.  I had a better chance because my passport expires in five months.  My husband’s however, may be questionable since his expires in a month.  I guess they don’t your passport to expire while you’re overseas.  In any case, after an hour of waiting, we got an answer from Taiwan.  We’re both able to go.  However, we had to go directly to the VISA office at the airport to purchase our standing Visas.  I thought it was $30 US.  But it ended up being $160 US per person!  That’s pretty much the spending money that we brought.  *sigh*  So lesson learned.  Make sure your passport is not within 6 months of the expiration date when you travel overseas or you may not be able to go at all.  I blame this part on our incompetent travel agent who helped us book our air fare.  Aren’t they supposed to know the passport regulations?

Happy traveling and be safe!



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