As humans, we love traveling and exploring new places and doing thrilling activities. We like interacting with new people and getting to know the culture in a new city or country. Abdullah Almanna, a Certified Public Accountant in a reputed MNC, is quite familiar with this. He understands very well about the pros and cons of traveling and how to manage his work. The Covid-19 pandemic has canceled the travel plans of thousands and millions of people across the world. However, as some parts of the world are recovering from the crisis, the travel and hospitality industry is hoping for a fresh start.
So, for those you’re traveling for work-purposes, Abdullah shares some cool travel tips and hacks to make the trip safe and successful:
- Inform the bank about your travel
When finalizing the international trip, many people forget to notify the bank about the travel plans. If you don’t inform the bank about your international trip and they see the transactions from an unknown location, they might immediately shut off your debit or credit card. They do this to protect your card from unauthorized access. So, to avoid blocking of your account or card, make sure to inform the bank before traveling to a foreign country
- Use ATMs with no transaction fees
Most of the banks have limitations on cash withdrawals through the ATM. However, many of them have facilities for corporate employees or other customers through which they can waive off the transaction fees on ATMs. So, before heading off to the airport, make sure you grab the ATMs having no or minimal transaction fees. This will help you cut off unnecessary expenses in a new country.
- Check online for transaction free ATMs nearby
No matter how thoroughly you’ve researched about the place or country you’re traveling to, things might happen differently in reality. When landing in the new destination, you should be able to know how to check online for transactions free ATMs near your location. If you take care of this, you can travel and explore the new place hassle-free.
- Understand how to tip
While traveling to any foreign country, you might try out several restaurants or cafés during your journey. However, be sure to know the tipping culture of different countries or cities. Tipping in the U.S. might be considered as a mandatory rule, while in countries like Japan, it might be seen as an offensive step. So, the next time you plan to travel abroad, don’t forget to see and research the rules for tipping.
- Do not leave your valuables unsecured
While traveling abroad, one of the most important things is to protect your valuable documents and cards. These include your passport, visa, identity cards, etc. When planning a day out in the destination, you should either put your documents safe at your hotel or carry them securely and safely. If you lose the least important document, it will land you into big trouble. So, make sure you keep all your valuables and documents secure every time.
- Don’t use public Wi-Fi for financial translations-
You might want to access the internet through the free public Wi-Fi at the museum, bus stop, or any other public places. However, these connections have the privacy risk and hackers may steal your sensitive information through them. So, avoid using public Wi-Fi, especially for taking out financial transactions. Even if you want to, be sure to use a VPN to secure your communication and activities.
Abdullah Almanna is an avid traveler, entrepreneur, investor, author, and above all he is a digital nomad. He wears many hats in his professional life.