Traveling Abroad? How Waterproof Paper Can Provide Protection
With summer in full swing, people across the country are anxiously counting down the days until their big summer trip. That means plenty of excitement, but it also means it’s time to prepare! Grab your packing list, check the travel advisories, and make sure you’re as prepared as possible for your upcoming adventure. After all, the more you can prepare beforehand, the less you’ll need to worry about while away. And, as part of your packing preparation, make sure you grab a few sheets of TerraSlate waterproof paper as an extra safeguard while you’re abroad.
The Problem With Personal Identification While Traveling
Any time you leave the country, you’ll be expected to show your passport. Yes, even if you’re just taking a quick jaunt across the border into Canada, you should be prepared to show a passport upon reentry to the USA. The rules for entry have grown more strict in recent years, so your passport is, arguably, the single most important item you’ll be packing any time you head out of the country.
So what happens if you lose your passport while abroad? What if you get pickpocketed and they make off with all of your identification? Getting back home is a heck of a lot harder when you don’t have any way to prove you are who you say you are. This is where TerraSlate waterproof paper comes in! We provide backup measures that can provide you with peace of mind in the event that the worst happens and your passport gets lost or stolen.
Protecting Yourself in Advance
There’s an old axiom about hoping for the best but preparing for the worst, and that absolutely should guide you as you prepare for any overseas trip. In this case specifically, prepare to have your identification information stolen so that if that does actually happen, you have backups in place to help yourself get by.
When you lose your driver’s license or other identification somewhere near home, it is a lot easier to find supporting documentation and go to get a replacement. When you’re abroad, those options become a lot more restrictive. But you don’t want to haul your birth certificate and social security card with you while traveling because it can get stolen just as easily! The best way to protect yourself is to make copies of all of your identification and travel documents and store them separately from the originals.
The travel documents you’ll want to protect include:
- Passport (including any visa documentation as appropriate)
- Driver’s license or state identification card
- Basic medical information (including any ongoing medical concerns, medications you take, and a physician’s contact information for emergencies)
- Travel itinerary, transportation reservations, and hotel confirmations
- Vaccination information (if you’re traveling somewhere that will require certain vaccinations)
- Any other prepaid confirmations/reservations
Making Duplicate Travel Documents
When it comes to protecting yourself, the best thing to do is make multiple copies of your passport, identification, and all other travel documents. You’ll need to bring the identification originals with you, as these are the only version that will be accepted by customs officials, but copies should suffice for everything else.
We suggest making one set of copies that will be stored at home in a secure location — but somewhere that a trusted family member or friend can still access while you’re away. You should also have a set of copies that you carry with you that are stored separately from your official documents. The idea behind this is that, if you lose your government-issued documentation, you’ll have copies of all that information to help speed along the process of getting replacements. If worse comes to worst and your government-issued copies and your set of travel copies go missing, you’ll have a set back home that can be scanned and faxed or emailed to you.
Protect Yourself Further with Waterproof Paper
Loss and theft are the two most common issues that can befall your travel documents, but they aren’t the only concerns to worry about. You’ll notice that most travelers carry their passport and important documentation in a waterproof or protective carrying case. While your passport is made with coated paper, it can still be damaged by moisture. If your backup copies are also just plain paper, you may have not have an easy recourse when something happens to your travel documents — even something as innocuous as a splash from a puddle. When you print off copies on waterproof paper, you have the extra insurance that your backup copies won’t accidentally get ruined during your travels.
In terms of the paper copies you take with you, the other layer of protection is where you put them. Most travelers choose to keep the originals in a well-secured bag or travel pouch that goes with them everywhere. With that in mind, it’s a good idea to put your backups in a different spot. Since these are copies printed on waterproof paper, you can easily hide them under a flap along the back or side of your suitcase, where they are less likely to be found.
How TerraSlate Waterproof Paper Protects You
Our waterproof paper is durable, colorfast, rip-proof, and heat-resistant up to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. So, while you’ll still need to keep track of your backup copies, you can trust that it will otherwise take a lot of effort to wreck those spares. Explore all of the amazing benefits of our waterproof paper products, and then shop online to get prepared for your next trip!
