Travelling abroad

[itsybitsy]

I will be going to Indonesia for work next month. Those of you who travel abroad regularly, could you give me a quick heads up on what you take with you in terms of prepping stuff? Bear in mind that I will be taking a lot of things for work, and I won't have much room in my luggage for my clobber, and I don't want to be lugging around a suitcase the size and weight of a dead body!

Thanks

[bulldogeagle]

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[pseudonym]

Clothes wise, a sturdy set of footwear and socks to go with it.

A photocopy of all documents including passport, driving licence; travel tickets and health insurance.

£100 in local money and £100 in US$. as a back up.

Spare wallet with a few low demonination notes and old store cards - kept in back pocket for the pickpockets out there. main wallet in front pocket.

Small first aid kit - meds - immodium paracetamol etc

Small torch

Prepaid phone card and cheap £10 pay as you go phone and charger.

[Ian]

It all depends where you are going, city, up country, and what you are doing. Can you give us a better idea?

I spent a few months there a while back 50/50 in Jakarta and a small coffee plantation.

[itsybitsy]

It all depends where you are going, city, up country, and what you are doing. Can you give us a better idea?

I spent a few months there a while back 50/50 in Jakarta and a small coffee plantation.

Jakarta for a week. I'll be in the business district, so there won't be any trekking around anywhere, and we will at a convention with other organisations that have travelled out there from the UK.

Am thinking a little first aid kit and a torch may be enough. I don't want to schelp stuff around with me. Work will have copies of all documents, visas and so forth.

[In the Dark]

One of these maybe? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Web-tex-Surviva ... B002JTQ5JA
remember to have it empty for the security control then fill it before you board your flight. Not only filters out micro organisms but it makes the water taste decent too

[Ian]

Ah good, you will enjoy yourself I am sure.

Be prepared for stomach upsets. Take fluid replacement, Dioralyte from your chemist or know how to make the UNICEF Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) mix and Diarrhoea therapy, say Lomotil, but that is prescription only. Your doctor will probably prescribe it to carry in places like Jakarta, worth asking.

Slightly crude, but an expat friend who lived there said, "Happiness is a dry fart".

Take care where and what you drink. Never drink directly from a crown cap bottle, the tops are often contaminated. Be wary of ice and washed salads outside of your hotel as you don't usually know its source. Tap water is fine especially in the hotels which if they are the international chains have their own water treatment plants. Don't bother with your own water treatments, you might insult your hosts if they noticed, but by all means take a flask, it gets hot (I like the folding Platypus type, easy to put in the luggage.) or use bottled water.

The people of Jakarta are poor, many live on under a pound a day, if you see the back streets you will be shocked, but they are proud, take care about what you say.

Low level crime is rife. Many gangs exist and their members identify themselves by tattoos. Be wary of anybody with a tattoo. Don't take a good watch just a cheap drab 'throwaway' a favorite trick is just to wrench the watch off your wrist and run. If the watch is big and shiny it is an easy target, the same goes for cameras, snatch and gone. Western style mugging is rare. Lock your passport up in the hotel.

Try to get a map of the local area from the hotel (but they are usually useless) and a button compass is useful (The Sun is stupid there it is never where you expect it to be) to locate yourself if you go out.

Learn about the general history before you go and bone up on their style of Islam so you know how to conduct yourself. Learn to say hello, goodbye and especially, thank you and you will be genuinely welcomed everywhere. If you go teetotal you will gain respect from the locals as many believe we are all drunken, violent, wasters. Too many films I suspect. The people are graceful, kind and helpful. Keep off of politics and never touch a woman unless specificly invited, say for shaking hands or passing food.

Try to take in a shadow show and Gamelan concert, probably put on especially for tourists but still fun and buy some genuine Batik from a market, cheap, typically Indonesian and easy to pack in a suitcase.

You will enjoy yourself and wish you could stay longer. I am jealous.

[itsybitsy]

Ah good, you will enjoy yourself I am sure.

Be prepared for stomach upsets. Take fluid replacement, Dioralyte from your chemist or know how to make the UNICEF Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) mix and Diarrhoea therapy, say Lomotil, but that is prescription only. Your doctor will probably prescribe it to carry in places like Jakarta, worth asking.

Slightly crude, but an expat friend who lived there said, "Happiness is a dry fart".

Take care where and what you drink. Never drink directly from a crown cap bottle, the tops are often contaminated. Be wary of ice and washed salads outside of your hotel as you don't usually know its source. Tap water is fine especially in the hotels which if they are the international chains have their own water treatment plants. Don't bother with your own water treatments, you might insult your hosts if they noticed, but by all means take a flask, it gets hot (I like the folding Platypus type, easy to put in the luggage.) or use bottled water.

The people of Jakarta are poor, many live on under a pound a day, if you see the back streets you will be shocked, but they are proud, take care about what you say.

Low level crime is rife. Many gangs exist and their members identify themselves by tattoos. Be wary of anybody with a tattoo. Don't take a good watch just a cheap drab 'throwaway' a favorite trick is just to wrench the watch off your wrist and run. If the watch is big and shiny it is an easy target, the same goes for cameras, snatch and gone. Western style mugging is rare. Lock your passport up in the hotel.

Try to get a map of the local area from the hotel (but they are usually useless) and a button compass is useful (The Sun is stupid there it is never where you expect it to be) to locate yourself if you go out.

Learn about the general history before you go and bone up on their style of Islam so you know how to conduct yourself. Learn to say hello, goodbye and especially, thank you and you will be genuinely welcomed everywhere. If you go teetotal you will gain respect from the locals as many believe we are all drunken, violent, wasters. Too many films I suspect. The people are graceful, kind and helpful. Keep off of politics and never touch a woman unless specificly invited, say for shaking hands or passing food.

Try to take in a shadow show and Gamelan concert, probably put on especially for tourists but still fun and buy some genuine Batik from a market, cheap, typically Indonesian and easy to pack in a suitcase.

You will enjoy yourself and wish you could stay longer. I am jealous.

Thanks for that Ian. Part of my job is to be aware of, understand different cultures and ensure things don't get lost in translation when it comes to dealing with people from different nations, etc. I deal with people from all manner of backgrounds on a daily basis.

There is opportunity to stay longer, but I don't fancy going on elsewhere - I hate living out of a suitcase. Plus, I need to get back ASAP. My boss wasn't keen on me being away for over two weeks, and with rest days and so forth it would have been that long if I had tagged on the next leg of the trip.

I will be with a highly-respected, global cultural relations organisation, so will be well looked after. We are picked up from the airport and chauffeured around, so I'm pretty relaxed about the logistical arrangements.

No chance of swinging a business class flight unfortunately...but at least I'll get my miles!