Travelling Abroad?

[Vyxxin]

I post here, as first I know our members are many and varied...and second because I'd rather post where people are my friends than on some random travelling forum with a bunch of strangers

SO...me and the other half are considering travelling to Australia next summer (their winter) and I know SO many things have to be considered before a trip of that magnitude.

House and childcare aside...I was hoping someone could talk me through the WHOLE travelling abroad process as I have not the first clue where in the heck to start! Anything from passports...to flying and beyond! Thanks all, you're great!

 

[tunes]

Shoot Nikki (Dragonflye) a pm Ange. She's going there in the spring and is doing all this stuff right now. She may be able to give you some links and stuff to get you started.

 

[Vyxxin]

Thanks a bunch Peg

 

[suzi1780]

I just got my passport, I am traveling to Ecuador in Jan. To get it, I went to this website - http://travel.state.gov/passport/ filled out the DS-11 form found here http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/first/first_830.html then I went to my local post office and turned in the form. They also took my picture there, but not all post offices offer passport services so you will need to check first. You can check here http://iafdb.travel.state.gov/ I also had to give them my birth certificate. I think all and all it cost around $150. It took about a month and I got my passport in the mail and in a separate mailing I got my birth certificate back (they don't mail your passport and birth certificate together)

 

[Vyxxin]

Thanks for listing the costs of passports...while this vacation is still a LONG way off It's nice to get an idea of what things may cost me...we're hoping to keep it under $7,000 but we'll see I suppose

 

[arf2184]

You'll love Australia! When we went, we had a travel agent set everything up (highly recommended).

You'll need a travel visa and a passport. Look into exchanging currency here in the states before you go. Its often cheaper to go through your bank than to try and change it once you get there. Let your credit card company know you're traveling so they don't suspend your account for suspicious activity (happened to my friends mom...always nice to have your card denied). Also make sure that they aren't going to charge you an arm and a leg for currency conversion...some do. Most places over there take VISA and Mastercard. Many also take American Express.

Do not bring any fresh or dried fruits or vegetables unless you eat them on the plane. They're pretty strict about that...they'll just take it away from you.

If at all possible....fly Quantas. They're awesome. Its a long flight and you want to be comfortable. They gave use a little bag with socks, toothbrush and paste, snacks bottled water, and mints. On our flight each seat had their own little tv screen with on demand movie, game, and flight info. This was great because we had a lot of turbulence and I was not able to sleep most of the flight. The meals were pretty good too and the service was great. We flew coming back on United (or American?)...smaller more squished seats, awful meals, and only two screen on the whole plane for watching the in flight movie. You watched whatever they put on for you (if you could see the screen) and their headphones were hard to hear.

Get up and move around as much as you can on the flight...its a long one.

Where in Australia are you thinking of going?

 

[Vyxxin]

Somewhere around Brisbane, Queensland, Sydney? Thanks again, for the tips...I'm going to start looking into flights now and stuff just to be prepared. I also knew about the produce issues...there's not a whole lot I can't live without for a week or so