12 Important Tips When Travelling Overseas for Malaysians
5 min read12 Important Tips When Travelling Overseas for Malaysians
We love to travel and travel at least eight to ten times a year. Most of the time, it is more than that. Thus, we learned many valuable experiences along the way and it is time to share some of the most important tips to travel overseas for Malaysians.
What are the most important tips to travel overseas for Malaysians? We listed down 12 important tips for you to read and share.
The 12 important tips to travel overseas for Malaysians are:
Arrive Early at the Airport
The airplane is not a bus so for international flights, please arrive two hours earlier before your scheduled flight and one hour earlier for domestic flights. We usually add another hour to that. The plane will not wait for you and there are strict rules about flight departures. Hence, if you are late, you will miss your flight and have to purchase a new air ticket at a very expensive price. Set your alarm clock and arrive early at the airport.
Passport Expiry
Check your passport expiry date. You should not be travelling less than six months from the passport expiry date. Even if the local immigration allows you to fly, the immigration at the foreign country may deny your entry and you have to purchase a new ticket and be deported back to Malaysia. Please check your passport expiry date. Renewal takes hours and it is not a big hassle.
Check Weather Forecast
Please check the weather forecast so you know what to bring. We live in a hot country but it doesn’t mean the rest of the world is hot too. We remember during one of our trips to Nanning China, it was less than 10 degree Celsius and we saw incoming Malaysians wearing singlets, shorts and sandals. They didn’t know it was winter.
Stop being ignorant and check the weather forecast. You can check on your phone and it is not rocket science.
Bring the Right Attire
Knowing the weather forecast means you can bring the proper clothing,especially when you are going to cold countries. Don’t try to be a hero. When you are sick abroad, you will be the one suffering. Get the necessary clothing and if you don’t have one, buy one.
Travel Documents
What are considered travel documents? Flight itineraries, hotel bookings, visas, and personal identification documents. Some immigration officers may ask you to produce travel documents especially in Japan, Europe and United States. Just make sure you have a copy of each
Cash and Payment Cards
You don’t usually travel without any cash or payment cards. This what we usually do, bring a comfortable amount of cash and our credit or debit cards. For credit card and debit cards, we use Visa as we have been using them for over 15 years.
Usually we will use our credit cards first and then use the cash if necessary, especially in places like markets and stalls. Cash is the emergency option.
Make sure your Visa cards are PIN-enabled as our cards are now enabled with PIN. In Malaysia, after 1 July 2017, you will no longer be able to use your payment card at a POS terminal if you do not know your PIN ( unless you are using Visa payWave – applicable only for purchases below RM250 ) so get your new PIN-enabled card as soon as possible before it becomes an inconvenience. More importantly, remember your PIN. PIN & PAY is a secure method of payment that uses a PIN or 6-digit secret code, instead of your signature, to authorise payment.
You can call or visit your nearest local bank to enable your PIN and enjoy smooth payments on your trip!
How to use your PIN-enabled card:
- Hand your payment card to the cashier who will insert it into the terminal
- Wait for the prompt
- Key in your PIN and press enter
Smart Phone
This is one of the most important devices while traveling abroad. What can a smart phone do? Smart phone can be your translator, map, GPS navigator, guide book and many other things. Your smart phone is also your camera and video camera. Thus, you can share the live moments on social media using your smart phone.
If you ever get lost whilst overseas, the smart phone (with data) will save you especially in non-English speaking countries. You don’t have to worry about taxi drivers taking you for a long ride.
Camera
Smart phones can take good pictures but a camera takes better pictures. We need not carry a huge and bulky DSLR, a compact camera is sufficient for traveling. The pictures are good to publish on our blog and the videos are good for Youtube. We are currently using Sony RX 10 Mark 2.
Pocket Wifi / Sim card
Bringing a smart phone is important and so is having International roaming. You can choose to roam on your mobile network or purchase a new local sim card or rent a pocket wifi.
Powerbank
Smart phones are power hungry and you need a power bank to make sure your battery lasts for the whole day. We usually carry two powerbanks for our trips. It charges for our smart phone and our cameras too.
Travel Adaptors
It is pointless to bring your smartphones or powerbanks without bringing travel adaptors. We do understand that some hotels provided travel adaptors but they have limited stock. Just buy a useful travel adaptor (with USB charging ports) and it will work fine.
Travel Insurance
This is the one thing most travellers ignore. Travel insurance is one of the most important things to have while travelling. We usually buy an annual travel insurance as it is cheaper. Travel insurance is a small investment but a crucial one when you are traveling.
If we have missed out an important travel tip, drop us a message, comment here or email us. We constantly receive feedbacks from our readers and friends on our Facebook.
