American Express Maintains many offices or affiliates domestically and abroad. Visit www.americanexpress.com for office or phone number at your destination.
Area Codes Familiarize yourself with the area codes at your destination. Information can be found in your home white pages directory for both domestic and international codes.
ATM Networks See Visa and MasterCard, below.
Business Hours These vary outside North America, with siesta or similar closings in tropical climates, and later hours in big cites everywhere, earlier hours in small towns. In laid-back resort areas, you may see the sign made famous in Key West: "Open by Appointment or Chance."
Cell Phones At this point, most wireless companies in North America do not provide roaming services overseas, which means it's unlikely you'll be able to use your own cell phone on your trip abroad. The most sensible, most convenient way to use a cell phone abroad is to rent one, either here in the U.S. or at any number of overseas sites, including airport kiosks and car-rental agencies.
Renting a cell phone is much like renting a car: It comes fully equipped and ready to use; you just pick it up and go. Renting a phone before you leave home has its advantages:
You know the phone number in advance to give to family and friends.
The phone is delivered to you via Federal Express, UPS, or the like and activated immediately.
You can familiarize yourself with the phone before you leave home, instead of spending quality vacation time reading instructions.
When you get home, you simply return the phone in the prepaid package provided for you.
You can take the phone wherever you go; when you rent overseas, agencies bill in local currency and will not let you take the phone to another country.
Most wireless rental companies require a credit card deposit and bill the customer at the end of the trip. Although prices vary widely, in general, using a rented cell phone is more expensive than using a telephone calling card but cheaper than calling direct from your hotel room. Most companies charge a basic rental fee (which may include activation and shipping fees) of $40 to $75, plus a per-minute rate for both outgoing and incoming calls. In 2001 travelers in developed countries could expect to pay $1 to $3 a minute. Know that if you plan to travel in different countries with different networks, you may need a separate phone for each. In addition, air-time rates vary from network to network and country to country. Bottom line: Shop around for the best deal.
A highly recommended wireless rental company is InTouch USA (tel. 800/872-7626; www.intouchusa.com). Give them your itinerary and they will tell you which wireless products and services you need. InTouch will also evaluate your own phone's international calling capabilities before you leave home. For this free evaluation, call tel. 703/222-7161 between 9am and 4pm.
Drugstores In many lands, drugstores are called pharmacies (or local language variant thereof). Most keep the community's local business hours; in rare cases in large cities such as London or New York, you'll find all-night pharmacies.
Electricity Most of the world runs on 220 volts, with only North America and a few Asian countries (Japan is one) on 110. If going abroad, buy an all-purpose transformer and plug kit.
Embassies and Consulates Years ago, the U.S. Government confided in travel writers that about one in every 500 Americans going abroad got into some kind of scrape or problem that caused him or her to contact the U.S. Embassy or a consulate. Examples such as illness, arrest for drug trafficking, even death, were cited. You may find the embassy or consulate less than eager to help you in any case, or such has been the experience of many seasoned travelers. You can try, but don't expect much assistance, especially if you have lost your money, been robbed, been in an accident or are otherwise in trouble. If you aren't known to be "Somebody," you will be treated like "Nobody" by local employees and your civil servant-fellow Americans alike. Veteran U.S. travelers have often said they got better treatment at British, Canadian or Australian embassies than they did their own American one. But go ahead and try, anyhow.Emergencies If you plan to be somewhere for more than a day or two, familiarize yourself with the emergency phone number there. It isn't 911 everywhere (in Japan, in fact, it's 119). Some countries have English-speaking operators at special numbers (such as in Japan or China), but often these numbers are available only during regular business hours.
Holidays vary widely around the world. In America, there are only half as many holidays (13 days average) as in Japan (25), a third of what employees get in some European nations (45 in Germany, for instance). So be prepared for a lot of closing days at banks, museums and the like.
Internet Access In the most amazing places (a small river town on the Yangtze, for instance), you will find cyber cafes, which are often the only means people in a poor country have of using the Internet, sending e-mail, etc.
Language Consider yourself lucky that English is the accepted language of tourism worldwide. Chances are, the younger the foreign person is, the more likely he or she will speak English. Nonetheless, slow down when you speak, until you find the level at which your contact understands. And try not to use obscure slang. Remember what your English teacher taught you in junior high school and structure your sentences. Also, remember to smile a lot and be cheerful. Your effort will pay off in the long run, maybe even in the short.Legal Aid This is not likely to be available anywhere outside North America, Western Europe, Israel, Japan and Singapore. If you get into trouble, you should contact the U.S. Embassy or nearby consulate, but don't expect much sympathy or assistance from them, usually.
Liquor Laws Booze is banned in some places, such as certain states in India, even some localities in the USA. In Canada and Scandinavia, you often have to go to a government liquor store to buy anything alcoholic. Alcohol is also forbidden in a few countries where Moslem law rules. Check ahead before departing home.Mail If mailing from developing countries, put the stamps on yourself, and do not entrust this task to postal office employees. Get receipts if you send home anything remotely valuable by post.Maps See the "Getting Around" section earlier.
Newspapers and Magazines English-language newspapers are available almost everywhere. In Britain, there are still several daily newspapers in London, not to mention local ones throughout the Isles. In non-English speaking countries, the International Herald Tribune is widely available (owned jointly by the Washington Post and the New York Times). In Japan, there are at least two dailies in English, and in Hong Kong, Singapore and India, good newspapers continue to be published. Don't bother with the official China Daily News, however, unless you like bureaucratic new-speak.
Police See the "Emergencies" section, earlier. Some countries have special Tourist Police, who speak English, it is said. Read up, particularly in the Friommer guidebooks, on this and other subjects.
Smoking You'll find people puffing away madly in many foreign countries, particularly in Easter Europe and throughout Asia. Even on airplanes, and yes, in restaurants. It's hard to find non-smoking rooms in hotels in these parts of the world. Often, the management simply moves a "non-smoking room" card around from room to room when someone requests a non-smoking place to stay. You can be more assured if you see a permanent plaque affixed to your room door certifying that this is a "non-smoking room." But you can bet most places will put a smoker into that room if none other is available, and the guest will smoke, and you will notice the smell when you check in.
Taxes You'll find a wide variety of taxes whenever you travel, from the ubiquitous bed tax or local sales tax (including all over North America), and the ghastly Value Added Tax (VAT) in Europe. There are schemes by which you can get rebates, but the catch is that you usually must spend over a certain figure ($500 in Canada) ) or show your purchases on departure (Britain), so jumping through the loopholes of these is often worth the trouble only if you are spending large amounts. See the Frommer's guidebooks on this subject, where details are spelled out for each destination.
Telephones
If you plan to phone a lot, consider taking a universal cell phone with you, or renting one for use abroad. In each hotel, check what charges will be levied when you phone from your room. If they seem too high, you may want to consider using the pay phone in the lobby. Otherwise, unless you just want to hear some loved one's voice, consider using your e-mail.
To call a foreign destination: If you're calling from the United States:
1. Dial the international access code: 011
2. Dial the country code, e.g. 44 for the United Kingdom
3. Dial the city code, e.g. 171 for London and then the number. So the whole number you'd dial would be 011-44-171-0000-0000 (London has 8 numbers, not 7).
To make international calls: To make international calls from your destination, ask your hotel front desk or find the information on the phone card in your hotel (if there is one). Then after dialing the international access code (E.g. 00), dial next the country code (U.S. or Canada 1, U.K. 44, Ireland 353, Australia 61, New Zealand 64). Next you dial the area code and number. For example, if you wanted to call the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., you would dial 00-1-202-588-7800.
For directory assistance or operator assistance: This varies throughout the world, so ask the hotel operator, the front desk, or consult the phone card in your room (if there is one).
Toll-free numbers: Most countries now have toll free numbers, but they vary wildly, so ask your hotel operator, front desk or consult the phone card in your room (if there is one). To call a 1-800 number in the States from most countries not toll-free. In fact, it costs the same as an overseas call.
Time Zone These vary considerably, to the extent that in all of huge China, there is only one time zone, while in Russia, there are several. In most other parts of the world (excepting North America), you will be only in one time zone in one country. Your hometown phone directory gives you the time differences between parts of the world, in any case.
Tipping Tipping varies from non-existent (China and Japan) to overdone (France, Germany, Italy and some other European spots). Consult the Frommer's guidebook for details on your destination. When tipping is allowed and/or encouraged, the best bet is to tip from 10% for good service to 20% for fantastic helpfulness.Toilets Consult the Frommer's guide to your destination on this subject. The general rule is that the more developed a country, the cleaner the toilets. In Japan, some of the control panels on toilets (hot water, cold water, hot air, cold air, etc.) will make you feel positively backwards, technologically speaking.
Useful Phone Numbers
U.S. Dept. of State Travel Advisory tel. 202-647-5225 (manned 24 hours)
U.S. Passport Agency tel. 202-647-0518
U.S. Centers for Disease Control International Traveler's Hotline: tel. 404-332-4559
Water Generally speaking, the water is safe in the USA and Canada, most of western Europe (above the 45th parallel, a line running through southern France and northern Italy, then turning northward through Vienna, to include Germany and Scandinavia) and in Japan. Everywhere else, drink bottled water, and make sure you see the sealed cap before buying same. To be extra sure, in developing countries, get bottled water that has been carbonated (the sparkling variety).
For more precise information on hundreds of locations around the globe, consider getting the Climate and Safe Food & Water Charts from IAMAT (the International Association for Medical Assistance to Travellers), for a suggested donation of $25 or more. Their Web site is www.iamat.org or you can e-mail iamat@sentex.net.
