Pre-Trip Travel Safety Checklist: What to Check Before You Go Abroad

This checklist covers what to check and prepare before an international trip, from travel advisories and entry rules to vaccines, insurance and emergency contacts. Work through it a few weeks before you leave, while there's still time to renew a passport or book a vaccine appointment, then run through the short list at the end again a few days before departure.

A note before you start: entry rules vary by passport and destination, and they change. Treat this as a list of things to check, not a list of answers, and always confirm the details with official sources for your own nationality and destination.

The pre-trip checklist

1. Travel advisories

Your government's travel advisory is the best starting point for understanding the safety and security picture at your destination.

• Read your government's advisory in full, not just the headline level.
• Check for regional warnings. A country can have a low overall level while specific areas carry a much higher one.
• Note any risks that affect your plans, such as unrest around an election or seasonal weather risks.

Where to check: the US State Department and the UK FCDO. For what the levels and warnings mean, see our guide to travel advisory levels.

2. Passport validity

Many countries require your passport to remain valid for a set period beyond your stay. The rules differ between countries, so there's no single number that works everywhere.

• Check your passport's expiry date as soon as you start planning.
• Look up your destination's passport validity rules, and those of any country you're transiting.
• If you need a new passport, apply early to avoid delays.

Where to check: the entry requirements section of your destination's page on travel.state.gov or GOV.UK.

3. Visa and entry requirements

Depending on your passport, you may need a visa, an eVisa or an electronic travel authorization, and some countries ask for more at the border.

• Find out whether you need a visa or travel authorization, and how long it takes to get.
• Check whether you may be asked for proof of onward or return travel, proof of accommodation or proof of funds.
• If you're traveling with children without both parents, check whether you need a consent letter or custody documents.

Where to check: your government's page for the destination, and the destination's official embassy or immigration website. Be wary of unofficial visa sites that charge extra fees.

4. Vaccines and health entry rules

Some health preparations take weeks, so this is one to start early. The CDC suggests seeing a healthcare provider at least four to six weeks before you leave, and the FCDO suggests checking what vaccinations you need at least eight weeks before you travel.

• Make sure your routine vaccines are up to date.
• Check which destination-specific vaccines or medicines are recommended for your trip.
• Find out whether your destination requires proof of yellow fever vaccination. If it does, the vaccine has to be given at an authorized center, and you'll need to carry the certificate, the International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis (ICVP), often called the yellow card.
• Check for current travel health notices, such as disease outbreaks.
• If you take regular medication, check the rules on bringing it into your destination (see section 6).

Where to check: CDC Travelers' Health or, for UK travelers, TravelHealthPro, the UK's national travel health service. A travel health clinic can give personal advice, so book an appointment well ahead of your trip.

5. Travel insurance

The State Department notes that the US government doesn't pay medical bills or unexpected travel costs for citizens abroad, and that US health insurance often doesn't cover care overseas. Travel insurance is how most people fill that gap.

• Check what your policy covers, including emergency medical care and medical evacuation.
• Read how it treats government travel advisories. Some policies may not cover travel to areas your government advises against.
• Keep your policy number and emergency assistance line somewhere you can reach offline.

Policies vary a lot, and this isn't insurance advice. If you're unsure, ask your insurer directly. The FCDO suggests getting insurance as soon as you book.

6. Local laws and customs

Laws abroad can differ sharply from home, and not knowing a rule is rarely accepted as an excuse.

• Medications: some prescription and over-the-counter medicines that are legal at home are restricted or illegal elsewhere. Carry copies of prescriptions and keep medicines in labeled packaging.
• Drugs and alcohol: penalties for drug offenses can be severe, and some places restrict alcohol.
• Dress and behavior: some destinations have rules or strong expectations around dress, public behavior and religious sites.
• Drones and photography: flying a drone may need a permit, and photographing government buildings, military sites or people can be restricted.

Where to check: the local laws section of your destination's page on travel.state.gov or GOV.UK.

7. Emergency numbers and the nearest embassy or consulate

In an emergency, you don't want to be searching for a phone number.

• Save the local emergency numbers for police, ambulance and fire. They're often not the same as at home.
• Save the address and phone number of your nearest embassy or consulate, and read up on what your embassy can and can't do for you.
• Fill in the emergency contact page in your passport.

8. Register with your government

Both governments offer free alerts for travelers.

• US citizens: enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). You'll get security, health and weather alerts from the local US embassy or consulate, and it helps them reach you or your emergency contact in an emergency.
• UK travelers: sign up for FCDO email alerts on your destination's travel advice page.

9. Natural hazards and weather

Some risks depend on when you go as much as where.

• Check whether your trip falls in a seasonal risk period, such as hurricane or typhoon season, monsoon season or wildfire season.
• Look at the forecast as your trip gets closer, and at any warnings from the local meteorological service.
• Know what you'd do if a storm or other event disrupted your plans.

10. Documents and money

Losing a passport or a bank card abroad is stressful. A little preparation makes it much easier to recover.

• Make copies of your passport, visas and insurance documents. Keep one set with you, separate from the originals, and leave one with someone at home.
• Store photos or scans somewhere secure you can access from any device.
• Carry a backup payment card, kept separately from your main one.
• Check with your bank whether you need to tell it you're traveling, and how card payments abroad will work.
• Make sure you could still access money if you lost your phone and couldn't complete two-factor authentication.

11. Share your itinerary

Someone at home should know where you're going and how to reach you.

• Share your flights, accommodation and rough plans with a family member or friend.
• Agree on how often you'll check in, especially if you're going somewhere remote.
• Tell them if your plans change.

A few days before you leave

Advisories, entry rules and conditions can change between booking and departure, so run through these again:

• Re-check the travel advisory for your destination and any regions you'll visit.
• Re-check entry requirements, including any new forms or health rules.
• Look at the weather forecast and any active warnings.
• Confirm your insurance documents, copies and emergency numbers are where you can find them.
• Make sure someone at home has your final itinerary.

The State Department's International Travel Checklist and the FCDO's foreign travel checklist are useful to read alongside this one.

Making the list lighter

Most of this checklist means visiting several different official websites, often more than once. That's the problem that led us to build Farhaven. Farhaven's trip briefing brings advisories, entry requirements, vaccines, local laws and embassy details for each destination into one place, so you can work through a list like this faster. You can see what's included, or find answers on our Support & FAQ page.

Farhaven is available now on iPhone and Android: download it on the App Store or get it on Google Play.