When you’re traveling abroad, keeping your passport safe while still having it accessible is extremely important. You’ve taken the time to take the proper passport photos, send in your application and get your passport sent to you, and you don’t want to have to repeat that whole process from abroad. Here are some general rules of thumb for how to store your passport in different situations:
1. Keep it your person. If you’re in a situation where you’ll need access to your passport (such as at the airport or when crossing the border) you should keep your passport as close to you as possible. In an airport, this may simply mean in a handbag or in a small compartment of your backpack or carry-on, while other situations may require you to be even more careful, such as hiding it in a money belt underneath your clothing.
2. Leave it at your hotel when you can. When you’re spending the day sightseeing, it’s much safer to not bring your passport with you. Pickpockets are everywhere, and you may not even notice it’s gone until the end of the day. It’s better to keep your passport in your hotel room safe, or in another locked bag, or otherwise hidden away in your hotel room.
3. Don’t let it out of your sight while in transit. If you have your passport in your bag and you’re traveling on a bus or train (or even an airplane), make sure your bag doesn’t end up in a storage compartment under the vehicle, in a separate luggage compartment, or somewhere else out of your sight.
4. Make photocopies. If you’re using your passport as identification while traveling, or you need access to your passport picture for some reason, that doesn’t necessarily mean you need to bring your physical passport with you. Often while traveling abroad, a photocopy of your passport will be sufficient for low-security ID checks like bars or museums.
If something does happen to your passport, or if you need to get a new one for some reason, it isn’t the end of the world. You can always use Paspic get new passport pictures taken and we’ll help you get it taken care of.