Planning a family trip is exciting, but it also comes with a long to-do list. Between booking flights, packing, and organizing activities, it can be easy to overlook your important travel documents. This is why it’s essential to have an organized system in place, so that you can save yourself a whole lot of time and stress. In this article, we’ll share some easy tips for keeping your family’s travel documents organized, so you can find them with ease, keep them safe, and enjoy the journey ahead.
Keep Everything in One Secure Location
The last thing you want is to be scrambling to find your family’s travel documents right before you’re supposed to leave for your trip. Not only can this cause unnecessary panic, but it could potentially delay your vacation. To help you stay organized, make sure that you have a secure location where you store your passports, IDs, and other paperwork. Then, once you arrive home after traveling, put everything back in that exact spot, so that you never have to worry.
Create a Checklist
The morning of your travel day can be a bit hectic. Between grabbing everyone’s suitcases, making sure the house is in order, and finalizing those last minute details, you’re going to have a lot going on. Fortunately, you can make your life a whole lot easier by creating a checklist a few days beforehand. You can reference this list before heading out the door, helping you to not forget anything, including all of your important travel documents.
Have a Simple Folder System
Though storing your documents in the same spot will help you be more organized, it can get a little messy, especially if you have a lot of people in your family. This is why it’s always a good idea to put a simple folder system into place. Each person gets one folder that stores their travel information, so that everything can stay separated. This makes it easy, and allows you to know exactly where they are when you need to access them.
Use Color Coding For Each Family Member
If using a folder system doesn’t work for you, try color-coding instead. Get a few different colored packs of sticky notes and assign each color to a different family member. Then, place the sticky notes on the front of each travel document so that you can instantly tell who it belongs to, making it much faster to grab the right ones when you need them.
Keep Digital Copies
Accidents happen, and you may misplace your important travel information at some point. This is why you should always keep digital copies of everything on your phone or personal computer. Keeping backup copies can be useful in case you lose your originals, and could potentially help you get replacements more quickly than if you had no copies to reference.
Set Expiration Reminders
Traveling with an invalid passport, visa, or ID could cause you to run into some problems. Many airlines won’t allow you to board with an expired passport, meaning that you’ll most likely have to reschedule your trip. It can be difficult to remember when your family’s passports are set to expire, which is why it’s a good idea to set reminders on your phone or calendar, so that you can renew them in time.
Something else to keep in mind is the six-month validity rule. Many international destinations require you to have at least 6 months of validity left on your passport from your travel dates. Some countries may refuse entry if you have less than 6 months validity, which is why we suggest not waiting until the last minute to renew your passport.
Protect Your Travel Documents While Away
You should take precautions to protect your family’s travel documents while away. One way to do this is to use RFID-blocking passport holders. This blocks people from accessing any personal information on your passport, giving you peace of mind. Additionally, when you arrive at your destination, consider placing your passports and other important information inside the hotel safe, so that you know they are secure and won’t get lost or stolen.
Work With a Reliable Company to Obtain Your Passports and Visas
One of the most important things you can do is work with a reputable and reliable company, such as Swift, to obtain your travel documents. We have years of experience helping families get expedited passports and visas, and would be happy to help your family, too. Visit our website to learn more about the expedited passport and visa services that we offer, and please contact us with any questions you may have along the way. No matter where you’re going, we’ll get you there!
