While cruising the majority of passengers on Royal Caribbean will return home with great memories, hundreds return traumatized and with a need to file a lawsuit.
Even though you are unlikely to encounter a dangerous situation, there are many dangers that passengers can face on a cruise ship.
There are a number of reasons why people fall overboard. While sometimes it is intentional – some people go on cruises determined to commit suicide – there are many times when it is not intended. In February 2013, 8 crew members were taking part in a team emergency lifeboat drill on a British cruise ship in the Canary Islands when the lifeboat carrying them snapped off its cables and plunged into the ocean. It landed upside down and trapped them underneath the hull. As a result, 5 crew members died and 3 others were severely injured. Most of the passengers were participating in shore excursions and did not witness the event. But falling overboard doesn’t just happen in isolated incidents like this. A person can fall due to intoxication or losing their balance.
Unfortunately, Royal Caribbean is one of the most dangerous cruise lines for sexual assault and battery. Even more upsetting is that the majority of victims are under the age of 18. It is believed that the reason is that younger passengers are more likely to be trusting of crewmembers and not suspect that they could become victims when being approached by them. Ships have an entirely different architecture than buildings on the land, and they have a lot of darker spaces that are small. There is also a lot of contact between passengers, so young teens exploring their freedom on a ship can be on the same deck as intoxicated adults. In December 2015, a 15-year-old girl was gang-raped on the Oasis of the Seas by a group of heavily intoxicated men.
Ships are slippery. Many walkways are outside, so even a light rainfall can make it harder for passengers to walk safely on a deck. Passengers entering and exiting the pool can track water with them, making pool areas very dangerous. But another reason for slip and falls is negligence on the part of crew members who were tasked to keep the floor dry. There are many narrow walkways on cruise ships, and passengers are not always wearing the best footwear to keep them safe. After all, they are on vacation and aren’t likely to always be wearing sneakers or shoes with a heavy grip meant for ship work.
If you’ve ever been on a cruise ship, you have to acknowledge that it’s nearly impossible to feel the rocking of the waves. That’s due to the fact that modern ships have stabilizers beneath the waterline that automatically adjusts the ship to negate the effects of the sea. That does not, however, mean that a ship is invulnerable to the laws of physics. When a ship accelerates, decelerates, or turns, the items inside of it continue at the rate and course that they were previously traveling. That means that unsecured items can fall, sometimes causing injury. There have even been documented cases of pool water knocking over passengers.
When a personal injury occurs on a cruise ship it is handled much differently than a claim on land. On land, there are certain factors that you don’t have to take into account that you do when dealing with an injury on a cruise ship. There is also a question of jurisdiction – cruise ships may be operating outside of the countries where they are registered, and the people involved in the accident or crime may be citizens of two different countries. There are so many complexities and opportunities for something to go wrong if you do not hire an attorney who has the experience and successful background to represent you. When filing a Royal Caribbean lawsuit, you will want someone who can tell you exactly what your deadlines are, what needs to be done, and who can compassionately guide you to getting justice.
If you’ve been injured on a cruise ship, your first priority should be your health, but there are things that you can do to solidify your case.
For many of us, if there was ever a time when taking a refreshing vacation might feel like a welcome reprieve, it’s now. But in this New Normal, COVID-19 world, safety while traveling is paramount. If you’re planning a road trip, here are a few things you can do to make your journeys as safe and stress-free as possible.
Have a plan in place to make good hygiene as easy as possible. One way to do this is to put together a simple sanitation kit. Disposable gloves, hand cleanser, and Clorox wipes will help ensure those gas station visits and pit stops are as risk-free as possible. You might also want to carry sealable bags with you to help dispose of used cleaning items.
Another great option for an overnight stay is to check in advance about their social distancing protocols. You may receive useful guidance on how to check in and out safely and efficiently.
Finally, you’ll be simplifying your journey considerably if you plan stopping points in advance, and take snacks with you. This will minimize unplanned stops along the way, and help you make smart traveling choices.
This one requires only a few minutes but can save you hours of headaches on the road if you have car problems. Make sure your auto insurance is current. Moreover, if you haven’t done so in a while, now may be an excellent opportunity to make sure your policy is suitably comprehensive.
Of course, you’ll want to make sure you and your co-drivers have collision and comprehensive coverage. But broadening your policy to ensure you have proper liability coverage means you can relax about the financial impacts of an accident.
USAA offers competitive auto insurance policies that cover all these bases, and they provide a range of helpful insurance tools for customers, including a quick and easy online claims center along with premium support you can access online. You may also find you’re entitled to family discounts, membership discounts, and additional bonuses if you or a family member serve in the U.S. military.
Here’s one last often-overlooked tip. Make sure people know where you’re going. By telling loved ones where you’ll be traveling and when you gain the luxury of not worrying when you lose connectivity between cities. Keeping everyone on the same page is always a smart move.
In a similar vein, be sure to tell your bank as well! These days, bank fraud departments are often notified when charges happen in different cities. Unusual behavior can trigger a temporary lockdown on your cards.
Taking a few moments to inform your bank of your upcoming travel plans means you can avoid the hassles of reactivating your cards while you’re out and about.
Safety isn’t always the first thing we think about when planning a road trip! It’s much easier to dwell on all that relaxation lying just around the corner. But investing a bit of time upfront in ensuring your safety makes it that much easier to relax once you’ve packed your bags and you’re ready to set out on a fun new adventure. Quality auto insurance, a sound approach to health safety, and sharing information about your trip are all great places to start.
The first half of 2020 saw the Coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe, with whole nations closing their borders, travel and tourism coming to a halt almost overnight, and people encouraged to stay at home for months on end. Popular holiday and backpacking destinations became ghost towns, with most travelers told to return to their home country before it was too late.
But as we try to navigate the future amidst the ongoing pandemic, countries have begun reopening their borders and people are traveling once again. That said, with the Coronavirus still rife in some places, this is a very different experience right now. For those with an incurable case of wanderlust, the need to get away is stronger than ever. That’s why My Baggage has put together this guide to look at what it’s like to go backpacking during the current pandemic and how to plan the safest trip.
Some countries have been more adversely affected than others when it comes to the virus. The United States, Brazil, Mexico, India, the UK, Italy, France, and Spain are amongst some of those who have seen the highest rates of infections and deaths. So in order to plan and enjoy your backpacking trip, it’s best to visit destinations that are safer, with lower numbers of Coronavirus cases. Some of the safest countries to travel to include:
• Cambodia
• Mongolia
• Laos
• Vietnam
• Tanzania
• Fiji
• New Zealand
By choosing countries that are safer, you’re less likely to catch the virus and the likelihood is that more will be open. For example, more hotels, restaurants, bars, and attractions.
The beauty of backpacking is that you can travel from country to country with nothing but the bag on your back. However, during the pandemic, it is important that you do your research before traveling to any new country. You need to make sure that you check the restrictions in place in each destination and find out if there are any mandatory isolation periods. The rules surrounding the virus differ in every country, so you need to make sure you’re clued up before you cross the border.
American citizens currently have very few options on where they are even permitted to enter. The CDC has a number of resources which you can find here.
This one might seem a little counterintuitive since backpacking opens you up to all sorts of exciting adventures and is meant to take you off the beaten track. But right now it’s important that you don’t wander too far. OK, you might be away from the crowds and therefore less likely to catch the virus but in many places resources and emergency services are stretched trying to stay on top of the pandemic. Because of this, the last thing you want is to find yourself in trouble, miles from civilization and stuck for help. So just be careful when you’re off exploring and always use your common sense.
From airports to restaurants, lots of places are running temperature checks and other tests to track and trace the virus. This also means they won’t accept anyone who is showing symptoms. As such, you must be prepared to be tested, particularly when flying and entering new countries. Often these tests aren’t invasive, but it’s important that you listen to the locals and do what is asked of you. Otherwise, they might just turn you around at the border.
Almost all countries have now introduced strict quarantine periods too! In countries like Australia, this isn’t even restricted to international arrivals. Make sure you factor this into your plans and expect to be isolated for 14 days.
Health insurance might be a little different amidst the pandemic so you need to make sure you’ve got the right cover. Prices will differ as they always do, but it pays to get decent insurance that is going to help and cover you if you do get the virus – or if anything else happens to you for that matter. If you’ve already got travel insurance for your backpacking trip, make sure it covers you for all the countries you’re visiting and that Coronavirus is taken into account. After all, you don’t want to find yourself facing hefty medical bills if you do get sick!
Some nations have banded together in what has become known as travel bubbles or air bridges. This means you can pass through more easily, often without having to do the mandatory quarantine period. For example, lots of European countries have created these air bridges, and Australia and New Zealand have formed a travel bubble, making it easier to fly between the two. This can make your trip that bit easier and means you can avoid more testing and quarantine periods.
When it comes to backpacking, you have to be very selective with what you take and there are always some essentials you need to make sure you’ve packed. But as the virus continues to spread, there are some other essentials you need to carry with you everywhere you go. Face masks are mandatory in some countries, especially if you’re flying. Wipes and sanitizers are also going to be so important when you’re traveling around – be sure to use these frequently and wash your hands whenever you get the chance. It’s best to keep these in a side pocket or small handbag so you have access to them at all times.
Finally, with many places still closed you need to make sure you’ve got somewhere to stay before arriving. Even if this just means ringing around to check which hotels, hostels etc. are still open. Lots of nations still remain on lockdown and many popular backpacking spots are yet to fully reopen, so it’s not going to be as simple as it used to be.
Gone are the days when you could just turn up and sleep for the night. In a bid to stop the virus many places are only accepting guests that have pre-booked and provided them with their details. So don’t just assume that you’ll be able to find somewhere to eat, sleep or shower without checking first. Things are slowly beginning to open, but things are still far from normal in most places.
For the beach, you’ll need a swimsuit, sun cream, and a towel, obviously. But what about after that? And how do you know which one to take?
In this post, we’ll take a look at how to pack lightly for your beach adventures. With our help, you’ll be able to decide what’s essential and what can be left at home. And hopefully, you can make the most of your trip! Let’s check out how to pack ultralight.
Imagine how annoying it would be trying to drag a suitcase across powdery white sand? Exactly. So, get yourself a backpack. Even if the beach is just one of many activities you’re planning on your trip, you should get a day pack. That way, you have a convenient way to carry your things.
More adventurous beach-goers might want to swim to nearby islands or enjoy a water sport such as stand-up paddleboarding. If that’s the case, you’ll need something to carry your stuff if there are no beach lockers. After all, just leaving it on the sand means your valuables may be stolen, and no one wants that!
A dry bag can double up as a day pack, and it’ll store all of your stuff without it getting wet – as long as you close the bag correctly of course. As well as a dry bag, you should get yourself a small waterproof case to store your phone around your neck. How are you going to get pictures of your stunning surroundings otherwise?
We’ve already mentioned stand-up paddleboarding. For those who are traveling to have a go at this amazing sport, it can be tricky to transport the key equipment (the board). The things are huge! Happily, you don’t have to buy a bigger car or knock people out on the bus or train with your enormous hardboard.
Just get an inflatable one instead! Inflatable stand-up paddleboards are great for beginners and they’re super durable. Rather than having a heavy and difficult-to-carry item, this can fold up into a backpack and you can happily go about your business. Just don’t forget to pack the pump and remember to use a PFD!
If you’ve been swimming, surfing, stand-up paddleboarding, or snorkeling (or any other water sports), one thing is inevitable. You’re going to get wet. And you sure don’t want to be sitting there still damp on your journey back home – especially if it’s in the car or on public transport. As long as you pack a towel.
But which towel to pack? If you take a regular bath or beach towel, they can be large and take a lot of space up in your bag. Even worse, once they’re damp, they’ll get other stuff in your bag that way too. Better to use a microfiber towel – these amazing pieces of kit can fold up super small and they’re self-drying. You won’t even notice you have it… Until you need it that is!
No matter what you do at the beach, you’ll want to avoid sunstroke and stay hydrated. And you can be tricked by the occasional cooling dip into the water that you’re taking water in. But that’s not really the case. Make sure that you have plenty of water with you – ideally in a reusable bottle. Not only is it easier to keep your water ice-cold with these, but it’s better for the environment.
Okay, this might sound like something that your gran takes on her picnics, but maybe she’s got the right idea. Beach restaurants and cafes can be extortionately expensive, so to save yourself a wad of cash bring a picnic along. However, there’s a problem. If you’re going to a beach where the temperature is 30 degrees plus, your food is quickly going to end up sweaty and soggy. And you might just end up heading to those expensive cafes and restaurants anyway. Be sure to take a freezer back and it’ll keep your food chilled. Perfect!
So, whether you’re going paddle boarding, relaxing on a white-sand beach, or planning to enjoy the local nightlife, you hopefully have a better idea of how to pack for the beach. For more tips on smart budget, travel check out the Backpacker Travel 101 Guides. They’re an essential companion for an epic trip!
The digital age is an age of convenience and this is quite true of international money transfers as well. Gone are the days when you needed to physically visit a bank to make a transfer. These days you can do it online from right where you are, be it over the internet or using your smartphone.
There are several advantages that money transfer companies can offer over traditional banks. In this article, we’ll take a look at how travelers and digital nomads can benefit from using modern transfer companies:
Online international money transfer companies like Transferwise can leverage the live exchange rate when compared with banks that use traditional methods. They can use a variety of tools that can pre-decide the minimum and maximum exchange rate and allow one to go for a preferred rate rather than accept what is offered. You are thus insured against exchange rate fluctuation to quite an extent.
Unlike banks, online money transfer companies like WorldRemit don’t surprise their customers with hidden fees, the way that banks do. WorldRemit fees for making an international money transfer, for example, will be typically lower than a bank.
Money transfer companies typically provide a far wider choice of currency pairs than banks. That means you can easily transfer money in the currency of your choice to the destination of your choice. That frees up people to transfer money wherever they want without having to follow any convoluted exchange mechanism.
Unlike banks you can transfer money 24×7 by way of an online transfer, providing you with not only tremendous flexibility, but also leverage with regard to the exchange rates. That gives you a lot more control over your international money transfers than you would get with a bank.
Online international money transfers can be easily tracked. The status of your transaction is visible to you right through all the stages. The online international transfer facility is available round the clock enabling you to transfer when you want, yet know exactly what the status of your transaction is.
The customer service offered by international money transfer providers is way better than what banks have to offer. This is because they use modern technology to keep themselves up to date with what their customers want. These companies have committed teams to address all issues solely dedicated to transferring money online. They can be easily reached over the phone, live messenger or email.
This is an altogether different experience from what banks offer with their confusing and rule-bound approach to customer service. Given a choice, anybody would like to deal with people who are fair, transparent and approachable as most online international money transfer companies are.
With the world digitizing and the financial technology sector leading the charge, online money transfer has already become the norm, rather than the exception. The digitally connected world is a world of efficiency, speed, and lower costs. With technology advancing at an exponential rate the speed, convenience and safety of international money transfers will be improving while the cost of the transfers will continually fall.
The great thing about digital technology is that it is not impacted by the weather, epidemics, or any kind of exigency. Besides, it allows travelers and digital nomads to fulfill their transactional needs at any point, in any timezone. The ability to make money transfers via your smartphone is a wonderful example of what technology can achieve.
Travelers around the globe can take advantage of modern transfer services in various ways. Using online providers will drastically reduce the costs, and lower the transfer times and any receiver can obtain their money using a smartphone, reducing the need of finding a bank in an unknown location. Alternatively, digital nomads exploring the world but keeping their businesses running can fulfill their business needs at any time in any timezone. Many providers offer business transactions to facilitate any business needs.
There are several outstanding global online money transfer companies that one can choose from. These include brands like TransferWise, WorldRemit, TransferGo, Azimo, CurrencyFair, Money Gram, InstaReM, PayPal, Zoom, OFX and many many more. If you are someone who needs to frequently transfer money internationally, you are spoiled for choice, when it comes to some outstanding companies lining up to serve you. It makes eminent sense for you to make the most of it.
Do you want your kids to speak foreign languages, but it seems like your son and daughter have no interest in learning at all? Here is a tip for you. Don’t force your kids to study. This approach never works.
The best thing you can do is to take your family to a foreign country for a vacation. Traveling will help you to build intrinsic motivation in your children – your kids will start learning foreign languages on their own will without intervention from your side.
Let’s consider the major aspects of how traveling can improve the foreign language skills of your kids.
Kids, who have never been to foreign countries, have no clear understanding of why it’s important to study languages. Living in an English-speaking country, children tend to think that the language barrier is “not a real thing”.
They wrongly believe that since English is the most-studied language, they will be able to communicate with anyone anywhere in the world. Sadly, these beliefs prevent kids from improving their foreign language skills.
Do you want to encourage your kids to learn new languages? Show them that it’s really challenging to solve even a small problem abroad if you don’t speak a local language. Take a family trip to a country where most of the population has zero knowledge of English, and you will amaze your kids.
Imagine the situation. Your family is staying at a small hotel located far away from civilization, somewhere in Vietnam. You’ve lost a key and try to explain the situation to a Vietnamese man who knows just a few words in English. There is no Wifi working, so you can’t use an online translator.
How much time will it take you to fix the situation and get new keys? Maybe 20 minutes, or an hour. In any case, if this situation happens to you, your kids will see that the language barrier can turn a small problem into a big one. So they will want to improve their foreign language skills.
If your kids have high communication skills, the chances they will make new friends abroad. Trying to get acquainted with foreign children, your kids will learn a basic set of words and phrases in a foreign language. Your kids will memorize how to say “Hi”, “How are you?”, “What’s your name?” and many more phrases with ease.
And, most importantly, if your kids stay connected with their overseas friends, it will boost their motivation to learn a foreign language. Striving to enhance communication with non-English speaking pals, your children will memorize new words and grammar rules faster than ever before.
Besides, overseas friends will help your kids to learn popular slang words and improve pronunciation. If your kids chat with their friends on a regular basis, they will become fluent in a foreign language in a year or two.
What motivates kids and adults to learn foreign languages the most? The desire to immerse yourself in a new unknown culture.
While traveling, your kids will explore new countries, taste unusual food, get acquainted with local traditions, see stunning art masterpieces, and many more. Thanks to overseas trips, your children will understand that this world is big and beautiful and that they need to speak more than one language to experience different cultures.
Only when you are fluent in a foreign language, you can understand how it feels like to “be a local”. You can get the true meaning of local jokes and get intimately acquainted with the cultures, lifestyles, and living conditions of other people.
While traveling abroad, your kids will hear foreign speech everywhere: on the bus, on the beaches, in restaurants, parks, etc. They will hear how locals are talking to each other while waiting in line. They will listen to local songs while walking in a shopping mall. They will be exposed to the sounds of a foreign speech, and that’s a good thing.
Scientists say that passive exposure to foreign speech enhances the learning of foreign speech sounds. What does it mean? Basically, it means that after a 7-days trip, it will get easier for your children to distinguish one specific speech sound from another. Your children will be able to understand the speech of native speakers much better.
If your kids get addicted to traveling, they will get eager to learn foreign languages. Here is why.
If you take your kids for a trip on a regular basis, they will get used to it. And they will want to keep traveling to new places in the future with or without you.
Naturally, when your children get older, they will start dreaming about their first solo trips. And then they will see it clearly that foreign language skills are a must.
Usually, teens think like this: “I want to go to Italy without my parents next summer. But how will I talk to the customs officer? How will I shop at local markets if I don’t speak Italian? If I want to make my dream trip happen, I need to start learning Italian right now!”
Do you get the point? To motivate your kids to learn foreign languages, you need to travel more often and take every opportunity to engage with locals.
Are you ready for a big trip with your kids? Here are five tips for you:
Now you know how traveling can boost your kids’ foreign language skills. So why don’t you start planning your next family trip right now? Show your kids all the beauty and diversity of this big amazing world and inspire them to become polyglots!
If you’re planning to take a safari for the first time, there may be many questions looming in the air. Although there are many guides that teach you precisely what you need to do before you start your trip, here are four tips that most people don’t tell you.
South Africa is one of the most popular countries when it comes to safaris, as it has anything you would ever want to see on such a trip. However, few people know that South Africa is best visited during the winter, and that is because the temperatures aren’t too high at that time of the year, but most importantly the vegetation, the shrubs, and the trees don’t have as many leaves, and this allows for better spotting of the animals.
What’s even better for you, food and water are limited in the winter for animals, and as a result, they will be more eager to look for something to drink, they will forage and hunt more. This allows a group of visitors to have a better chance of spotting a rare animal or an impressive animal encounter.
Travel agencies will be glad to help you find the best time of the year when to visit a certain park for a safari. For that purpose, The New York Times has a good short guide on some travel agencies, but also some other information on how to organize a good trip.
With a large number of parks in Africa, you can always choose the ones that suit you and your budget best. Each of them offers a unique experience and you can find yourself in a rich savannah area, or in a desolate plain, depending on what you want. To help you find the national park that suits your needs, the BBC wrote a short guide on how to choose a good park.
However, a better choice would be reserves. Although more expensive, they will often offer you exactly what you would want from such a trip. Some prices for safaris in certain reserves will reach thousands of dollars per day per person, but they will certainly give you an ultimate experience.
Private reserves will offer you a lodge where you can stay close to nature, maybe too close at times. This will offer you intense experiences, predominantly at night when you can feel surrounded by wildlife, and when you can hear animals roar.
People working for reserves are well-trained and professionals. A guide will be able to read an animal’s footprints in the morning and track it down all day long until he or she finally finds it, even if it takes several hours. The guides in reserves are allowed to leave the usual dirt tracks and thus they can take groups to specific sighting locations that they know in certain bushes.
This allows visitors to see the animals much closer than they would normally see them. Given their level of expertise and how focused they need to be, these guides will only work with groups of maximum 6 people, compared to the guides you can find in national parks that work with groups of up to 15 people.
A trained guide will certainly make the difference in critical situations, in unfortunate cases where one’s life might be threatened. They know which animals to follow and which to avoid, and they also know the dangers everybody is exposed to. That is why it is of utmost importance to go on a safari with a guide.
When it comes to special safaris for seniors, SAFARI FRANK's African safaris for seniors are the way to go as they understand the special needs and safety concerns of older adventurers.
A successful safari depends on being able to take in all the sights and sounds around you. If your gear is not up to the task, you won’t be able to get a close-up view of the action or capture those unforgettable memories. That is why you need to make sure you take a pair of binoculars with you to see everything better and a camera with a decent telephoto lens so your photos are close-up and clear.
The minimum we’d suggest is at least 200mm but you should consider 300mm – 600mm if you are really serious about photography and want the best shots.
Check out this review of one of the more popular binoculars that come with everything needed for a safari.
Travel insurance is one of the absolute essentials that you need to include on any holiday checklist. Making sure that you have adequate coverage for yourself and each member of your household when you depart is one of the best ways to have peace of mind during your holiday. However, with so many providers offering travel insurance online and offline, it can be tricky to narrow down the options and find the best policy for you.
It is important that you take the time to compare travel insurance policies so that you will be getting the most value for your money. Knowing how to source multiple travel insurance quotes rapidly and efficiently is the easiest way to find a good policy that you can rely on.
A quick scan of sites like CHOICE will allow you to view highly-recommended insurers that are known for their policy, claims, price, and policy age limit. Most of these providers will be able to provide travel insurance quotes quickly for your holidays. Not only will this help speed up the process but you can be more confident that you engaging with a well-known and well-established travel insurance for extra peace of mind.
These days, the easiest way to rapidly determine which travel insurance provider is best for you is to conduct an online search. Typing “travel insurance” into your web browser will provide you with endless options for travel insurance policies. You will be able to sort through the different providers to find one that caters to what you plan to do on your holiday and what activities you have planned for when you arrive.
Clicking on individual provider sites will also allow you to take a closer look at the different policies that a given provider offers. Usually, travel insurance providers offer different tiers of policy, from basic to comprehensive, depending on the level of coverage that is supplied.
Comparing the different levels of coverage and contrasting them with different price points across providers is a good strategy to find the best value.
Rather than spend the time going through competitor websites to determine the details of their travel insurance policies, you can also use unbiased aggregator websites to compare and contrast different policy quotes from numerous different providers. This will give you a quick overview of who to choose if the cost is your biggest concern or where to go if you need a more specific activity or condition covered.
Any travel insurance quote needs to include certain things to be taken seriously. Things like medical expenses coverage, lost baggage coverage, and delayed flight coverage are all important and common elements that must be considered.
Be sure to verify that any pre-existing condition that you might have is covered by the insurance policy that you are considering. With all policies, it is important to read the PDS, but even more so with the more affordable options. Although some cheaper policies do cover pre-existing conditions, it is critical that you make yourself fully aware of exactly what you are covered for and what you aren’t.
Following some of these tips will allow you to rapidly explore the available travel insurance options out there today. Taking the time to do a bit of comparison shopping will allow you to find the most suitable option for your travel budget and will also ensure that you stay protected through many contingencies during your holidays.
We all love to travel, but international travel is more accessible to some than others. Whether it is due to money, geographical location, or restricted time off work, not everyone can travel as much as they want. And sometimes it's just down to the dumb luck of your nationality. You might not realize it, but passport privilege is real.
Your ability to gain entry to other countries depends on international politics. If your nation has good international relations, is powerful, and has a strong economy, more doors will be open for you. This explains why many people acquire dual nationality in countries with highly-rated passports. If you are a frequent traveler, you can apply for dual citizenship and leverage it for easier movement across the globe.
The amount of countries you can visit without a visa or with a visa on arrival is called “passport strength.” Every year, the Henley Passport Index ranks all the world's nationalities by the strength of their passport. They get their data directly from the Air Transport Authority (IATA). They then score each nationality on their visa requirements for entry to other countries. This can be visa-free, visa on arrival, e-visa, and visa required. All those data combined create the Passport Index.
Another popular passport ranking is the Arton Capital’s Passport Index. It differs slightly from the Henley Passport Index because it takes fewer countries into account. Where Arton's only counts the 193 UN member countries and six territories, Henley’s takes 199 passports and 227 travel destinations into consideration. The results are similar, but Henley is a little more extensive and accurate as it is updated throughout the year when visa agreements change.
So, let’s take a closer look at the Henley Passport Index ranking the strongest and weakest passports. These are the best and worst passports to travel on.
These Asian countries tie for first place in the 2019 Global Ranking by Henley Passport Index. All three countries offer visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 189 countries.
That means people with Japanese, Singaporean, or South Korean passports can travel to almost all countries in the world! All three of these countries are influential in the region, with strong economies and good international political ties.
Germany is also great at international diplomacy, which shows in their ranking at number 2. Out of all the EU countries, Germany has the strongest passport. A German passport can get you visa-free access to 188 countries.
That’s why you are bound to meet many Germans traveling all over the world!
Within the EU, people are free to move wherever they want.
An EU nationality allows you to work and live in all other EU countries. This is why most of Europe scores high on the Passport Index. The countries tied for third place all belong to the Schengen Area as well, an open border agreement. Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, and Sweden all over visa-free entry to 187 countries.
Where some passports allow you to travel all over the world, others limit where you can go without a visa. The Pakistani passport is one of the weakest and takes second to last place in the Henley Passport Index. Pakistani nationals can travel visa-free to a mere 33 countries.
Where some passports allow you to travel all over the world, others limit where you can go without a visa. The Pakistani passport is one of the weakest and takes second to last place in the Henley Passport Index. Pakistani nationals can travel visa-free to a mere 33 countries.
The bottom place in the Henley Passport Index goes to Afghanistan and Iraq. Those countries have the worst passports in the world. Their citizens can travel without a visa to 30 countries.
Let’s hope that international relations improve and they can negotiate better travel opportunities for Afghani and Iraqi passport holders.
In the almost ten years since I left my childhood home in San Diego at 18 to explore our planet, the meaning of travel has changed for me. It is not about being extreme or unconventional like it was in the beginning. It is about exploring myself through the catalyst of new experiences. Through challenging my prior assumptions, travel became more than a break from monotony. It became the only source of constant acceleration to my personal growth. The chaotic path of those early years freed me from the confines of comfort. It shook me violently to my core, forcing me to see the things I had not been willing to accept about myself and the world.
During my three months in Iraq in 2013, I worked at a private educational institution in Erbil in the northern Kurdish region, far from the more violent capital of Baghdad. With traces of civilization dating back to 5,000 B.C. in the citadel, it holds the record as the longest continually habited place on Earth.
As I rode from the airport into the city with the school director, I reminded her that this would be my first time in the middle east. It would be important for her to tell me ahead of time if there were any culturally sensitive behaviors I should avoid. Although Kurdish herself, she had lived many years in the UK, so she understood well how different the world of Iraq could be. She told me there was nothing major to worry about, and she would go over any little things like that in due time.
We pulled into a restaurant and an olive-toned young woman in a hijab took our order. As the director got up from our table, I asked our waiter about life in Erbil. When the director saw me engaged in conversation with this young woman, she grabbed my arm with mouth agape. In a hushed but firm tone, she warned me never to talk to young Iraqi girls in public.
It was at this point that she chose to disclose to me that if word were to get back to that girl’s home that she had been flirting with a white man, it was likely she would be beaten by her brothers and father. In the worst case, it could result in an honor killing, which is their culturally approved way of justifying the murder of family members for the sake of maintaining the family’s honor. It is estimated that at least 1,000 women per year are murdered in this fashion by their own families as a result of having sex outside of marriage, marrying outside their faith, or being the victim of a rape.
In July 2016, honor killings came under greater public scrutiny after model Qandeel Baloch, the “Kim Kardashian of Pakistan”, was strangled to death by her own brother. Her crime? Bringing shame on the family by posting social media photos that were too sexy. Honor killings remain legal or carry meaningless punishments in many Islamic parts of the world. And there I was, wondering why the school director had not bothered to mention that to me as a cultural nuance to be aware of beforehand. I learned to tread lightly in Iraqi society after that incident, though I never did find out if the girl from the restaurant suffered any consequences for my ignorance of their instructions for living.
While I generally faced no hostility as a young American in Iraq, there were countless oddities that betrayed that something was not quite right. The school I taught at was private and expensive to attend. It maintained strict academic standards so that the primary and secondary students would appear impressive enough on an international level after graduation. The student body was composed partially of local Kurdish children, refugees from Syria and other war-torn neighboring nations, and Europeans who had married locally. Police with fully automatic weapons were stationed on major roads leading up to the high walls of the school. Every morning, the school buses were checked underneath for explosives before entering the gates.
During my short time there, a local political election prompted activists to blow up an ambulance in protest. That is the invisible part of a culture that is so difficult to understand until you experience it yourself. It doesn’t show up in the clothes they wear, the design of their homes, or the things they eat. Iraqis inhabit a world where the destruction of public medical services is acceptable and even expected means to express frustration. Beating and murdering your own daughter is considered the responsible way to be a parent. It’s impossible to say what other everyday atrocities I missed in my little window into their world.
Only through the daily micro-interactions with the people there would you begin to see the unspoken limits to their cultural paradigm. You will begin to realize that the limits you inherited in whatever place you came from are just as arbitrary as theirs. You will need to see beyond them if you are going to truly empathize – or you if truly wish to grow. Never in the deepest recesses of my old Californian mind would I arrive at such conclusions, no matter what the situation. But somehow, living under the conditions they do, they develop a completely different schematic for operating in the world. In spite of the obvious unsustainability of these values, major groups continue to learn and act in such overwhelmingly anti-human ways.
Sandwiched along the Mediterranean coast between France and Italy sits a micro-nation less than one square mile in size. Contained within that tiny space are 36,000 residents. Roughly 30% are millionaires, the highest concentration in the world, with the highest per capita income globally. The entire country is practically a resort unto itself, with luxury hotels, casinos, restaurants, and high fashion outlets filling nearly every street. This is Monaco.
Extremes on either end, rich and poor, developed and undeveloped, pleasant and unpleasant, give context to the traveler’s experience of reality. In many parts of the world, you will find the common people sleeping in shacks on the side of a dirt road, if not directly in the dirt itself. These realizations can be challenging to the uninitiated, but the mind eventually adjusts to accept this standard of living as the baseline. Those who live this way have always had it as their conception of normal.
A fast transition from extreme squalor to a place like Monaco – where thousand-euro-a-night palace suites are the norm – is mentally jarring. The mind needs time to adjust its emotional responses to new conditions. Impoverished inhabitants of many African nations have learned to accept hunger and poor sanitation as part of their culture. So too have the millionaires who spend their days dressed to the nines, riding in yachts and helicopters instead of walking barefoot across the hot African asphalt learned to accept theirs.
It’s easy to cast judgment on either of these extremes from the middle, but your criticism is idle. It’s more important for the traveler to realize the full scope of what is possible. Knowing that both extremes exist simultaneously, sometimes even as neighbors sharing a border, promotes genuine empathy. You can remain distant when you are exposed to either side of the spectrum. Or, you can choose to consciously examine what has led to each side’s existence as it presently is.
If you really look at the way each group has been trained to think and the choices they must make to fulfill their needs, you will see that you might have made the same choices they have. In the context they were provided, those are the conclusions they have reached. Few members of any culture ever take the time to step outside of themselves to assess their own behavior. That is what the traveler earns through his or her years of personal expansion.
What matters is the willingness to question life’s arbitrary starting conditions. Whether you come from wealth or poverty, or whatever ways you learned to behave, it is possible to change operating instructions. Travel is just the most rapid way to satisfy that inquiry that some people will ever know. Travel will not only give you the opportunity to ask uncomfortable questions – it will force you to come up with meaningful answers.
