Humanitarian Travel

In our last post, we gave tips for those infrequent travelers who are trying to navigate airline policies, airports, security and such. Today, we want to focus on things that mission and humanitarian trip leaders can do to help team members who are travel novices.

First, don’t make assumptions about your team when it comes to their level of travel experience. Just because you are double platinum in six airline frequent flyer programs doesn’t mean that the rest of your team has any travel experience. In fact, you probably will have team members who fly only occasionally or who haven’t flown in a significant period of time. So early on in your team interactions, try to get a feel for each team members’ travel comfort level.

Talk through the travel process with your team. Make sure you address things like luggage weight and size limits, as well as the importance of making sure the gate agent puts the right tag on the bags. Explain the security screening process and the need to keep liquids in three ounce containers inside a clear, quart-sized, plastic bag. Also discuss the boarding process and how many airlines board by zone numbers printed on the boarding pass.

Have a travel interruption contingency plan, especially if your team isn’t all traveling together. You should have this plan even if you have a team of experienced travelers. For the infrequent flyer, this is vital. Discuss what to do if a flight is cancelled or delayed. If you purchase travel insurance through Humanitarian Travel, make sure that your team has the policy information and contact numbers. This insurance usually covers trip interruptions and provides 24 hour travel assistance.

Enlist travel buddies, especially for older travelers or those who are nervous about flying. Pair a team member who is an experienced traveler with someone who is not. This way they can look after the novice traveler and you will have one less thing to worry about!

Explain how passport control and customs work, both for the country you are traveling to and for the U.S. on your return.

These five tips will help you greatly improve the rookie traveler’s experience.

We took a family member to the airport the other day and were quickly reminded that not everybody flies on a regular basis. Some hit the skies rarely, if at all. That was that case with this family member, who in his 47 years of life had flown maybe a handful of times.  He had a lot of questions about the process.

It is easy for those of us who are frequent flyers to take travel for granted. But if we are facilitating the travel of others—whether it is as travel agents, mission trip sponsors or humanitarian project leaders—we need to look at travel through the eyes of the infrequent traveler so that we can help them have a great travel experience.

Here are three tips for the infrequent traveler. If you fall into that category, then you will find these especially helpful. If, on the other hand, you have more frequent flyer miles than you can track, then pass this along to a travel novice.

Give yourself plenty of time. Having to rush—whether it is packing, getting to the airport or finding a gate—is stressful, especially for the infrequent flyer. You can avoid a lot of anxiety simply by allotting extra time. Start packing for your tip several days ahead of time. Plan to arrive at the airport at least three hours ahead of time for an international flight and two hours for a domestic flight. In fact, you may even want to pad that time some and plan to arrive in time for a leisurely meal at the airport.

Be prepared for security screening. For many people, this is the most stressful part of the trip. Visit the Transportation Security Administration’s website at http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/index.shtm to find out the latest rules and tips for getting through airport screening. Basically, you should be prepared to show a government issued picture identification (like a driver’s license or passport) and your boarding pass. You will be asked to remove any laptop computers from your carry-on bag and have it screened separately. You also are limited to the amount of liquids that you can take through security. They must be in 3 ounce or less bottles and all bottles must fit into a quart-size clear plastic bag. Have this bag where you can easily pull it out of your carry-on as you approach the X-ray machine. You also should be prepared to remove your shoes. The biggest thing is to just pay attention as you go through the line and do what you see everyone else do!

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. If you don’t know how to find your flight’s gate, have a question about the boarding process, or just need general guidance, ask an airline employee. The same is true once you are on the plane—if you need help, ask the flight attendant. Also, many airports have information desks and personnel on hand who are more than happy to help you. At the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, for example, these people are called Airport Ambassadors and you can easily spot them by their green vests and wide-brimmed hats. Most airline and airport employees are glad to help answer questions.

So if you are an infrequent traveler, following these three tips should make your next trip go much smoother.

You have your passport in hand, your bags are all packed but there’s one thing left to do as a leader of a short-term humanitarian team: grab your field notebook.

The leader’s field notebook is an integral resource that he or she will want to keep with them throughout the entire trip. The field notebook allows the leader to access critical information quickly. While a lot of the materials could be kept on a laptop computer or smart phone, it is best to have printed copies as well.

So what goes into a field notebook? Here are some ideas:

1. Contact information for all team members (including emergency contacts) as well as national leaders with whom you will work.
2. Travel information, including team member flight itineraries, airline contact numbers (including local numbers within the countries you will visit), ground travel arrangements, U.S. consular or embassy, and travel insurance.
3. Team information, including room assignments, work assignments, passport copies, visa copies, minor travel release forms, medical release forms, and health information forms.
4. Financial forms, including forms to track cash as it’s spent and a copy of the trip’s budget.
5. Reporting forms as required by your organization.
6. Cultural information, key phrases, etc.

 You may want to have a folder that can be pulled out of your notebook. The field notebook could be kept in your hotel room, but the folder you would keep with you at all times. It should contain medical release and health information forms on all your team members, as well as emergency contact numbers and your travel insurance information. All of these are critical if someone gets injured or sick. Your travel insurance information should include your policy number and the phone number to reach the insurance company’s on-call medical professionals. Not all travel insurance policies include this service, so be sure to check before leaving home.

The field notebook is the place to keep all of your important documents organized, and you will find yourself referring to it continuously throughout your trip. It also is an invaluable tool in case there is an emergency.

Barely 12 hours had gone by since the announcement of Osama bin Laden’s death when a church staff member received an email from a parishioner questioning what impact the event would have on the church’s international humanitarian trips. The church member’s question was raised in light of the worldwide travel alert issued by the U.S. State Department minutes following the bin Laden announcement by President Barack Obama late Sunday.

The State Department notice warns “U.S. citizens traveling…abroad to the enhanced potential for anti-American violence given recent counter-terrorism activity in Pakistan.” It goes on to say that Americans in areas where recent events could cause violence are “urged to limit their travel outside of their homes and hotels and avoid mass gatherings and demonstrations.” The alert expires August 1.

So, should these events cause that church to alter its international outreach plans? Here are some things to consider if you or your organization has an upcoming humanitarian trip.

First, remember that the world is a very big place. It is important that you get good information for the specific part of the globe where you are heading and not make decisions based on generalities. We have to distinguish between travel warnings that are general in nature and those that are specific to particular areas.

What is more helpful to humanitarian teams than State Department global alerts are the Warden Messages issued by U.S. embassies. These notices are usually specific to a country and also specific to particular cities or regions within that country. They can be found at www.travel.state.gov. From there click on your destination country and then “Recent Embassy Notices for American Citizens.”

This information along with current local news (see www.AlertNet.org) can help you discover potential concerns for where you will actually work. Of course the best information typically comes from contacts living in the area, so be sure to talk to your local hosts ahead of time about any security concerns.

Second, be careful not to broad-brush a country and dismiss ministry there because of problems in limited areas. Just because one region of a nation has issues it doesn’t meant that all the others do as well. That would be like saying that if muggings are common in New York City then they also must be in Topeka because Topeka is part of the U.S. What is true about one part of a country may not be true of other parts.

Third, regardless of the current global threats, there are always certain places or events that you should avoid. Crowds of demonstrators, even if they seem peaceful, and places known for demonstrations certainly fall into this category. A ministry trip to the area may be perfectly safe just as long as you avoid these “hot spots.”

Finally, when you do travel, be sure to register with the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program offered by the State Department at http://travelregistration.state.gov. This will allow the U.S. government to better assist you if problems arise while traveling abroad.

Don’t avoid travel or stop your international humanitarian projects just because of general global concerns. Instead, base your decisions on good information specific to your destination and then take the appropriate precautions.