I think the most important aspect of traveling is your passport. If you do not have one, go to the post office if you are in the US and a US citizen and get one. Please purchase at least six months before you plan to travel as the US Dept of State always gets slammed right before summer. Never surrender your passport. Make a copy of it before you leave the US and keep it in your luggage. If someone needs it, you can carry the copy, but I would leave the original in the hotel safe if you can. Please make sure before you travel that you have six months of validity on it at the very least. If you are purchasing a passport purchase one with the longest duration. If you have a ten-year passport then you do not have to worry about getting a new one for a while. If you need to get more pages added and you travel often, then you can get that later. You do not want to be in a position where you have less than six months’ validity on your passport as you will not be able to travel on that. So, make sure that your passport, which is your travel document, is current and up to date. Some countries do not even stamp passports anymore so there is less and less chance of you running out of pages. You need to keep your passport secure at all times. I would not carry it around town unless you need it. For Cyprus, you need it to gamble in a casino as identification. You do not need to take it to the beach and potentially lose it in the sand or have it stolen. You do need to keep it on yourself when traveling across a border or through airports. You do need it to check in to hotels. Overseas does not really accept drivers license from other countries.
Customs and border controls are particularly important and should be taken seriously. These people can turn you around and have your trip ruined. So please have your travel documents ready with no issues. If you are just married or your name is different from what is in your passport, please carry the original of your marriage certificate if you can. When going through customs, make sure you are in the correct line. The different lines are for different countries and purposes. Do not get in the pilot and diplomatic line if you are not a pilot or have orders to be in the country for other than diplomatic work. You should be going for vacation, so all you need to worry about is getting into a line for US if you are a US citizen or in line for whatever country you are from, i.e., EU, or Russia, or Asian country. Approach the customers officer at whatever entry point you are going through (even transiting a country) present you passport. They will scan the MRZ (Machine Reader Zone) and if you do not pop up on their computer for any reason, then they will stamp your passport and wave you through. Crossing a border like going from South Cyprus to North Cyprus you will go through the same process. They might even search for your luggage at a crossing whereas the airport has already done this.
I also have my shot record with me as well. So, in the event something happens, and you need a vaccine to enter a country you will have a record. If you need to go to the hospital and you have a tetanus shot, you have a record and you will not need it once again, nor pay for one overseas.
If you plan on driving overseas, I suggest that you apply for an international driver’s license. In the US, you can get one from AAA. I got one before I went to Cyprus from the US and was able to rent a car in Northern Cyprus. I did not know that you needed a credit card instead of a visa debit card to rent one at Larnaca Airport. So, make sure if you want to rent one at the airport, you will need a visa or MasterCard. To stay in a hotel, you may need one. At the Dome, they took a debit card, and I had no issues. In today’s economy, I do not need to pay 30% for a credit card I do not need or want to even use. So, if you do not require a credit card, do not get one. Some hotels require it, so ask. If you can pay for a room before you go, I would do that. Most travel websites like Expedia and Trip Advisor will take a debit card. Again, I would stay away from booking.com or Agoda.com as they have some bad reviews for a reason, including my bad experience with them the last time I booked the Dome with them.
Next topic I want to cover is money. Most places overseas now have tap technology meaning you can pay for something with a credit card like food, hotel, shopping with the tap of a credit or debit card. I would suggest you call your bank and let them know if they need to know that you will be traveling with their card and do not want your card to be declined overseas as they think it is a fraud alert. I would carry some cash with me. US dollars or Euros. They will work anywhere and might even get you a better bargain when bartering for something. You cannot barter a meal, but some local tourist items? Let me know. I usually pay my driver from Larnaca to Kyrenia in US dollars and as of March 2025, a one-way trip was $80.00 each way. Also have a debit card or credit card if you need to modify your travel as when you call to make a change to your airfare, you will need to give them a credit card. I had to change my travel reservation twice on my last trip. Once for $25 to change the date. Then I had to extend it even further and it cost me $125. That is not that bad for the cheapest airfare when I initially booked the flight. So, thank you British Air for collaborating with me and my crazy schedule. Most airlines will really charge you a lot to update your trip. Shout out to British Air which did not which was nice of them.
I do not have much advice on police interactions, but I would assume that you would need to present the local authorities with your passport as a recognized document that they should be able to accept as identification. Having a copy of your passport on you. Have the number of the consulate or embassy of your home country is also advised. When you make a copy of your passport, write the contact details of the consulate or embassy on the copy as well. You hopefully will not need it but not having it will be worse. The US Dept of State also has a website where you can register your trip. I would advise using it. No one tracks you and it is deleted after your dates of travel. But at least if someone cannot get ahold of you or something happens to you, the US Dept of State can assist if needed.
Finally, some Consular Affairs, US Dept of State advice. The laws in the US stop when you leave the US. In a foreign country, the laws of the country must be respected and adhered to. So please be familiar with those local laws. Most laws are no brainers. But take ten minutes and do so research. Respect the country you are travelling to too; respect the people and the places you visit ALWAYS. They should treat you with the same respect.
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