Archives for April 2007

Electronic banking brought a fundamental change to the way I travel, no cashing traveller’s checks or quiet negotiations with wily money changers in foreign markets, just a debit card, credit card and a small emergency cash reserve. Follow these five tips for smart debit card use on your next vacation:

Use affiliated bank ATMs. Your bank has affiliate banks ion other countries and they usually wave transaction fees for your ATM withdrawal. Check with your local branch or the bank’s website.

Know your daily withdrawal limit. We changed our account to reduce fees without checking all the conditions. A year latter we found out our daily withdrawal limit had been reduced to $250 a day. Unfortunately, we were in Rome and reliant on cash transactions for most of our accommodation costs. We had to use a cash advance on the credit card, a very expensive alternative. Check your daily limit before you leave.

Advise your bank of your travel plans. Your bank is protecting your interests and will freeze accounts if unusual transactions suddenly appear in your statement. Advise your bank and credit card provider of your travel plans and carry contact numbers to resolve any problems whilst overseas.

Minimise your transactions. Fewer transactions reduce your exposure to fraud and fees.

Safeguard your card. Keep your debit card in your money belt with your passport and other valuable documents.

A basic first aid kit should be part of every traveller’s packing list but what you need to carry depends on your destination and health. Every first aid kit should contain the following items:

Aspirin or ibuprofen

Antiseptic cream

Band-aids (variety of sizes)

Blister kit (moleskin or duct tape are popular choices)

Insect repellent

Sunscreen

Add Dramamine if you suffer from motion sickness.

List of medical contacts and translations for common aliments and medications.

This should be sufficient for most travellers needs but add any non-prescription medications that you use on a regular basis. Always carry your prescription medications in their original container with a copy of your prescription to ensure you do not run afoul of the local constabulary.

Check the US State Department and Australian Smart Traveller websites for additional health information for your destination and enhance your basic first aid kit as required to meet any unique requirements. For example, malaria prevention medication is recommended for many countries.

Last week I told you how to find time for travel, this week I’ll reveal the secrets for travel without worrying about your work. The keys to a work stress free vacation are planning and delegation.

Planning

Four weeks before your vacation, create a list of the tasks that are due before or during your time off.

Create new (earlier) deadlines for tasks that are due during your vacation.

Can you complete all these tasks before you leave? If not, list all the tasks that can be handled by a co-worker.

Negotiate new completion dates for any task that cannot be completed or outsourced to a co-worker.

Even with the best planning there will be unanticipated delays or new tasks that emerge during the last month before your vacation. Take a few minutes to revise your plan each day to ensure you stay on track to your well-deserved respite.

Delegation

Delegating your tasks to other people can be stressful because we all know that no one can do our jobs as well as we do them otherwise we are expendable, right?

Wrong, there are no indispensable people in the world, everyone is replaceable but you’re a capable employee, well-respected and your boss knows that you earned this vacation. Time to delegate, split the tasks into two lists:

Delegate Down. Either elevate a team member to perform your supervisory role or distribute tasks amongst the team. The increased responsibility is a vote of confidence in their abilities and an opportunity to further their careers.

Delegate up. Some responsibilities cannot be delegated down and need to be reallocated across the management team. Meet with your supervisor, discuss your list and agree a plan for each of them, either delegated to a peer or to your supervisor.

One final task, set up the out of office rules on your email with a list of the responsible persons if they need immediate assistance. Leave a similar message on your voice mail or redirect your phone to a colleague. The work is in good hands, now you just have to enjoy yourself.