Skill Development
Areas of Mastery for Passport Bros
Aspiring Passport Bros should develop the human skills and personal resources to deal with the many new challenges they will face. It’s important to start thinking about these skill sets now and take the time to become familiar with the processes and workarounds.
Imagine: as Passport Bros, you will pick up, pack up, and travel from one country to another foreign country quite often. You will deal with foreign languages and be exposed to different cultural processes. You will come face-to-face with immigration and customs officers.
Mess up once and you may be forgiven. Screw up twice and you might find yourself in a bad place and on foreign soil. The world doesn’t owe you forgiveness or understanding. You must start making your way, and sometimes that means making waves.
Don’t risk falling short. Identify, learn, study, and embrace what you need to know. The end goal is Mastery. It’s not just about being able to do something once. It’s about managing a task so well that you can teach someone else to do it.
Myron Golden, Skillionaire author and Success Coach, says:
“Mastery is the ability to execute effortlessly without conscious resources.”
Passport Bros Must Master the Art of Smart Travel.
Traveling smartly is more than simply traveling cheaply or traveling in style.
Smart Travel is the skill of traveling comfortably, safely, efficiently (time), and cost-effectively (money) while exposing yourself to the most significant cultural adventure along the way. Smart Travel is both a pleasing journey and an inspiring arrival.
Smart travel takes knowledge, tools, and experience. For example, on my first trip to Vietnam, I booked a flight with a random travel agency in Little Saigon. I paid almost double for my tickets. And, my flight was on an airline I’ve yet to fly with again.
By my third flight, I had lounge access during my layovers, I was on multiple frequent flier plans, I’d fallen in love with Singapore Airlines, and I’d upgraded my luggage to make those long terminal transfers easy to manage.
How Do You Travel Smarter? Here Are Some Key Methods For Smart Travel
Study your Destination – this doesn’t mean making lists of all the restaurants and landmarks you want to visit. This type of research is focused on establishing potential fixes and remedies for the issues and complications that may arise after you arrive.
There are probably a million questions you can ask yourself, but you don’t have time for them while you’re standing in line on foreign soil. Some questions you might ask are:
Do you need a visa to enter the country?
What will happen if you don’t have a Visa?
Will your carry-on luggage also fit the smaller overhead compartments of regional airlines when you transfer?
What if I get arrested?
You do not want to get arrested on foreign soil. Don’t be stupid, hanging with stupid people, doing stupid things in stupid places and at stupid times.
How much will it cost if my luggage is overweight?
When I fly one of my favorite airlines, the fee for an additional 27kg checked bag is $180 if I pay in advance. If I wait to pay at the airport, the fee balloons up to $250. Also, if you pay in advance, bring a receipt to the counter. Your receipt is the only proof of purchase. You cannot expect the airline check-in agent to take your word for it.
What is the capacity of the airport?
Larger airports often have more amenities and conveniences available than smaller airports. Also, smaller airports are more likely to charge a fee to use their airport services.
What is transiting like in a foreign airport, and do I need a transit visa?
I’ve heard several horror stories of passengers transiting through China who were detained because they didn’t have a visa. Although being airside in an airport is technically not in the country, China can make laws independent of American common sense. Also, the airline is not required to tell you that you need a visa.
Have a Backup Plan.
If you have a backup plan, you likely won’t go insane after something bad happens. For example, a plan might include steps to take if:
- Your wallet gets stolen – what will you do about your missing ID, credit cards, insurance cards, etc?
- Your luggage is lost – What will you do for clothes, underwear, and toiletries?
- Your phone is lost or stolen
- Your passport is lost.
- Your medication is lost.
Although a person’s cell phone is their passkey to the world you’d never imagine how many people fail to activate a screen lock code when you travel. I’ve worked in the security industry and it’s amazing how many $1000 phones were lost that were unlocked. Lock your phone! Second, keep your phone backed up to the cloud. Third, keep a hard copy of all emergency contacts, insurance cards, and credit cards.
If any of these things happened and you didn’t have a backup plan, it would be the end of the world. But if you are ready to deal with catastrophe, it may only feel like a minor inconvenience.
Learn the Basics of Customs and Immigration Here and Abroad
Passport Bros must learn the basics of International immigration for their home country and the places they plan to visit.
For my first trip to Vietnam, I had no idea that I needed a Visa to enter the country. In hindsight, it seems pretty silly to think that an American can fly to a country that we were formally at war with and just waltz in like I’m visiting a dear friend. But the truth is, I didn’t know the Visa process and what these visas allow a traveler to do.
I already had my tickets purchased before I found out about the Visa. Luckily, I work in a Vietnamese community and many of the shopkeepers had already made the trek to Vietnam. When I mentioned my plans, someone casually asked me what service I used to get my Visa. That’s when I realized that I needed to get a tourist visa.
Visa Process
I had no idea what needed to be done to obtain one. I asked some folks who have already been through the process. I eventually sought a travel agency and explained that I wanted to get a visa to Vietnam. It was a Vietnamese travel agency so they were well-versed in the process. I paid for the visa and a fee for the agency to obtain it for me
Now, I know exactly how to get my visa before I fly. I’ve done it several times. Most recently I bypassed the service company and contacted the Vietnamese Embassy in California directly. There was no service fee and they got my 30-day visa to me rather quickly.
The visa process for Vietnam is very different from the visa process for visiting Thailand, Brazil, the Philippines, or South Korea. Democratic nations tend to be easier to access than Socialist nations. Also, as travel enthusiasts, we should be cognizant of historical relationships with the countries we are visiting. It’s reasonable to assume that there may be more red tape and longer processing periods when visiting a country that was once our sworn enemy – or still is an enemy.
Many travel visas can be obtained online and through email. I highly suggest using a service if you’re not familiar with working with embassies and consulates. I’ve used iVisa in the past. They were efficient and helped me feel confident about the process. There’s nothing worse than being 3000 miles from home and feeling like you might violate some immigration rule because you don’t have confidence in the company that issued your visa.
iVisa has a service that allows you to receive your visa by hardcopy or email (or both). It comes on letterhead from the embassy and is very official-looking. But what’s especially useful is that they can tell you in advance what type of visa is necessary or available in the country you’re visiting. To try out iVisa, go ahead and click on this link right now so you can bookmark it for future use.
Length of Stay
Other immigration rules involve length of stay. This simply means your visa is good for a finite amount of time. If you have a 30-day visa, you must be at the airport to catch a flight on day number thirty. If you allow your visa to expire you violate the country’s immigration rules and are subject to penalty or punishment.
Some countries allow longer visas up to 90 days. Some visas are good for six months. However, you must often prove why it is necessary to stay so long. Work visas are different and have different requirements and limitations so I would cover those here.
Generally speaking, traditional tourist visas usually require a few things:
- Before you arrive you must have already booked a flight out of the country.
- No in-and-out privileges. Stay in or stay out. Once you leave you’ll need a new visa to return.
- You cannot get a new visa while inside the country, you must leave first and apply for a visa on your way back in.
- Often you are not allowed to have employment in a position that would normally go to a local citizen.
Conclusion
I don’t want this blog post to end up being 5000 words and bore my Passport Bros to death, so I will end here. Hopefully, you’ve learned something in the blog. The key takeaway I encourage you to grasp is that once you master these fundamentals you’ll never again need to read or research them. It’ll be second nature for you to check and confirm your plans and strategies.
An often untold benefit of travel and tourism is the inner growth and maturity one inevitably experiences. I’m speaking about your Cultural IQ. When the world feels smaller, you have more respect for its size. When the magnificence of flight allows you to traverse the globe in less than a day in the air, you can feel closer to strangers far, far away. The key for Passport Bros to maximize their journey to find love, companionship, or a good time, is to be safe, smart, and respectful.