Should You Register Before Traveling Abroad?

TTT - Should You Register To Travel
===

Jenn: Hey everyone. Welcome back to Travel Tip Tuesday with the Travel Mug Podcast.

I am Jenn joined by my lovely co-host Meggan. And today I wanna talk about something that I have actually never done.

Meggan: We love this. It's an adventure.

Jenn: I know, but I, I should do it in the future. And that is register to travel abroad. So the information I'm gonna share is, Specific for Canadians, however, many countries have a similar program in the US it's called the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, or STEP, if you will.

Meggan: Right, right.

Jenn: And in Canada it is called the Registration of Canadians abroad. You know,

Meggan: these aren't good names, but bear with us.

Jenn: You know, I had.

Meggan: We didn't name them.

Jenn: No, we didn't. We're doing our best here. So basically what it is, is you register your travels through the government of Canada website, which gives them a way to contact you in the event of an emergency, like a natural disaster, civil unrest, what have you. And so they know that you're abroad and if something happens, they're like, okay, we have Canadians in this area. We need to help them. And it can also help facilitate communication with friends and family back home if you have a personal emergency or illness or if there is a personal emergency or illness at home and they need to contact you as well.

You can register online before your trip. It's also possible to do it while you're traveling, but easiest to do it before you go. So I went through the process. It asks you for your name, your birthdate, your passport information, your travel destinations and dates, contact information and who to contact in case of emergency.

So everything that you submit is protected under the Canada's Privacy Act. I mean, listen, the government of Canada already has all this information on you anyway.

Meggan: They're not getting anything new, let's be honest,

Jenn: except for like your travel address. But the information does get deleted 18 months after you travel, unless of course you submit another one.

Meggan: Right

Jenn: travel. I know that it seems unnecessary. Like, oh, you're like, I have my cell phone. I'll be able to contact people while I'm traveling. And I, I doubt that many Canadians actually do this, but I can't imagine that anybody who was traveling during March of 2020 had an easier time getting home when the world was shutting down and airports were shutting down because of the pandemic.

It's also very helpful if your passport gets lost or stolen while you're abroad, and it can also help if you're like arrested if you have an accident. You're a victim of robbery or like sexual assault or anything that happens while you're abroad that you have to communicate with local police. It's extremely helpful to have the Canadian government have your back, right?

Meggan: Right.

Jenn: And I mean, I think so many of us have thought, well this will never happen to me, but it can happen to anyone. I feel like we have all read stories of people, you know, literally just traveling and minding their own business and something like horrible happens to them, and I think that it's just something that we should keep in mind and it's just kind of an extra layer of protection, right. And so even if you're hearing this and you're like, well, I'm still not telling the government where I'm going, that's fine. You do you. But having

Meggan: live your own life

Jenn: having the contact information for the Canadian Consulate is important. Just in case of emergency. Just like have that information. I'm gonna put links. In the show notes to all of this information so that you can go and look at it yourself. Meggan, have you ever registered before traveling abroad? Like would you consider it in the future?

Meggan: Oh, I would definitely consider it. I mean, I'm, I'm not scared about the government having information they already have.

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: Um, That doesn't concern me personally, and that's just a personal opinion of my own information. I've never registered before traveling abroad. Never once did it cross my mind. But I really do think this is valuable. I mean, look at now what's happening in Sudan, just as an example. So Canadians are stuck there. They're trying to get Canadians out. It's going to be better for you if your government in a situation like that knows where you are. Yes, that's an extreme example. But who thought the pandemic would happen? Who thought the world would close down? Yet there we were. You know what I mean? So I do, I do think I, I do think I will, honestly, and I think this is a, a really timely topic.

What about you?

Jenn: Yeah, I think that I definitely will going forward, especially if, if it's like a longer trip, you know, I'm not as worried, you know, from my like weekend trip, although things can happen, like it's just, it is just kind of an extra layer of security and peace of mind. Also for me now, cause it's like, oh, I know this is out there.

Yeah. Yeah, I think that it's important to, to do and I think a lot of people don't even know that this is a thing that like you could do.

Meggan: Well, I agree and it's one of those things too, that 9.8 times out of 10 isn't going to make a difference. However, you know, if you could hit, get hit by a bus in downtown Halifax, you could get hit by a bus in Iceland or wherever. Again, an extreme example, but you know what I mean. Anything can happen to anyone anywhere.

Jenn: Yes, exactly. So why not? Play it a little bit on the safe side.

Meggan: Right.

Jenn: So that is it. That is all we have for this travel tip Tuesday. Let us know if you've had any experiences, if you have registered while traveling abroad. If you didn't and you needed the consulate.

Meggan: Yeah, I would love to hear some, love to hear some stories. I hope everything worked out, but I'd love to hear you too. I'll your stories

Jenn: so you can find us on social media at Travel Mug Podcast in scrim and Facebook on our website, travel mug podcast.com. Who are on YouTube Travel Mode podcast, you can support the show on buy Me a Coffee.

We have merch now that you can buy and you can also support the show by leaving a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify. That helps new people find us and get these amazing tips and great that we would also be super grateful if you shared the show with a travel loving pal, and we will talk to you again soon.

Bye

Meggan: bye everyone.