The Paperless Overseas Traveller

Today, most of us prefer to use our mobile phones for everything and go paperless, but can you do this if you want to travel the globe? Let’s find out.

The answer to that simple question is there is no simple answer. In truth, the answer is both yes and no.

Can you even Print Stuff?

That’s a good question today. More and more of us rely on our mobile phones for everything and have a growing aversion to paperwork.

I don’t know about you, but my phone lacks a printer, and I don’t currently have a printer at home that works. It broke down about a year ago and I have not replaced it. Almost everything I need I can store online or on my phone.

This is going to cause an issue in the next few weeks for me, as I embark on my first ever cruise. More of that later. In the meantime, I will need to print at least one set of paper to embark on the ship. That paperwork is luggage labels. Everything else bar my passport can be held on my phone. There will be a way I can take the file of the luggage labels when they arrive by email and print them, but it will be the first printing I have been forced to do for a very long time.

Using Your Phone

Like many of us, I like to use my phone for as much as possible these days. When on the road, it is much easier than hunting for numerous pieces of paper as you travel.

In less than two hours, I am leaving the house for a 10-day trip around the United Kingdom, going to a couple of conferences, and some chill time between the two along with visiting some friends en route.

This trip around my home country is easy, as I don’t need things such as a passport, and just for fun, I am going to be as paperless as possible. The half dozen hotel reservations and both conferences have been booked online and I can arrive at destinations and check in using a combination of apps and stored emails. Most payments can be made by Apple Pay or banking apps, although I will have to break out the debit card from time to time. As for cash, I am not sure what that is these days. Easy.

However, if there were an international trip?

What Physical Paperwork Will I Need on the Road?

Passport
The most obvious first answer to this question is your passport. No country in the world will accept your arrival without the customs officers taking the passport from your hand and checking you are who you say you are. Your passport also includes any visas, with the possibility that some countries will also expect some form of paper visa proof.

If you are travelling inside the European Union you can freely move between countries without bothering your passport, but still need a first port of entry,

Driving Licence
A driving licence is another essential, along with any debt and credit cards.

Insurance Documents
Many insurance companies have their own apps and you can store details on your phone to show in the event you need medical attention. However, this is not always the case. Insurance companies, like so many others, love to save themselves paper and postage, by sending your policy details by email. Great for them, but not so for you, as the burden of having a physical copy of your insurance certificate comes down to you having to print the document. Note that the cost here has been passed from the insurance company to you, with no discernible reduction in premiums.

Tickets & Boarding Passes
How about airline tickets and boarding passes?

Again here, we find a some-and-some answer. A significant proportion of the airline industry has gone paperless providing tickets and boarding passes through a phone app. Again, this is not a global phenomenon and plenty of airlines expect printed boarding passes.

This is one which annoys me somewhat. The trend today is to electronically check in sometime before leaving home, which will produce your boarding pass and often your seat allocation. These can be held on your phone, but some airlines still expect the use of a physical boarding pass. This is down to you to print, which if you are on a long journey with multiple stops, may not be easy.

There are plenty of stories of passengers arriving at an airport check-in desk without a boarding pass and being charged outrageous fees to print one, only to hand it back to the very same person.

Check this one carefully before setting off.

Safety Information
In my phone, I have an entry marked ‘ICE’ - In Case of Emergency. This includes emergency contact details for a family member, along with basic medical information.

This is something I always carry on a credit card-sized piece of card in my wallet. It includes my name, and contact details for my brother and daughter, along with details of a medical condition. I have used this myself when arriving at a hospital in an emergency and unable to speak or communicate. It was a genuine, lifesaver.

How About 100% Electronic Information?

There are some things which can be stored without the need for paper.

We have talked about the halfway house with some documentation, but what about the 100% option?

Many of us do this already with online folders in places such as Google Drive and One Drive. With a laptop, tablet, or phone, we can access all those files, pictures, and spreadsheets we so love. What else should you consider for a travel trip?

Copy Everything!
Before you leave home, take pictures of your passport, insurance certificate, driving licence and other important documents. These can be stored in your online drive and accessed fairly easily. Also, email these to yourself so you have a copy on your phone.

Make an Email Version
There may be times when you are unable to access your online storage. Being able to log on to your personal or office email domain can also sometimes be difficult. A simple solution here is to create a Gmail or Hotmail address and send everything there. These emails can be accessed from any computer.

Will Travel Ever be Paperless?

I think the answer to that, is no.

Two items which will always remain in physical form, will be the passport and driving licence, both for security puposes. After all, if these were electronic on your phone and it was stolen, then there goes your identity.

As for everything else? Possibly.

But think of the traveller without a smartphone. I know at least one person who doesn’t own such a beast. How would they be able to travel in a paperless world?