Expert: Roberto Gomes - 1/18/2005

Question
I am planning on flying to Sydney, Australia in late February.  In addition to having the right toiletries in my luggage, having a passport and getting an actual ticket, what other things do I need to have ready for an international flight?  (I have never done this before)  My father mentioned getting "travel shots" and possible "travel health insurance".  I've still got a little time but I'd like to get these out of the way before my scheduled round trip vacation.  I thank you for your help.

Answer
Dear Augusto,

Take a look at http://www.cdc.gov/travel/austspac.htm

for some information and tips regarding health.

As far as travel health insurance is concern, there are a lot of companies (Google search displays more than 14,300,00 results) that can provide these services. I will reccomend that initially you ask your credit card company  (depending on your credit you can have some advantages) and then compare with other companies.

Flights from the US west coast normally takes 12 hours, so a good book or a videogame will be good. I hope that you enjoy the "land down there"!

Best Regards,
R. Gomes