I don’t want to shit all over this but I am pretty sure that three weeks is pretty much the minimum for issuing a passport. If you need to travel in an emergency the best thing that consulates will do is issue a temporary passport card.
Nope, I’ve done it for clients same day. But it requires going to a regional passport office with all supporting documents, impending flight arrangements, and a damn good story. Be prepared to sit there all day, too.
I’m certainly not a world traveler, but I can relay my experience in Italy two years ago. As I was about to enter the Coliseum, I turned my ankle on an uneven surface, resulting in a ridiculously serious and embarrassing fall, with obvious injuries to my right shoulder and elbow, both knees, and right ankle (my upper body managed to strike a 2 1/2 foot high wall). I was taken via speeding ambulance (do not recommend) to the hospital where no one I encountered spoke a word of English (not blaming – not really expected – just stating). They took x-rays of each of the above-mentioned joints. Everything was negative, except for a fractured ankle. Via pictures, I was offered a hard cast or a soft cast and boot. I elected the latter. They applied the soft cast, and I had to take a prescription for the boot to a pharmacy (not located in the hospital) while being nonweight-bearing on the ankle. 
I was released from the ER and charged nothing for the care that I received. I was shocked, and of course, quite pleased.
The physician also prescribed injections of the equivalent of Heparin to prevent blood clots during the flight home. From the pharmacy, I obtained the boot, the blood thinner, antiseptic and bandages for, IIRC, about $160 US.
All in all, my opinion of the quality of the medical treatment I received was excellent.
Good luck to your son! I hope he has a fabulous adventure.
This happened to a friend of mine in Panama. Her mom went ashore to shop, somehow fell and broke her leg pretty badly. She decided she didn’t trust the quality of the local medical care, so they arranged a medevac flight for her back to the US. She didn’t have traveler’s insurance and it cost more than 30 grand and my friend had to get another mortgage on her home to pay for it.
She told me that insurance would have covered the flight, but I don’t know for a fact this is true. It’s something worth checking in to.
Not strictly true, though he is really, REALLY cutting it close:
Somewhere it said you can request it as “will call” as in you pick it up w/o waiting for it to come by mail.
They also have “life or death emergency” support though I don’t know how that works - our friends (whose son developed appendicitis in Hungary) nearly wound up doing that. They’d have had to drive here to do it (5 hours away from where they live as this is the closest agency).
He has an appointment for Saturday and he flies (we hope) on Tuesday. If he can’t get it in time, it’s an expensive lesson for him (he’s out 800 bucks in airfare). We’ve been pushing him for 2 months to get the passport sorted out :::headdesk:::
Here’s my similar story, for those of you bored enough to keep reading.
Last month I arrived in Addis Ababa with what I thought was either bronchitis or pneumonia. I looked up an antibiotic on the internet, and a boy from the hotel w went to a pharfmacy to try to get it, but Ethiopia now require Rx for antibiotics. The hotel staff phoned around, and decided the best course would be to take me to a hospital in the hotel shuttle van, to see a doctor. I got to see a very good doctor within minutes, he scribbled the Rx, my driver went across the street to the pharmacy, and I was soon back in the ($25 a night no-star) hotel swallowing a pill. Total bill for Dr and Rx was $35.
Obviously, you can be in big trouble if in need of medical attention overseas, but in a majority of countries, the cost of health care is very low, and even banana republics now have universal health care, so the odds are pretty much in your favor that you’ll get better care than in the USA, at little or no cost.
That’s ridiculous. I can’t imagine how badly you’d have to break your leg for flying back to the States to be a better solution than having it fixed in Panama, where there is perfectly decent health care.
Actually, I agree, and if I was an insurer I’d have lots of objections to paying off on that policy. I would be liking very carefully at the policy to see if there was a way to decline payment.
But there was no payment to decline. It it was a little old lady who wanted to go Home Sweet Home for treatment, rather than face furriners, and how’s her kid to say no?
A friend broke his neck in Fiji (while bodysurfing) and had to fly back to LA after being given a bodycast to have the neck fusion surgery. It was very expensive and uncomfortable to fly back that way (he took up a whole row of seats). It would have to have been an amazingly bad broken leg to warrant that kind of treatment.
OK, another stupid question but bear in mind, I’ve never traveled outside the US and Canada: Should we get cash here (Euros presumably) before he leaves (we live just outside Washington so I imagine there are banks in town that can do that)? Should he get some at an exchange in one of the airports? Or should he just do ATM withdrawals while he’s there? Will a US ATM card even work in Europe?
I did just order him a large (but overhead-ready) backpack - supposedly it exactly fits the limits for carryon luggage. I also got him a lightweight foldable backpack (looks like it collapses into abotut the size of a hardback book). Plus a money belt and a neck wallet - he can pick whichever one he prefers. And a travel outlet converter set.
I’m going to make sure we have login access to his bank account here (it’s joint, so we could just call the bank to get things reset if we had to) so we can move money around for him if he needs it.
It’s a little (and by little I mean A LOT) freaky to think that if he can get his passport in time, 5 days from now he’ll be waiting in Detroit for a redeye to Heathrow.
I typically get a 100 or so Euros before flying (at a bank if I can, at the airport if I must). Then I use my ATM over there. Most cards will work, you should call your bank to make sure, and they might not work in all ATMs. There will also be fees so it’s not going to save you too much. It makes sense to get a lot of money a few times, rather than a little bit of money a lot.
And call the bank to let them know he’s traveling or he may get his card cancelled for suspicious activity.
YMMV but when I was in the Phillipines the best easily accessible exchange rates I ran across were at western union kiosk/office places. I am sure there is better out there but its an easy option that any decent sized city will have a bunch of. If desired you can also make arrangements to hold cash for him and he can call you for a transfer at an upcoming destination where they will happily cash him out in local currency.
I had a travel wallet that I kept a little chunk of cash, my passport, and credit cards. It was tied to my belt and dropped down the inside of my pants leg. where it couldnt be seen or easily accessed. I also kept photocopies of my cards, passport, plane tickets, etc hidden in my luggage and pictures of same on a flash drive laced into my boots in such a way you pretty much had to totally unlace my boot (or cut the laces) to get it out
Trust me, just use an ATM. I’ve travelled to 28 countries and never pulled out money beforehand or relied on currency exchanges. There will be an ATM at the airport.
Stash a few $20s in various places (shoes, backpack frame, etc.) for emergencies and carry a back-up card of some sort. But don’t make your life a hassle for no reason by messing with banks and exchanges. ATMs are ubiquitous, cheap and easy.
Something it’s worth checking is if his bank has any partner banks in Europe; if so, he may be able to use his card in their ATMs without some of the usual charges. This saved me quite a lot of money in Australia/New Zealand, as it turned out that I only got charged a conversion fee so long as I used one bank’s ATMs.
As a related point, there are non-bank ATMs around in Europe that charge €3 or so per use, whereas ones owned by banks generally do not. Just one of those extra little charges that’s easy to avoid if you know about it. There are a lot of ATMs around, and there’s almost always another one within a short walk if you find one that charges.
His bank is a local(ish) though larger credit union, so I doubt they have partner locations in Europe. I’ll remind him of “get a lot a few times”. Hopefully whatever ATMs he uses will have an option to select English as a language - around here, ATMs usually allow English and Spanish. I used one once in Florida that had many more choices than that, including at least one language I’d never heard of :).
His new credit card won’t have any foreign transaction fees associated, though I don’t know if he’ll have a PIN in time (or the card itself, come to think of it - another thing he left til way too late). I guess if it doesn’t arrive in time, I’ll have him prepay his existing card (limit of 500 bucks) - basically preload it so it effectively lets him spend more.
Another thing I thought of - somewhat similar to the picture book of photos - is printing a few essential phrases for him in various languages. He’s allergic to peanuts and it would be nice for him to be able to ask someone “Are there peanuts in this food” or say “please call an ambulance, I can’t breathe”. He will be taking his Epi Pen with him just in case (he’s never needed it, fortunately).
I’m going to take him downtown tomorrow for his passport appointment - if it were on a weekday I wouldn’t bother (he could take the Metro) but weekend Metro schedules are pretty wonky and I know the area so I can drive him easily.
Turns out there’s a currency exchange a few blocks away, so I thought I’d get him some Euros there just to have as his emergency stash. What would you all recommend re quantity? I’m thinking 300 Euros ought to cover train fare from most places to the nearest city that has a US consulate…
Nm
$300 seems like a lot of (easily lost or stolen) cash to have around. If he gets in trouble, I assume he is going to call you so you can wire money, right? He needs enough for a night at the hostel, a couple of meals, and phone calls/net cafe time.
If you want to change to Euros go ahead, but you’ll be paying fees to change it and then pay fees to change it back. I’d keep my emergency money in USD and change it there if I need to.
I thought about that, but if he’s stuck somewhere and can’t get to an exchange, I was thinking Euros might be more useful.
My thinking is, whatever cash we send goes into his money belt - which stays on his person at all times - never to be pulled out, except in direst situations. It would live there with his passport and a backup credit card.
And yeah, I know there are fees involved if we do this. It’s more for OUR peace of mind than his, really. He’s a kid who will let himself get in a pretty deep hole because he doesn’t realize how much trouble he’s in until it’s too late. Frankly, we’re terrified… and supporting him by doing stuff like this is our way of not overtly freaking out or messing with his confidence.
Will I be a wreck after I drop him at the airport Tuesday - oh yeah, you betcha I will!!
Wow, where to begin?
First, let me say good for him for wanting to travel at that age. It was almost the exact age I decided to do a solo trip to Europe, and it was one of the best experiences of my life.
That being said… my heart stops with every post I read. There are so many red flags going on here that I hesitate to list them all because you’re already nervous as hell about him going. When I first read your idea of letting him practice by going to New York first, I thought, “You need to give him some space, Mom.” But now, I think you’re absolutely right. He needed a trial run. The fact that he waited forever to do the very basic planning for the trip makes me uncomfortable about how he will handle things in a foreign country (even if they’re likely to speak English).
Why isn’t he driving to pick up his passport? Or taking the Metro? Wonky schedules are a perfect way to practice problem solving skills.
Most of my advice is only to repeat what others have said, or is likely too late, but here’s a few anyway:
300 euros is too much ‘emergency’ money. Keep his debit and his credit cards separate, and he’ll be fine.
I’ve traveled to many countries over the last 20 years (mainly Europe, though recently Iceland) and have never bought insurance. Never needed it. (Touch wood!) Perhaps it’s because I’m Canadian and don’t have the medical bill fear that Americans often have, but I’ve never worried about having to pay an emergency bill in a foreign country.
Try flying to places rather than taking the train, unless he wants to see the countryside. Discount airlines in Europe are THE thing, and often it’s cheaper than rail. Try kayak.com and they should give you a good list. RyanAir and EasyJet are two of the more common ones.
Google Map some of the attractions he wants to see, making sure to include his hostel/where he’s staying location on the map. That way he’ll get an idea of how far away things might be, and be able to plan the day accordingly. Is he going to walk to places? Rent a bike? Take public transit? (This is why the Metro bit I mentioned above is so important.)
Did you ever get him to walk around for a bit with his backpack full? Keep in mind, it shouldn’t be too full- he’ll want to bring back souvenirs.
I brought my cell phone last time I was in England, but found I couldn’t use it for calls. It was fine; the hostels I stayed had free wifi, so I just touched base with everyone through Facebook or Twitter or texting.
Have a pen and some scraps of paper on him when he goes out- on the very rare instance he doesn’t run into anyone who speaks English, they can always write the price/time/direction.
Deep breath and good luck!