With the year coming to an end, its time to pack your bags, purchase some air tickets and visit countries that you couldn’t during the hot, and scorching summer season. Many travellers get so hung up on the idea and planning of their dream vacation that they tend to miss out on the little details that can prove to qualify as necessities when the time arises. Keeping this in mind we decided to list out 5 things that we consider necessities to have in hand while travelling.

1. First aid kit

Accidents happen and it’s better to be prepared for whatever little disasters would grace your peaceful vacation than to scramble around trying to find band aids and ointments. If you don’t plan on staying at a hotel or in a central location, looking for a pharmacy in a foreign land would be pretty problematic while, not to mention an unnecessary hassle, therefore as Murphy’s Law dictates, ‘whatever can go wrong, will go wrong’, so you might as well be prepared for it.

2. Plastic bags

How often do we forget plastic bags and then find out we have no place to store the sweaty, dirty and/or wet clothes? Often. Okay, every single time. It baffles us how easy everyone overlooks the importance of plastic bags only to realize their true worth later on. So lets just appreciate the underrated ‘siri siri bags’ before it’s too late. Pack an appropriate amount (they take up literally no space in your luggage) and never feel inadequate ever again.

3. Swiss army knife

We cannot even count the amount of time we needed a scissor or a sharp object to free a loose thread or open up a bottle of wine, but due to airline restrictions and lack of space in bag we couldn’t carry one. Swiss army knives are a godsend when it comes to travel, mainly because its compact size.

4. Identification

Carrying identification around with you in a foreign land such as a passport can be quite risky due to its compact nature, making it easy to be pickpocketed or misplaced. It’s a good idea to take a few photocopies of your passport and national ID, remembering to leave some copies at home while taking a few along with you instead of carrying the originals around on your explorations.

5. Multi currency cards

If you are planning on immersing yourself in the culture and visiting areas that have a less ‘touristy’ feel to it, finding a foreign exchange outlet or carrying thousands of dollars in hand is rather dicey. The better and safer option that would save you a lot of time rather than standing in queues to exchange your currency would be to get your hands on a multi currency card.

Where could you obtain one of these magical cards you may ask?

Seylan Bank offers their multi currency card, which you can easily obtain over the counter by producing your air ticket and passport therefore making it accessible to non Seylan Bank account holders. You can obtain a free benefit of travel insurance of Upto USD 50,000 if USD 500 and above is loaded to the card. No annual fee or Joining fee is charged , the bank provides an additional card free of charge in case of loss/theft and could be used as an immediate replacement. SMS Alerts are available to notify the available balances.

How a multi currency card functions is by operating as a pre paid visa card that is issued in multiple currencies and the destination currency where the transaction takes place is picked up automatically to avoid forex conversion fees, not only saving you time trying to convert the currencies but your money as well.

Head down to your nearest Seylan bank outlet OR click on the link Visa Multi Currency Travel Card for more details