Sbb1413/Travel in developed countries

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Travel in high-income countries is a problem for people from developing countries. The developed country you are visiting may have a strict law and order. It may not allow things that you use in your daily life. You may not get to your destination if you are late. You may have to spend too much money to live in a hotel.

Prepare

“ I have a neighbor who knows 200 types of wine.... I only know two types of wine – red and white.
But my neighbor only knows two types of countries – industrialized and developing. And I know 200. ”

—Hans Rosling, Professor of International Health

Get in

Visas

Main article: Visa

The availability of visas ranges from "no visa needed" or "visa on arrival". While much has improved since the fall of the Soviet Union, there are still corners of the world where letters of invitation are needed or an arm and a leg are charged just for the application and visas are routinely denied for no other reason than "We don't like your face". The developed countries may be far away from your home. So you may face visa trouble.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) gives you a database which is usually up to date. It is the way most airlines judge whether you need a visa prior to boarding. If you do not have a visa the database says you need, you will be denied boarding. You cannot directly access that database, but IATA have a travel information web page which covers vaccination requirements and customs rules as well as visas.

Many airlines and some travel agents can also provide visa information, often based on the IATA database. Sites such as Project Visa or Visa Hunter also have databases of visa information for each country. However - mostly for legal reasons - none of these sources including IATA provide any guarantee for their information, so double checking with the embassy or embassies in question is a good idea if there is any doubt.

Not all overland or river border crossings are open or intended for citizens of third countries (i.e. a crossing between two countries may be able to handle citizens of those countries, but not citizens of any other country) and even those that are may not routinely provide visas on arrival, which may make your trip needlessly complicated. If you can, find out in advance what's the case and ask multiple sources.

There are two schools of thought for getting visas: one says to obtain visas as far in advance if possible, so you can buffer for unexpected delays, while the other says to obtain as close to your destination as possible, where you can get your visa rapidly and with less hassle as it's a more standard procedure. Ideally you can combine them by starting your trip at a "visa hub" city where you can get visas for nearly all neighboring countries (but some countries insist you get the visa at some specific place, depending on your home country).

Mental preparation

See also: Culture shock

If traveling in a developed country for the first time – or in a new part of the world – don't underestimate the potential culture shock. Many a stable, capable traveler has been overcome by the newness of developed world travel, where many little cultural adjustments can add up quickly. Especially in your initial days, consider choosing an ethnic enclave or an expat neighborhood of your nationality to help acclimatize. But staying in an enclave comes at a price: it isolates you from the local culture.

Talk

See also: Talk

Many developed countries use English as a first language or a second language. Most people in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland speak English as the mother tongue.