More than 1,600 Americans were evacuated from Egypt by the U.S. government in the past two days, and at least 1,400 more are awaiting evacuation. The current Egyptian crisis provides some important lessons for anyone who travels internationally.

First, notice how quickly political and social situations can change around the world. We saw this recently in Tunisia and now in Egypt. What was a seemingly stable country just a couple weeks ago is now in turmoil. Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets and Egypt is facing the possible collapse of its government.

Second, anytime you travel abroad, you should register with the U.S. State Department’s free Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (formerly known as “Travel Registration”) at http://travelregistration.state.gov. This will provide you with updated information about your destination country and enable consular officers to reach you in case of an emergency.

Third, if you are abroad and find yourself in a fluid situation like Egypt, it is important to stay abreast of the news and to monitor U.S. State Department announcements as well as the foreign affairs departments of other nations. The easiest way to follow the State Department is on Twitter: @TravelGov.

If you decide that you should leave the country earlier than originally planned, contact the airline or your travel agent about switching to an earlier flight. In crisis situations like Egypt, airlines often will waive the change fees. You will want to stay in contact with the airlines as flight schedules may change with little advance notice. That happened this week with many Cairo flights.

If you can get back home on a commercial flight, that may be better than a government evacuation flight. American evacuees from Egypt are being flown to “safe havens” in Europe—primarily Athens and Istanbul—where they will then be responsible to find their own way back to the States. Plus they have to reimburse the government for the flights. So sticking with a commercial carrier, if possible, may be the simplest and cheapest way to go.

When you are confirmed to leave, get to the airport as early as possible just in case there are delays en route. Also try to bring some food and water with you as these may not be available at the airport during a crisis.

Hopefully you will never find yourself in the middle of a crisis situation like we see today in Egypt. If you do, these lessons will prove invaluable.

While traveling with only a credit card and little or no cash may work fine in the United States that is not the case when traveling abroad, especially in developing countries. In many of these nations credit cards are not widely accepted and may be more susceptible to fraud. Regardless of where you travel, you will want to carry at least some national currency with you.

Wells Fargo bank advises its customers to carry many different forms of payment when traveling internationally, including currency, travelers checks, credit cards and ATM cards. We concur—except for travelers checks, which are accepted at fewer and fewer places around the world.

There are basically eight sources that you can use to exchange currencies. These include your local bank, online services, ATM cards, pre-paid currency cards, airport exchange desks, in-country banks, retail exchange centers and some international hotels.  

Many banks in the U.S., especially the large national ones, and online services such as Travelex.com can exchange money for you if you are headed to one of the more frequently traveled nations. If you are headed to a nation that is more off the beaten path, then most likely you will have to wait until you arrive in the country to make your exchange.

Many ATM cards can be used abroad to get cash in the local currency. Just be sure to check with your bank about fees and availability of machines that will accept your particular debit card. Travelex offers pre-paid currency debit cards, in addition to cash exchanges, but only for Euros and British Pounds.

Once you arrive in country, the airport there should have a currency exchange desk but know that these rates are typically not as good as what you might get at a bank. In tourist areas you often will see numerous retail exchange outlets. Be sure to shop around as rates can vary greatly between outlets. Some larger hotels also offer exchange services, but may include a higher service fee, so be sure to check.

Regardless of where you exchange your money, you should know what the current exchange rates are so that you know if you are getting a rate close to market value. One site to check current exchange rates is http://www.oanda.com/. There also are mobile phone apps such as GlobeMaster for the iPhone that includes currency conversion.

Another tip is to not exchange more than you are sure you will use as it will cost you to sell the currency back. Also, if you are in one of those less-traveled nations, be sure to sell back all of your currency before leaving the country. You may find it difficult or even impossible to exchange once you get home.

You’ve got time to kill while you wait for your connecting flight at Germany’s Frankfurt Airport. You could read that magazine again—for the 3^rd time—or you could go behind the scenes and get a glimpse of the airport that most travelers never see.

The airport has several tour options that can accommodate large groups of 20 or more persons as well as individuals. The Mini-Tour is 45 minutes hitting the airport’s highlights including the runways and cargo areas. On weekdays, the tour starts at 1 p.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m., and 4 p.m. On weekends and holidays it starts at 11 a.m. and 12 noon. The price of the tour is €8.00 for adults, €7.00 for students, children, and persons with disabilities.  A family option is available for €24.00 Reservations are not needed for individuals. Groups of 20 or more should make reservations before traveling.

The Maxi-Tour is 90 minutes long and it explains the operations and history of the airport, shows you the maintenance base, cargo terminals, site of a future terminal and the airport fire brigade’s training grounds. Prices are €15.00 per person. Advanced registration is required.

The Fire Department Tour includes the Maxi-Tour plus a visit to the fire department to find out how the airport’s firefighters work. You also get a close look at “Simbas” the unique fire trucks used at large airports. Price is €17.00.

The Zeppelin Tour takes you back in time to the Zeppelin airship museum before touring the modern-day airport. Duration is 120 minutes and prices are €17.00 for adults and €15.00 for students, children under 16, and persons with disabilities. Advanced registration is required.

A reservation form can be found on the airport’s website http://www.frankfurt-airport.com. Just search for “Airport Sightseeing Tours.”

In addition to the tours, Frankfurt Airport offers an outdoor visitor’s terrace where you can observe airport operations. From the terrace, visitors can see aircraft loading, unloading, takeoffs and landings. The visitor’s terrace is open daily April to October from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The admission fee for the terrace is €5.00 for adults, €3 for students and disabled, and free for children under age 6. Terrace entrance is included free with the tours.

Yes, we know it isn’t a pleasant topic to discuss, but with our clients traveling literally to the ends of the earth, protecting oneself from bedbugs and other creepy crawlers is an important subject.

Bedbug protection is important even when traveling domestically. Recent news reports have shown that you don’t have to travel to the other side of the world and stay in run-down hotels to encounter the little creatures. Bedbugs have been discovered even in upscale hotels in major U.S. cities.

Bedbugs and other insects can not only cause trouble where you are traveling, but they can “hitch a ride” home with you through clothes and luggage. According to a recent newsletter from the company HomeTeam Pest Defense, adult bedbugs are “small, flat insects about the size of an apple seed and are mainly found in mattresses and couches…they don’t carry disease or live on humans but they do bite and feed only on blood.”

How can you protect yourself from bedbugs?

HomeTeam suggests three things. First, inspect any mattresses that you use while traveling. You are looking for brown or red spots indicating blood or bedbug debris. Second, hang clothes and place luggage on a luggage rack, not on the floor or near a bed. Third, wash all clothing after a trip in hot water.

We would also suggest some additional protective measures. Use the compression bags (the plastic travel bags that you put clothes in to get rid of all the air and save space) for all of your clothes. If your clothes are not hanging up then keep them sealed in the bag. You should also bring along an extra compression bag or two to use as you dirty your clothes.

Also, keep your suitcases, backpacks, etc. zipped-up when not in use. Finally, to reiterate HomeTeam’s recommendations, be sure to wash all clothes when you get home—even the ones you didn’t dirty. You probably will want to keep the clothes sealed in the bags until it is wash time.

Hopefully if you follow these simple tips you can leave bedbugs and other insects where they belong—away from you!

Long flight layovers in London are perfect opportunities to get out of the airport and explore this historic city. If you have several hours to “kill” consider taking a tour, either on your own or through one of the numerous tour companies operating in London. One company that offers great flexibility that is ideal for layovers is The Original London Sightseeing Tour.

The “Original” tour was started nearly 60 years ago and offers hop-on and hop-off service along three tour routes. Adult ticket prices are £25 (approximately $38) and are good for 24 hours. Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. Included with the ticket price are three walking tours: Changing of the Guard Walk, Rock ‘N’ Roll Walk (which visits sites made famous by rock legends) and the Jack the Ripper Walk (which follows the footsteps of the infamous serial killer).

The yellow route, which is the original tour, covers the major London sites such as Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and Parliament, The London Eye, Downing Street, Tower of London and more. The red route is a city sightseeing tour with some overlap with the yellow tour but also includes Madame Tussauds wax museum, Shakespeare’s Globe and others. The blue route tours London’s top museum districts. All the tours have buses that run every 20 minutes and link directly into the other tour routes. You can start any of these tours near the Piccadilly Underground Station and they all last just over two hours—that’s if you don’t hop off. Get more details at www.theoriginaltour.com.

You can put together your own tour using London’s public transportation. The website www.transportdirect.info will give you detailed point to point instructions and travel times to anywhere in London. This is also a great site if you are trying to connect from a London airport to one of the city’s tours.

If you are going to be in London for a full day or a couple days, you may want to consider purchasing the London Sightseeing Pass from the British Tourist Authority at www.visitbritainshop.com. The London Pass covers the entry fees to 50 attractions, plus provides discounts and special offers. The nice thing about the pass is it also includes fast track entrance to some locations, allowing you to skip the long lines. Most of the major historic buildings and museums are included in the pass. Not included are the popular London Eye or Madame Tussauds, but discounts on these are also available from the tourist authority site.

“How was security?”

That seems to be a common question these days asked of people who are flying. There has been a lot of talk and media attention about the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) “aggressive” pat-downs and body scans during airport security screenings. Many people have expressed concerns about the process and others assume that every traveler is subjected to these types of screenings.

While there are stories, some of which are quite alarming, emerging about screenings that some consider “cross the line,” most flyers are not experiencing anything like that. We have flown a lot in recent weeks, both internationally and domestically, and have not seen anything “out of the ordinary” at airport security. According to TSA Administrator John Pistole, writing in USA Today, less than three percent of travelers will undergo a pat-down of any kind.

The best way to avoid pat-downs and Advanced Imaging Technology scans is to not set off alarms in the first place. For most people that simply means being prepared and paying attention as they enter the screening process. Preparation begins before leaving home as you place your liquids that are 3 ounces or under into a clear quart-sized bag. It is best to put that bag where you can easily access it in your carry-on and pull it out as you approach the x-ray machine.

The TSA has identified some common items that travelers often miss which set off the metal detectors:

• Keys, loose change, mobile phones, pagers, and personal data assistants (PDAs)
• Heavy jewelry (including pins, necklaces, bracelets, rings, watches, earrings, body piercings, cuff links, lanyards or bolo ties)
• Clothing with metal buttons, snaps or studs
• Metal hair barrettes or other hair decoration
• Belt buckles
• Under-wire bras

It is important to note that just because an item, say your watch, does not set off the metal detector at one screening point that it won’t at a different one. We have seen the same watch worn through one metal detector that did not go off yet set off alarms at others. The best thing is to remove these items rather than taking a chance that they will set off the alarm—and subject you to additional screening.

Also be sure that if you are traveling with a laptop or other electronic devices that you have them easily accessible as you approach security. You will be required to scan them separately from your bag. Separate scans are also required of your shoes and any coats that you might be wearing.

One final thing, especially this time of year, relates to gifts. Gifts should NOT be wrapped. Security may actually have you remove the wrapping paper before allowing you to clear the screening, so it is best to wait on wrapping anything until you reach your destination.

Reports indicate few problems at airports this season with most travelers experiencing “business as usual” despite the media attention over enhanced security measures. If you prepare ahead of time and pay attention as you enter the screening process, you too should expect clear sailing and an easy journey through airport security.