jane

What are some precautions I need to prepare for my overseas trip to italy in October in case the war against iraq starts? I am not being unrealistic I just want to know if there is any thing I should do in case I am stranded. Thank you

Tam

Take a little pup tent and set it up in a vineyard and help them harvest their grapes. Then sit back and drink it. Don't worry, be happy.

Maggie

Totally agree with Tam, relax and enjoy!<BR>Regards<BR>Maggie

Alice

We'll be in Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris in October. We have paper tickets for airline, will tune in to CNN or online periodically, check in with airline re: return flight status, and have extra 'room' on the credit card. Other than that, I don't know what else a traveller can do. If anyone has truly helpful points to make, we're ready to read them!

Stcirq

Be sure you have the extra funds available if you get stranded and have to access, for example, your ATM account. Make sure your credit card companies know you're going on holiday. Take the names and numbers of hotels with you in case you need to move and stay in a new place for a few days. <BR>Be prepared to see lots of planes over Italy. When the Gulf War was in progress we were in Italy, and they used the Vicenza air station to send loads of planes to Iraq - the skies were lit up all night long with the lights and sounds of airplanes (we were staying outside Venice in a small mainland town near Vicenza).<BR>Other than that, don't panic. They'll get you home. You could do worse than be stranded in Italy.

Ronda

We were in London on September 11 last year. Our hotel had CNN which was great as other Americans we met did not and were asking us what was going on.<BR><BR>E-mail was a great way to let a lot of people know we were ok. Our hotel also had a computer available for guests. Our phone bill was astronomical as our children were continually calling us. So, keep an up-dated e-mail list on your e-mail account and telephone numbers would be handy. <BR><BR>We also went to France and a lot of people were stranded and trying to get out of Paris. I don't know what they did for hotels. The TI had a big sign up that they were available to help find hotels for people. So, making sure you have funds available, whether that means a higher credit card limit or money in the bank for your ATM card use would be a good idea.

court

I am an american living abroad - be sure that your atm card password is numbers, not letters. European atm machines keypads are usually numbers only - no letters. This may sound silly - but my card was confiscated when I could not figure out my password and I was stranded without cash !

Rex

&lt;&lt;European atm machines keypads are usually numbers only - no letters. This may sound silly - but my card was confiscated when I could not figure out my password ...&gt;&gt;<BR><BR>LOL. Maybe take this little "magic decoder" chart with you?<BR><BR>2 - ABC<BR>3 - DEF<BR>4 - GHI<BR>5 - JKL<BR>6 - MNO<BR>7 - PQRS<BR>8 - TUV<BR>9 - WXYZ<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Janice

if you might be away through a cycle of monthly bills, arrange for a way to pay them via the internet, or get a friend to pick them up and pay them. It would be a drastic delay to require this, but it would better than coming home to disconnected utilities!