Our passports during our travels abroad are important as it is what proves our identity, keeps us safe and allows us to be mobile as we wish. It is our gateway to the world and taking good care of them is paramount.

Read on to see how we at Travset keep our passports safe during travels.

1. Keep a copy (or two, three or four)

It is a good idea to keep several copies of your passport on you at all times.

This will prevent you from having to take out your passport every time identification is required, and lessen the chances of it being misplaced or stolen.

We also recommend keeping a scan of your passport online on a cloud platform such as Google Drive or Dropbox. Emailing yourself a copy works as well.

2. Lock it up

Your passport is the one document allowing you to stay in a country and it should be treated as such.

Lock it up when not in use. Invest in a theft-proof bag and store it deep inside.

Ask hostels and hotels for a safe to store it in.

3. Hide it

Carrying your passport and wallet in the back pocket is a rookie mistake and will make you a prime target for pickpockets.

We recommend having your passport in your front pocket in order to make it more difficult for anyone nefarious to get a hold of it.

You can also stitch a secret pocket in your pants in order to store your passport and money.

4. Have substitutes

You don’t always need your passport to identify yourself.

A driving license, identification or a resident card does a good job proving you are who you are.

The less exposure a passport gets, the better.

5. Protect it from the elements

Extreme humidity and/or rain can damage a passport and make machine-readable passports difficult to read. We recommend carrying your passport in a zip bag in order to protect it from the elements.

6. Protect it from yourself

Having the passports in your pockets for too long might make it bend.

Passports might be small but they pack quite a punch when it comes to proving your identity, so do keep it clean.