The short version
- Almost everything you would need in an emergency is on your phone, and your phone has a battery.
- A handwritten card in your wallet costs five minutes and survives a dead phone, a stolen phone and a lost signal.
- Five lines is enough. More than that and nobody writes it.
Ask a traveler what they would do if their phone died in a city they do not know, and most describe finding somewhere to charge it. That is a plan that depends on the thing that just failed.
The fix is almost insultingly simple, and it is the one piece of advice from this site that people most often come back and say they actually used.
What goes on the card
- Where you are staying. The name, the full address and the phone number. Written in the local language if you can manage it, because the person you hand it to may not read yours.
- One contact at home. A name and a number with the country code on the front. A number without a country code is not a number when you are abroad.
- Your medical basics. Allergies, anything you take, and your blood type if you know it. If you carry an EpiPen or an inhaler, say where it is.
- Your insurer and policy number. Private hospitals in a lot of countries want payment or proof of cover before treatment, not after.
- The local emergency number. It is not 911 everywhere, and in some countries police and ambulance are different numbers.
Write it by hand
A screenshot of this information dies with the phone. A note in your password manager dies with the phone. Paper does not need charging, does not need signal, and can be handed to a stranger, a taxi driver or a nurse without unlocking anything.
Write it, or print it and fold it. Then put one copy in your wallet and a second in a different bag. Two copies in the same bag is one copy.
One for every person
Every adult carries their own. Children carry one with a parent's name and number on it, and it is worth telling them plainly: if you cannot find us, show this to someone who works here.
If you are moving between hotels, the card changes on travel days. A card with last week's address is worse than no card, because it sends help to the wrong place.
The thirty-second check
The night before you fly, read the card against the booking. Hotels get changed, flights get moved, and the card is only as good as the last time somebody looked at it.
Everything on that card is already on your phone. That is the problem, not the reason to skip it.
This plan is written for every traveler. A Nepsis kit rewrites it for your trip: your hotel, your flight, your dates, and the nearest emergency room to where you're staying. See the kits →
Want to practice this with a professional? Our partner Contingent Group teaches situational awareness, self-defense and trauma care in person. See training →
Next: Tripwires: make the hard decisions before you are tired →