Basetrip tells you what to need to know before you go on that dream trip
Get quick hits of pertinent travel information arranged by country as well as tips from travelers.
Name: thebasetrip.com
What it does: Basetrip provides basic travel information you should know about a country before you leave: visa requirements, currency, tipping, ATM advice, mobile phone options, Internet status, vaccinations, travel advisories and more. If you want to access the information offline, purchase the country-specific information as a downloadable PDF ($5 with PayPal) that you can store on your smartphone or device.
What’s hot: Having travel information all in one spot is a big help, but the “Tips” section is particularly useful. When I looked up the China page a week before my trip I found valuable information shared by an experienced traveler: “Get a VPN [virtual private network] and configure it well before you arrive. Limited Internet access to the outside world and DNS [domain name system] errors when trying to access Facebook, Twitter, Instagram … etc. can be very frustrating for the newcomers. Whatsapp is still available though.” I did need that reminder because I haven’t been to China since the advent of smartphones, let alone Facebook.
What’s not: The PDF I bought for China was only $5, but there was lots of white space on the document. That’s not efficient formatting for printing, but the site is young and it didn’t bother me much because I didn’t pay much.
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