Updated 2026-06-23 · 12 minute read
International Travel Safety Guide
A practical safety guide for planning international trips, saving emergency numbers, preparing documents, and reducing avoidable travel risk.
Start with country-specific emergency information
International safety planning works best when it is specific. A number that works in one country may fail in another, and some destinations separate police, ambulance, fire, tourist police, and mountain rescue. Before you depart, open the GlobeSafely country page for each stop and save the emergency card offline. For common routes, start with Japan, Thailand, France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Singapore.
Do not wait until something goes wrong to search for numbers. Roaming data may be unavailable, a battery may be low, or stress may make small tasks difficult. A printed emergency card and a screenshot of the country page give you a simple fallback.
Build a layered contact plan
A useful plan has layers: local emergency services, accommodation, transport providers, insurance assistance, card issuer support, embassy or consulate help, and trusted personal contacts. Put these details in your phone, in a note that works offline, and on paper stored away from your passport.
For families and groups, every adult should carry the same core contacts. Children, older travelers, and travelers with medical conditions should have a compact card that lists allergies, medication, emergency contacts, and the local emergency numbers.
Reduce avoidable risk without overplanning
Good travel safety is not about fear. It is about removing obvious friction before a difficult moment. Arrive with a route from the airport, know which neighborhoods are best for late check-ins, keep a backup payment method separate from your wallet, and avoid carrying every document in one bag.
Use the calling code finder before contacting local hotels, clinics, airlines, or embassies from abroad. Use the time zone finder before calling insurance or consular support so urgent calls happen during the right service window.
Keep information current during the trip
Travel conditions can change because of weather, protests, strikes, transport disruption, health alerts, or border rule changes. Recheck official sources close to departure and again before major internal transfers. GlobeSafely is designed as a fast reference layer, not a replacement for local authority instructions.
When a situation is serious, call local emergency services first, follow official instructions, and contact your embassy or consulate when citizen services are needed.
Country planning links
Use these country pages to save local emergency numbers, calling codes, currencies, time zones, plug types, and printable cards.
Japan
JP · +81
- Police
- 110
- Ambulance
- 119
Thailand
TH · +66
- Police
- 191
- Ambulance
- 1669
France
FR · +33
- Police
- 17
- Ambulance
- 15
United States
US · +1
- Police
- 911
- Ambulance
- 911
United Kingdom
GB · +44
- Police
- 999
- Ambulance
- 999
Canada
CA · +1
- Police
- 911
- Ambulance
- 911
Australia
AU · +61
- Police
- 000
- Ambulance
- 000
Germany
DE · +49
- Police
- 110
- Ambulance
- 112
Italy
IT · +39
- Police
- 112
- Ambulance
- 118
Spain
ES · +34
- Police
- 091
- Ambulance
- 061
Portugal
PT · +351
- Police
- 112
- Ambulance
- 112
Singapore
SG · +65
- Police
- 999
- Ambulance
- 995