1)    Having all your important documents together means you’ll be completely organised instead of having to rummage through your bag every time you need something.

2)    Of course it also means you’ll have less chance of losing something important.  

3)    Having everything in one place means you can find things quickly and easily.

4)    All this greatly reduces the stress factor especially at the airport which for me is its biggest advantage.

5)    It can be put in the hotel safe keeping all your vital documents in the one secure place 

This is a list of things that go into my travel wallet:

• Passport
• Visas
• Airline and/or Train and/or Boat Tickets
• Boarding Pass
• Travel Insurance Policy (including emergency contact numbers)
• Health Insurance Cards (Medicare and private health fund)  
• Itinerary with important telephone numbers and addresses (hotels, airlines, etc.)
• Travel Coupons
• Frequent Flyer cards
• Student Card (yes, even baby boomers can be full-time students)
• Photo-copies of all of the above
• Extra passport photos
• ATM cards
• International Drivers Licences (in case we want to hire a car or a motor bike)
• Credit Cards
• Cash Passport
• Phone cards
• Prescriptions and letters from your doctor giving permission for medications you’re carrying with you
• Emergency contact numbers and email addresses
• Small calculator (for currency conversions)
• Travellers Cheques
• Cash (in the foreign currency of your destination)
• Pens (2 because you’ll always lose one)

By the way, buy a good leather one. It looks great and you’ll have it forever.

By Virginia Scott