I'm Stranded In A Foreign Country! What Should I Do?

This is very unfortunate news! Try to calm down and don't panic. Below are different scenarios and solutions to get you safely home.

Scenario 1: Did you lose your passport and other important documents?

Like what I shared in an earlier post, it's important to get the contact information of your country's embassy. Call them right away to let them know your situation. Arrange for a meeting with an officer asap. Tell him/her exactly what happened and how the documents were lost or stolen. The embassy will lodge a report of the lost passport and documents. They'll issue you a temporary passport. Yes, you should report to the local police, however, contacting the local police on your own may not be a good idea because you are unsure of the report procedures. It's worse if you don't speak their language and they don't speak yours. So, I suggest that you communicate with the embassy and let the embassy liaise with the local police.

What about money? If you were mugged and everything was taken from you, don't worry. The embassy will be able to help you with lodging and food allowance. Next thing is to call your credit company to block your credit cards. The mugger has your credit cards, so you must cancel the cards before he/she does more harm to your finances. Talk to your credit card company about the options available. Some would not charge you for the expenses made after you report that your card has been stolen.

What about flight? It depends on when the theft happened. It could be at the very beginning of your 2-week trip or the last few days of your trip. The whole procedure with the embassy and local police will have to go on until all necessary things are done. You will probably not be able to fly out from the country as scheduled. Get some advise from the embassy on your flight. You may need to go to your airlines counter at the airport to do a re-booking to a later date. If the sales officer is not able to change it, the embassy may be able to put you through to someone from the airlines company who has a say.

What about insurance? As I'd advised, it's necessary to buy travel insurance when you travel. So you should know what the insurance package covers > I'll post up claim procedures for different claims in another post.

It's important to contact your family and keep them up-to-date on the progress and when you will be coming home. 

Scenario 2: Was your flight cancelled due to bad weather and emergency situations? 

If your flight was cancelled by the airlines due to unforeseen circumstances, you will have to check with your airlines on when is the earliest you can fly out of the country. They'll do a  flight re-booking and re-confirmation. However, if the airlines is not able to re-book any flights in the event that the authorities have closed down the airport and all systems are down, you will have no choice but to wait it out. Make sure you have enough money for this unexpected extended stay.

Unluckily for me, I was in Copenhagen when the volcano in Iceland erupted. My colleagues and I had to extend our stay by a few nights. Our airlines, KLM could only re-book our flight to 7 days  later from  the date of our scheduled flight as they had to cater to hundreds of other passengers waiting in line to get home. We were exhausting our cash and credit card limit because things were really expensive in Copenhagen. We looked for other alternatives because staying back for another 7 days means extra expenses for the company. So, we contacted our embassy in Copenhagen. The gentleman met us and we explained to him our situation. He immediately put us through to the sales manager of another airlines company. We met with the sales manager in his office and hoped for good news. We jumped for joy when we were told that there were available seats for the next morning's flight! However, the return flight with this airlines company was twice the rate we paid for KLM. After comparing the estimated expenses for the two available options, we opted to fly out the next morning. We cancelled our KLM return flight tickets with the confirmation that they gave us the full refund. 

I have never felt as happy and relieved upon landing on my mother soil.

Tip: Always contact your embassy when you're faced with travel/customs/theft/legal complications.

In the case of low cash funds and low credit card limit, you would have to call back home and ask your family to transfer in some money to your bank account or directly into your credit card account. Remember, it's very important to have sufficient money with you when you travel!

As for compensation for the extended stay, check with your airlines. For my case, under the European Union Law, KLM must compensate for my extra expenses incurred: accommodation and meals. My travel agent is still "fighting" for that so, will know the outcome soon.

Travel insurance states very clearly that we're not eligible to claim in the event of force majeure. However, if it is not the case of force majeure, your travel insurance policy should cover it.

Scenario 3: You don't have any money left to pay for your return flight. (Unlikely but can happen)

When you plan your trips, business related or non-business related, it's safer to book  a return flight instead of a one-way flight. Return flights are more cost effective too. Perhaps, you're unsure of how long the trip would be or if you would be making short detours to other places before going home. But, It's best to plan your trip out from A to B to avoid complications.

The only thing you can do in this situation is call back home and ask your family or close friends to transfer money to your bank account or directly into your credit card account.

It's really risky to be caught in this situation, so do your best to avoid from being in such scenarios.


I hope what I have shared could help you if you ever run into the above situations. Well, let's just hope we will not encounter these situations because they can be really unpleasant. 


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