4 ms·

I'm actually traveling next week and one of the things I had trouble finding was the customs rules, what I could and couldn't bring into the country. You don't

by vxNsr 7y ago

I'm actually traveling next week and one of the things I had trouble finding was the customs rules, what I could and couldn't bring into the country. You don't seem to surface that info either. I also noticed that when I click on a country there's no info about my country's embassies and consulates which is something as a traveler is very important to know. Additionally, I didn't see anything about membership

1hakr 7y ago
I have customs data in my plan and I'm working on it as I'm typing. There is information about embassies of every country on visa list, you can find it from side navigation. Also the membership dialog comes when you click on advanced filters.
chrisseaton 7y ago
Are customs rules ever complicated for a typical person? Usually it just seems to be common sense rules that you can bring something like $10k cash or large quantities of alcohol or tobacco, which aren’t practical concerns for almost any traveller. Have you found rules that may trip people up that we should know about?
- esotericn 7y ago
  Define large? Norway, for example, allows only 2L of spirits or 200 cigarettes IIRC. If you're a heavy smoker that's less than a week. I believe Switzerland is similar. I don't smoke or drink, but I'd imagine that would be fairly easy to get tripped up by if you were travelling around Europe.
  - mijoharas 7y ago
    New Zealand just changed their requirements to 50 cigarettes which means any normal "duty-free" pack you buy isn't allowed.
  - chrisseaton 7y ago
    Litres of spirits and hundreds of cigarettes is not a normal thing to pack on a trip.
    - esotericn 7y ago
      It might not be normal for you, or a huge percentage of trips, but it's certainly normal for people I know to bring food and drink on holiday. Certainly if you're driving around in a camper.
      - chrisseaton 7y ago
        I meant more that it’s not hard to avoid getting into any trouble by just never taking these things across borders, rather than trying to learn the rules. Nobody needs to move alcohol or tobacco - it’s always going to be available at your destination unless it’s banned in which case you still couldn’t import.
        esotericn 7y ago
        YMMV, like I said. When I go on road trips I don't really think about what I'm taking; you "pack" for a flight or train journey from your home. It just happens to be the case that I don't drink or smoke. There are other restrictions like meat, plants, blah blah, the list goes on.
        deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
        aprvchndrs 7y ago
        > Nobody needs to move alcohol or tobacco - it’s always going to be available at your destination unless it’s banned in which case you still couldn’t import. This isn’t necessarily true. Many great whiskeys and spirits aren’t necessarily available to purchase in other countries. Another commenter mentioned the case of Japan. Many great whiskeys and sake produced in Japan aren’t available to buy in other countries. Apart from that there is a matter of taxes.
    - 7y ago
- remus 7y ago
  There's definitely some bits and pieces that are relevant to the average traveller. For example over the counter medication in one country can be considered a controlled medication in another, so if you're found to be bringing the medication in to the country you can get in trouble.
- grepfru_it 7y ago
  Indonesia complains when you travel with a case of bottled water in your checked luggage (10/10 will do again)
- detaro 7y ago
  Meat products, some vegetables/fruit, ... are also banned/regulated in some places.
  - chrisseaton 7y ago
    Why would anyone be travelling with ‘meat products’? You can buy food at your destination. I can’t see it as a practical problem for most people.
    - detaro 7y ago
      Why wouldn't I bring food I like with me? Not everyone is flying everywhere, when taking a car bringing some food is no effort at all. Or I might bring some local stuff as a gift for my hosts, because they tend to enjoy that kind of thing. Or prepared camping food because I'm more or less straight going away from civilization. Or I pack some fruit, a packed sausage, ... as a snack for on the way, before I go shopping. Or ...
      - chrisseaton 7y ago
        > Why wouldn't I bring food I like with me? Because it's a customs faff. That's the point of the thread.
        detaro 7y ago
        But all these are things ordinary people might want to bring and might not even be aware are a problem, which is what you asked about. You seem to have a quite limited idea of who an "ordinary traveller" might be. So make it easy to look up and don't let guesses at what some random country in the world might object to dominate all your travel packing and planning (Guesses because until I checked earlier I wouldn't been sure an apple would cause problems anywhere, but apparently at least Australia objects to any fruit). Which was the point of the comment you replied to.
        kalleboo 7y ago
        > Because it's a customs faff It wouldn't be if there was some nice website laying out all the rules in an easy-to-understand way... Your logic is "nobody needs a site detailing customs rules because they shouldn't be traveling with the things that I personally already know might conceivably cause a customs faff". The point is the website would solve the problem.
- ken 7y ago
  There’s nothing common sense about knowing the limit on how much money you can carry (in one specific form), or kinds of foods and drinks which are allowed. The very nature of a border is that what is common (or common knowledge) on one side isn’t common on the other. Every day I see drivers in my state perform acts which are legal in other states but not here, and US states are much more similar than most nations.
- vxNsr 7y ago
  I have very strict dietary restrictions, I absolutely need to bring my own food with me when I travel, knowing the limits without spending hours on the phone would be a real service.
- kalleboo 7y ago
  Medications are another huge area. Medications that some people depend on to live may be either banned, regulated in quantity, or require some kind of proof (doctors script etc) to bring into some countries.

by vxNsr 7y ago

1hakr 7y ago

I have customs data in my plan and I'm working on it as I'm typing. There is information about embassies of every country on visa list, you can find it from side navigation. Also the membership dialog comes when you click on advanced filters.

chrisseaton 7y ago

Are customs rules ever complicated for a typical person? Usually it just seems to be common sense rules that you can bring something like $10k cash or large quantities of alcohol or tobacco, which aren’t practical concerns for almost any traveller. Have you found rules that may trip people up that we should know about?

esotericn 7y ago
Define large? Norway, for example, allows only 2L of spirits or 200 cigarettes IIRC. If you're a heavy smoker that's less than a week. I believe Switzerland is similar. I don't smoke or drink, but I'd imagine that would be fairly easy to get tripped up by if you were travelling around Europe.
- mijoharas 7y ago
  New Zealand just changed their requirements to 50 cigarettes which means any normal "duty-free" pack you buy isn't allowed.
- chrisseaton 7y ago
  Litres of spirits and hundreds of cigarettes is not a normal thing to pack on a trip.
  - esotericn 7y ago
    It might not be normal for you, or a huge percentage of trips, but it's certainly normal for people I know to bring food and drink on holiday. Certainly if you're driving around in a camper.
    - chrisseaton 7y ago
      I meant more that it’s not hard to avoid getting into any trouble by just never taking these things across borders, rather than trying to learn the rules. Nobody needs to move alcohol or tobacco - it’s always going to be available at your destination unless it’s banned in which case you still couldn’t import.
      - esotericn 7y ago
        YMMV, like I said. When I go on road trips I don't really think about what I'm taking; you "pack" for a flight or train journey from your home. It just happens to be the case that I don't drink or smoke. There are other restrictions like meat, plants, blah blah, the list goes on.
      - deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
      - aprvchndrs 7y ago
        > Nobody needs to move alcohol or tobacco - it’s always going to be available at your destination unless it’s banned in which case you still couldn’t import. This isn’t necessarily true. Many great whiskeys and spirits aren’t necessarily available to purchase in other countries. Another commenter mentioned the case of Japan. Many great whiskeys and sake produced in Japan aren’t available to buy in other countries. Apart from that there is a matter of taxes.
  - 7y ago
remus 7y ago
There's definitely some bits and pieces that are relevant to the average traveller. For example over the counter medication in one country can be considered a controlled medication in another, so if you're found to be bringing the medication in to the country you can get in trouble.
grepfru_it 7y ago
Indonesia complains when you travel with a case of bottled water in your checked luggage (10/10 will do again)
detaro 7y ago
Meat products, some vegetables/fruit, ... are also banned/regulated in some places.
- chrisseaton 7y ago
  Why would anyone be travelling with ‘meat products’? You can buy food at your destination. I can’t see it as a practical problem for most people.
  - detaro 7y ago
    Why wouldn't I bring food I like with me? Not everyone is flying everywhere, when taking a car bringing some food is no effort at all. Or I might bring some local stuff as a gift for my hosts, because they tend to enjoy that kind of thing. Or prepared camping food because I'm more or less straight going away from civilization. Or I pack some fruit, a packed sausage, ... as a snack for on the way, before I go shopping. Or ...
    - chrisseaton 7y ago
      > Why wouldn't I bring food I like with me? Because it's a customs faff. That's the point of the thread.
      - detaro 7y ago
        But all these are things ordinary people might want to bring and might not even be aware are a problem, which is what you asked about. You seem to have a quite limited idea of who an "ordinary traveller" might be. So make it easy to look up and don't let guesses at what some random country in the world might object to dominate all your travel packing and planning (Guesses because until I checked earlier I wouldn't been sure an apple would cause problems anywhere, but apparently at least Australia objects to any fruit). Which was the point of the comment you replied to.
      - kalleboo 7y ago
        > Because it's a customs faff It wouldn't be if there was some nice website laying out all the rules in an easy-to-understand way... Your logic is "nobody needs a site detailing customs rules because they shouldn't be traveling with the things that I personally already know might conceivably cause a customs faff". The point is the website would solve the problem.
ken 7y ago
There’s nothing common sense about knowing the limit on how much money you can carry (in one specific form), or kinds of foods and drinks which are allowed. The very nature of a border is that what is common (or common knowledge) on one side isn’t common on the other. Every day I see drivers in my state perform acts which are legal in other states but not here, and US states are much more similar than most nations.
vxNsr 7y ago
I have very strict dietary restrictions, I absolutely need to bring my own food with me when I travel, knowing the limits without spending hours on the phone would be a real service.
kalleboo 7y ago
Medications are another huge area. Medications that some people depend on to live may be either banned, regulated in quantity, or require some kind of proof (doctors script etc) to bring into some countries.