TréCreative Tips&Tricks - 5 Tips For Traveling to Another Country (like Nicaragua)

We have made it back to the homeland and are incredibly thankful for the amazing opportunity to travel together and do what we love. We expected to meet some amazing people and with extravagant hearts of service, but what was not expected was to meet people who loved us SO well and honored us while we were there. Together, we experienced true hospitality and love, what a gift these people have! This trip will forever be marked on our hearts and Nicaragua will always be a special place we will remember!

We learned some life lessons along the way but also some travel tips we would love to share with you in case work or fun takes you abroad soon! This year with weddings all over California, Washington, Minnesota, Colorado, Kentucky and Hawaii, we will be traveling MORE than ever, and along the way we've learned some things that work well for us. These tips are mostly meant for other photographers and videographers, but are important for traveling in general. Our hopes is that these tips will save you some heartache in the long run from traveling. Several months ago we did a TréCreative Tips&Tricks on travel when we traveled to Atlanta, GA which we recommend reading as well. This post is more specific for Nicaragua or traveling to another foreign country. Without further ado here are our top 5 tips!

1. Always pack a "survival kit" - This is something neither of us thought of but thankfully Stephen’s mom is an expert at traveling and was so kind to bring us this right before we headed out of Chico. Everything in this kit could be purchased in another country, but with other languages it's sometimes hard to find what you're looking for. The survival kit included, probiotics, hand sanitizer, wet wipes, Benadryl, sunscreen, mosquito repellant, band aids, Kleenex, Imodium, Pepto Bismol, eye drops, extra travel bag, and money belts. We were already thinking of bringing most of these items but it was such a blessing to have these all packed and in a traveler sizes. All these items can be purchased almost anywhere but it was so handy to not have to think about purchasing them if we needed it.
2. Garlic Pills - This was an item we purchased to go along with our survival kit. Mosquitos are EVERYWHERE in Nicaragua and there are severe diseases and sicknesses you can get from the mosquito bites that are fairly common. Neither of us have ever used garlic pills to repel mosquitos but a friend recommended it and it worked so well! We’ll be taking these during Chico’s summer mosquito season, it seriously worked wonders!
3. Get your gear insured!!!! - We can’t stress this enough. Anytime we purchase new equipment we add it on to our business insurance. The type of insurance covers any damage, theft or accidents that might happen in or outside of the United States. Thankfully we haven’t had to use this insurance yet but it gives us such a peace of mind while traveling to know if anything were to happen we can have our equipment replaced and ready for the next shoot.
4. Expected the unexpected - Our traveling into Nicaragua ran so smooth until we picked up our luggage and proceeded to have our bags scanned one last time. We were escorted over to an area where all our bags were checked and searched. Our quadrocopter (or drone as most people refer to it these days) was a big discussion and we quickly learned how much Nicaragua wanted this no where near their county (contrary to the research we had done prior that had no mention of the regulations). When searching our bags we thought for several minutes they were going to take ALL our camera equipment but thankfully we agreed for them to only take the drone. This was a huge disappointed to us as we were looking forward to some amazing aerial shots of the country, but we learned to expect the unexpected and go with the flow! To be honest, the whole process was a little sketchy and we were afraid we would never see the quad again. We waited while they processed our papers and made sure we saw them physically zip tie the case shut and place it inside the customs office. We never got a real answer as to why it was not allowed in the country but we were thankful to see it again with nothing missing when we picked it up (and paid a holding fee) at the end or our trip. Our first steps into Nicaragua were not ideal, but luckily our translator Pedro was a huge help in reassuring us everything would work out. If you ever have gear (or anything) taken at customs just know that most likely, if they've given you paperwork to document everything, you'll get it back at the end of your stay.
5. Visit León!!! - This isn't exactly traveler's advice as it is a recommendation for a place to visit in Nicaragua. León is a wonderful city we stayed at the first part of our trip. It is beautiful and full of rich history. Located about twenty minutes from the beach it makes for a perfect place to experience the culture and food. We felt completely safe walking the streets in León during the day and at night. Before arriving we read many travelers advice and they are raved about this city in particular and we now know why. Seriously, visit Leon!!

I had to put this photo in, these little boys watched Stephen for hours get different angles and shots. They were so curious! For more photos of our trip check out the following links:

TréCreative Travel Update : NicaraguaTréCreative Travel Update: Nicaragua Part 2TréCreative Tips&Tricks - Traveling with Camera Equipment