Your travel emergency plan

Short answer: before you leave, save four things somewhere that works offline. You need the local emergency number for each country you'll visit, the address and phone number of your embassy or consulate there, copies of your passport and insurance, and a way to share your live location with someone at home. It takes 15 minutes and saves the worst hour of a trip.

Most travel emergencies are small: a lost passport, a missed connection, a stomach bug. The stressful part is not knowing who to call while your phone has 8% battery and no data. This is the checklist we'd want every traveler to have done before departure.

1. Save the local emergency number for every country on your trip

Emergency numbers are not universal. A few common ones:

112 works from mobile phones in many countries beyond Europe, but don't rely on it. Look up and save the number for each country, including transit countries if you'll leave the airport.

2. Find your embassy or consulate, for your passport

Your embassy is the one belonging to the country that issued your passport, not the country you live in. If you hold two passports, note both.

Save:

• the address of the embassy (usually in the capital) and the nearest consulate,
• the main phone number and the after-hours emergency line,
• the email and website.

What your embassy can do

• Issue an emergency travel document if your passport is lost or stolen
• Help you contact family
• Provide lists of local lawyers, doctors and translators
• Support you if you're arrested, hospitalized or a victim of crime
• Share information during a crisis or natural disaster

What your embassy usually can't do

• Pay your hospital, hotel or legal bills
• Get you out of jail or override local laws
• Act as your lawyer or travel agent

That gap is why travel insurance matters. Save your policy number and the insurer's 24-hour assistance line next to your embassy details.

Many governments run a free traveler registration scheme, such as the US STEP programme. Registering means your embassy can contact you during an emergency. Check whether your country has one.

3. Back up your documents

• Photograph your passport photo page, visas, insurance policy and bookings.
• Store them in two places: offline on your phone, and in a cloud folder or email you can reach from any device.
• Carry a paper copy of your passport page separately from the passport itself.

If your passport is lost or stolen, report it to the local police (you'll often need the police report), then contact your embassy for an emergency travel document.

4. Set up live location sharing

Agree with one person at home how you'll share where you are:

• For risky moments (a night bus, a solo hike, a taxi from the airport): share your live location for a fixed time.
• For check-ins: send your current location as a pin when you arrive.

Choose a method that expires automatically, so you're never left broadcasting your location by accident.

5. Make it work offline

Emergencies happen in basements, mountains and places with expensive roaming. Before you leave:

• Download offline maps of your destinations.
• Make sure your emergency numbers and embassy details are saved on the device, not just in a web page.
• Carry a power bank.

The 15-minute pre-departure checklist

• Emergency number saved for each country
• Embassy + consulate address, phone, after-hours line saved
• Passport, visa, insurance copies saved offline and in the cloud
• Insurance 24h assistance number saved
• Registered with your government's traveler programme (if available)
• Live-location plan agreed with someone at home
• Offline maps downloaded

How Layag helps

Layag's Travel SOS does steps 1, 2, 4 and 5 for every trip you plan:

• Emergency numbers: police, ambulance and fire numbers for each country on your itinerary, tap to dial.
• Your embassy: the nearest embassy or consulate for your passport, with address, phone, after-hours line, email and website.
• Works offline: contacts are saved on your phone.
• Live location: share it with family for 15 minutes, 1 hour or 8 hours. The link stops working when the time ends or when you stop it.
• Current location: send it as a map pin in one tap.

See how Travel SOS works →

Always double-check embassy details on your government's official website before you travel, and in an emergency call the local emergency number first.

FAQ

Which embassy do I contact if I have dual nationality? Usually the embassy of the passport you entered the country on. Some countries can't help dual nationals in the country of their other nationality, so check your government's guidance.

Does 112 work everywhere? No. It works across the EU and in many other countries from mobile phones, but not everywhere. Save the local number.

What if my phone is lost too? That's why a paper copy of your passport page and a written card with your embassy's number and a family contact are worth carrying.