THE very idea of travel abroad conjures up delightful images of new landscapes, exotic meals and drinks with umbrellas. Imagine being able to put your feet up, enjoy the sun and tell your friends you wish they were here.

But what do you do when something goes awry? What happens when your flight is cancelled, your luggage has gone missing, or worse, your passport has vanished into thin air? Any one of these can count as a traveler?s worst nightmare.

They don?t have to be. Here are a few suggestions about what to do when?

1. Your flight is cancelled. Despite the hassle it brings, the cancellation of flights is a common and sometimes necessary disturbance. Nobody wants to fly on a faulty plane or land in terrible weather. But as far as your plans are concerned, it?s pretty much travel Armageddon.

a) Call the airline. The airline cancelling the flight will most likely try to rebook you on another flight to get you where you?re going, either on their own planes or an affiliate airline?s. Many travelers will basically rush the counter at the airport, so you will be better served calling up the airline and talking to a customer service representative. Or, as some people in the US did when their flights got snowed under, you might try Twitter.

If your travel agent can be contacted, perhaps he or she can be of help as well. The idea is to find a way to get you to your destination as close to your original arrival date and time as possible. But be prepared for the possibility that the airline will not be able to find you another flight. You essentially will then have to buy an entirely new ticket - so check all your options.

b) Be patient and realistic. If you?re traveling during holidays, expect lines and waits just to be served at counters. But when flights are cancelled during the holiday rush, it usually results in a whole raft of flights being cancelled. You may be stuck at an airport for a day. An airline may offer you accommodations and/or food for the wait, but this is not true of all airlines.

c) Apply for a refund. If you were not rebooked, then you can apply for a refund of your original ticket?s cost. This is not an easy or quick process as there are many hoops to jump through before you get a refund. Be prompt in applying, be persistent and try to make the process as painless for you as possible.

2. Your luggage is lost. There are many ways to make your luggage stand out on the carousel so you can claim it posthaste. But what do you do when your bags decide to take a trip to another continent altogether?

A great tip to avoid that is to remove all stickers on the bag from previous flights. Stick your name on your bags in as many ways and places as possible. But if you?re at the airport, the carousel has stopped running and you?re the only one left standing, you might have to accept the fact your bags may have gone somewhere else.

a) Determine if your luggage has been merely diverted or is actually lost. It is possible that your bags were put on another flight or sent to another destination. Get to the airline counter and fill out a missing luggage claim form. Your bags will be tagged with barcode stickers that will allow the airline to track your bags even if they get diverted.

b) Again, be patient. Waiting for your bags to be found may take some time, even days depending on where they have wandered off to. If traced, your luggage is usually sent to you by the airline or you will be asked to pick it up. But if the airline can?t find your bags at all, that?s something different altogether.

c) File a claim for lost luggage. If your bags cannot be found at all, you will have to file a claim to be compensated for the lost bags. You will be asked to estimate the total cost of your baggage and belongings. However, every airline has a different liability as well as a list of things they do not cover, usually jewelry and cash. This possibility is another reason why it is prudent to take out traveler?s insurance if you are traveling with expensive items.

3. Your passport goes missing. The most important thing to keep when you are traveling abroad is not currency, traveler?s checks or coinage. Much more important than money is your passport.

a) You should immediately inform the Philippine Embassy or consular offices in the country you are in. Remember that if your passport falls into the wrong hands, someone else may be able to use your passport to travel for criminal purposes. Once you have officially informed the Department of Foreign Affairs?through the aforementioned embassy and consular offices?the process of providing you with a new passport, and ultimately allowing you to leave the country you are in and return home can begin.

b) Inform the local authorities: This should also be done as soon as possible after confirming that your passport has gone missing or has been stolen. You need to go to the closest establishment of local law enforcement?most likely a police station?and report the loss of your passport. You will need to file a police report and/or an affidavit of loss, both of which will be needed when you try to get a new passport. Beyond that, the local law enforcers may even be able to track down your passport if it fell out of your pocket and was picked up and turned in by a good Samaritan.

c) Gather your identification papers and submit them to the Embassy: You will need a passport to be able to leave the country you?re in and return home to the Philippines. To have this processed, you will need as many means of identification as possible aside from the police report and/or affidavit of loss. Essential IDs are your Philippine driver?s license, SSS ID, voter?s or postal ID, etc. The most needed is an authentic National Statistics Office-certified birth certificate. Once the DFA has cancelled your old passport, you can apply for a new one even if you are in another country. You must submit all your gathered material, file for a new passport, pay the required fees, etc. The consular officers must confirm the loss of your passport as well as expedite the process of issuing you a new one.

This is yet another reason why you should have your passport photocopied before you leave home. Or, as some people do these days, have all your important travel docs scanned and mail them to yourself before you pack. That way, you only need to get to an Internet cafe to retrieve all your docs should they go missing.

4) You get sick. Physically, getting sick may just be the worst thing that can happen to you when you are in another country. You can do a lot of things as long as you can move about, but when you are bedridden due to a bug you caught on a tour, it stops you in your tracks. Aside from taking out traveler?s insurance? which can really be helpful if you fall ill?there are other things to be done.

a) Find the right medical professionals. Depending on just how far-flung your location is, it might be difficult to find doctors and hospitals to help you. It would be useful to check out where the hospitals are prior to your arrival, or how long it will take for help to reach you. Some hotels have their own doctors who can help guests. If you don?t have insurance, you will have to pay out of pocket all the medical expenses, covering everything from a quick trip to the emergency room to your possible stay in hospital.

b) Don?t forget your medication. If you are traveling in a country with a rudimentary health system, your prescription medication may not be as readily available. You may bring just enough of your prescribed meds to cover your stay, but what happens if you have to stay longer than expected? Bring extra, just in case.

c) Be prepared to rearrange your schedule. Health problems are among the most unpredictable elements when it comes to traveling. Many travelers will gut it out just to get on that scheduled flight home. But if your particular illness makes you bedridden and miss your flight home, you must be realistic and rebook your flight in advance with consideration for how long the bug you caught will keep you in bed.

5) Your plane ticket goes missing: After your passport, your plane ticket may be considered the most valuable document you possess, but that really may not be true. Almost all airlines now issue e-tickets, so essentially what you have is not an actual ticket, but a printout of your itinerary.

a) Determine if your ticket is an e-ticket or not. If your ticket is an e-ticket?most likely the case?you will be able to get on your flight with minimal fuss. Get to a computer to print out a new copy of your itinerary, as your e-ticket was probably sent to you via e-mail. However, if you have an actual old-fashioned paper plane ticket, a different set of actions is required.

b) Report the loss of the ticket to the local authorities, especially if you suspect it has been stolen. Just like the case of the missing passport, you will need to file a report with the local police that you have lost your plane ticket. You will need to give the police report to the airline.

c) Go to your airline: This means going to a brick-and-mortar outlet of your airline instead of just calling them. You will need to submit the police report?a photocopy of your ticket will be most useful as well. Your airline should be able to issue you a replacement ticket if you have enough time. If you are already about to leave the country you?re in, it may get dicey and may involve additional costs. The bottom line is that you need to do this just so you can finally go home?and go buy an e-ticket the next time. ?