How to Protect Your Loved Ones Before a Risky Trip

A trip is risky when an accident is more likely or when rescue and communication are difficult:

• •Activities in remote areas
• •High mountain treks and mountaineering
• •Desert crossings, polar or remote expeditions
• •Self-supported long-distance hiking
• •Offshore sailing

• •Difficult destinations
• •Countries with limited medical infrastructure
• •Areas of political instability (check your government's travel advice)
• •Regions without mobile network

• •Risky sports
• •Off-piste skiing, deep diving, motorsports, skydiving

Where there is no mobile network, only satellite devices let you call for help:

• •Personal locator beacon (PLB): transmits a distress signal and your position to rescue services through the international Cospas-Sarsat system. It is for alerts only.
• •Satellite messenger (Garmin inReach, for example): sends short messages to your family and, depending on the model, an SOS. It usually requires a subscription.
• •Satellite SOS on smartphones: some recent phones offer it, depending on the model and the country.

Also find out the local emergency numbers and how rescue is organized in the area (mountain rescue, coast guard).

These devices assume you can trigger the alert. The plan you leave with your family is for the case where you cannot.

Choose a point person and give them:

• •a day-by-day itinerary, with waypoints, huts or anchorages, and possible alternatives;
• •a deadline: "if you have not heard from me by [date], call [rescue, guide, agency]";
• •the contacts: guide or agency, accommodation, local rescue, consulate, your insurer's assistance line.

This plan is often what triggers a search when the traveler can no longer do anything. Many governments also offer free trip registration (Ariane for French citizens, STEP for US citizens, for example).

A scheduled message sends an email prepared in advance if you stop confirming that you are fine. It passes on your instructions and contacts even if nobody thought to check the deadline.

With Laterly:

• •you choose the interval: 1, 7, 14, 30 or 60 days on the free plan, 1 to 365 days on Pro;
• •when it is due, you receive an email, then reminders after 1, 3 and 6 days; one click confirms, from the email or the app;
• •with no answer, a grace period runs (7 days on the free plan, adjustable from 1 to 30 days on Pro);
• •if you named a trusted person, they are contacted before sending and have 7 days to hold or release.

The real delay is therefore the interval plus the grace period, plus up to 7 days with a trusted person. At the shortest, on Pro with a one-day interval and grace period, count about two days; on the free plan, at least eight. It is not an emergency alert tool: Laterly does not track your position and does not contact rescue services.

A folder shared (Google Drive, Dropbox) with your point person, whose link you can put in your message:

• •Personal information
• •Copy of your passport and visa
• •Travel insurance policy and repatriation assistance number
• •Blood type, allergies, medication

• •Itinerary
• •Day-by-day plan, GPS coordinates of waypoints
• •Estimated times between stages, fallback routes

• •Local contacts
• •Guide or agency, huts and accommodation
• •Local rescue, embassy or consulate

Avoid putting sensitive data such as full bank card numbers in it.

Your family needs to know how to read a silence and what to do:

• •What to tell them
• •When you will be out of network, and that this is normal
• •The deadline after which they should act
• •What they might receive (a message from your beacon, a scheduled message) and what it means

What to do
1. Try to reach you (phone, messaging, satellite messenger)
2. Contact your guide, agency or accommodation
3. If still nothing: local rescue, consulate and your insurer's assistance line

Half an hour of explanation before leaving saves a lot of hesitation when it matters.

Alerting rescue
☐ PLB or satellite messenger, tested and charged
☐ Local emergency numbers written down

Family
☐ Point person chosen and briefed
☐ Itinerary, deadline and course of action shared
☐ Travel file shared
☐ Trip registered with your government's travel service

Scheduled message (optional)
☐ Message written with itinerary and contacts
☐ Interval and grace period suited to the time without network
☐ Recipients told they might receive it

Gear
☐ Power bank, paper maps as backup