Passport
Your passport is your most important travel document. It needs to be valid at least for the duration of you trip and some countries even require that your passport is valid 6 months after departing the country.
When providing personal data for travel documents, always remember to use your name as stated in your passport. A copy of your passport may be useful in some situations but a copy will never be accepted as proof of identity.
Allow plenty of time for visa applications
When applying for a visa, remember that in most cases you need to send in your passport to the embassy or consulate where you are applying for visa. Allow plenty of time for this process as some countries are renowned for their lack of speed when processing visa applications!