Admin
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Number of posts : 321
Registration date : 2007-07-21
 | | Subject: TRAVELS TIPS Wed Jul 25, 2007 1:00 pm | |
| A Bus Driver May be Better than a Concierge!
Make friends with any regular bus drivers around your hotel. They're better equipped to make suggestions than most concierges, and are very familiar with local customs/secrets. A good public bus driver can make an entire vacation!
Air Medical Transport May Not be Covered by Your Current Insurance
When you plan on traveling more than 150 miles from home, you can purchase a yearly membership for air medical transport. If you are hospitalized, your private insurance may or may not pay to have you transported to a hospital in your home city.
Aromatherapy Oil for Headaches
If suffering from a headache during travelling, try massaging lavender aromotherepy oil where the pain is - it works wonders!
Ask for a Discount
If you shop at touristy places, bear in mind that tour guides/operators who take their visitors to these types of shops all get a commission on purchases for the clients they bring to the venue. This generally represents 10% of the purchase price. Effectively, this means that all these venues cost the extra 10% into their selling price. There is no harm in you, as a tourist to a foreign land, asking for this as a discount for yourself if you travel on your own - or even asking your tour guide to arrange his commission to be turned into a discount for you. Remember YOU are paying for this anyway and it is your money being slurped up so be big and bold enough to ask for it. This has never failed me in the past.
Are Your Immunizations Up-to-Date?
Be sure to consult travel medicine experts before engaging in international travel! Immunizations and prescriptions for preventative medications can help to ensure a healthy trip.
Be Organized
While in any country that you can't read the language ... and you are using your charge card to get the best currency rate ... write on the charge slip right away the amount, items, date, and place of purchase so YOU can read it when the statement comes at the end of the month. Makes for a lot easier bookkeeping. Many times the ink is so faint, you can't read what it says in any language.
Be Safe - Drink Bottled Water
Unless you are traveling to Canada from the US, it is usually not safe to drink the water. The water is safe to the locals who are used to it. This doesn't matter if you're a resident of Ukraine of the UK - to residents the water is safe, but not to travelers. All water contains different sets of microbes and mineral deposits, even in the US. If you aren't used to a country's drinking water, then you may get sick just because it is different. Be safe, buy bottled water cheap at the supermarket.
Beware of Bedbugs - They are Everywhere!- When checking into your hotel room, do a pest inspection before unpacking your luggage. Bedbugs can be lurking, even in the cleanest and most respected hotels. These pests can easily migrate into your luggage. They will then travel along with you to your home or next destination - and they can make an overnight stay a miserable, itchy experience. This bedbug information article gives you information on exactly what to look for.
Think Before Answering the Knock on the Hotel Door - When staying in a hotel, NEVER answer the hotel room door before verifying who the person is. If the person claims to be a hotel employee and you didn't request any hotel employee at that time, ALWAYS call the front desk to verify that the person has a reason for being at your room. It may seem rude to you to turn someone away, but this very act can help protect you and your family. For more safety tips go to Safety Tips 411.
A Little Common Sense Goes a Long Way
Money belts are cheap idea, and I recommend you invest in one. However they're so common these days that anyone looking to steal from you knows where you keep your valuables. That is - unless you get a real money belt - not the canvas ones that you strap round your waist, but the real ones which look exactly like your common or garden belt, but have a carefully concealed zip on the inner side.
Keep your cash, travellers checks, etc. in different places on your person when you go out - and whether on the move or stationed somewhere, NEVER keep all your cash in one place. Put some down a sock, some in that little inside pocket of your jeans, etc. Those fanny packs are cool, but I'd never keep anything valuable in them, as it's too easy for someone to grab and run.
Be There with Bells On
Place Christmas type bells on your carry on, and when someone tries to move it, you will hear. Always, when standing around or sitting drinking coffee, keep your foot through the strap. If someone drops something, or something happens, look at your backpack. This may be a diversion to steal your backpack
Buy Rental Car Insurance!
Rental car companies are passing on the risk of damage to stolen vehicles on to the customers in addendums to the normal rental car agreements we have become accustomed to in the US. | |
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