Travel With Confidence Whether By Plane, Train, Car, Bus, or Boat
Whether it is for pleasure or business, traveling can be a lot of fun. It can also be more than a little bothersome. Planning for transportation, packing and finding a place to stay can add up and become incredibly stressful. Here are a few helpful tips to ease the burden a bit.
When traveling, whether it's for a day or a month, don't advertise your absence on social media sites. If you do, this lets people know that you're going to be away from home and that most likely your house will be empty. This significantly raises your chances of being robbed while you're out of town.
Take the first travel photo" of your luggage. If you do end up checking your luggage, take a picture of it before you turn it over to the airline. In case of a problem, this will document what the luggage looks like and its condition when you left it. Also keep your baggage claim ticket in a safe place or snap a picture of it, too, so you have all the information necessary in the event that your luggage is lost.
When considering travel insurance for an upcoming trip, be sure to compare rates of providers, not forgetting to check with your credit card companies. Many times they may provide these benefits to you at a cheaper price. They may cover items such as lost luggage or trip cancellation. However, these benefits are not usually found with base-level cards.
If you want to bring back souvenirs with you, make sure you take an extra empty suitcase. You should also research ahead of time if there are any restrictions on certain products, such as alcohol. You might be allowed to bring home with you only a certain quantity of food and beverages.
When traveling to a different area, make sure that you're open to different local customs. Some ideas might be strange, but be respectful of other cultures. Not showing respect and not paying attention to local customs can be a real downer for your trip causing you to not feel welcomed in a city.
Before taking an overseas trip, travelers must remember to check their immunizations. Traveling to a destination on a different continent will expose the traveler to germs and potential infections that his or her body is not used to. The wise traveler will check with a health care professional to determine what new immunizations and boosters he or she needs.
Taking a long road trip can be fun, but getting lost is not. Before starting your trip, stop by your local market and buy yourself an affordable road map. While a GPS device is great, a map will always be accurate and is much safer on the road. This will ensure that you arrive at your destination in a perfect frame of mind.
Audio books are great to keep you and the family entertained when traveling! Did you know that most people can check audio books out for free if they have a valid library card? Many times you can even browse the selection of books that are available online and complete the checkout process right from your vehicle or even the airport!
If you've been travelling long distance with kids, stop at a playground or park before you get to the hotel, to let them run off some pent up energy. Another thing you can do is to hit the pool, as soon as you get to the hotel. This will help keep them quieter while you're in the hotel. Not only will your appreciate the peace but the other guests will, as well.
If you are staying at a hotel that offers a mini-bar in your room, consider asking the front desk staff to hold the key instead. This will help you avoid late-night temptations, which given the prices at the minibar can get very expensive. If you feel the need for a drink but don't want to go far, go to the hotel restaurant instead.
For added security, bring a doorstop with you to your hotel room. Some hotel locks are flimsy and not exactly secure, but if you jam a doorstop under the door before you go to bed, you will feel safer. This also works for shower rooms and bathroom doors, where the locks may not be secure enough.
If you're going to be driving to your destination, especially if it's a long trip, try to travel at night. There's a lot less traffic on the roads so you can most likely get their faster. And if you're traveling with kids, they can curl up in the back seat and sleep the drive away.
Hopefully, these tips have given you something of value - or at the very least - something useful to mull over. Above all else, it is important to stay safe while traveling. Aside from that, try to just push the stress aside and have fun. Enjoy!