Your Trip Guru

When you come back from your vacation, you want to find your home peaceful, quiet and in peace. The last thing you want is to have to deal with break-ins, fires, rotting food or trash and other horrible side effects of an empty home. A few props, timers and preventative measures will ensure that you retain your peace of mind while you’re gone and return to a pleasant, secure home.

(1) Leave your window blinds and curtains in their normal positions. If they’re closed all the way, they’ll give the notion that no one is home. But don’t leave any open that give potential thieves a direct view of your valuables.

(2) Make a photocopy of your passports or drivers’ licenses, along with credit/debit card numbers and the contact numbers for your bank. Place it in a preserved cover and leave it with a trusted friend or family member while you’re gone, in case your wallet gets stolen and you need to get replacements fast.

(3) Arrange to have pets taken care of by a trustworthy friend or family member, or hire a pet sitter. It’s good to have someone once in a while parked in your driveway and going in and out of the house. Make sure you leave enough food, litter, medication and other items your pets will need for the duration of your trip. The pet caretaker can also water your plants, bring in mail, change the position of the window blinds and any other small tasks that need to be done.

(4) Stop delivery of your mail and newspapers, or have an important person bring it within. Newspapers sitting in a pile on your lawn before an overflowing mailbox are sure signs to thieves that you’re not home.

(5) Inform your auto, fire and health insurance policies before you leave. You want to make sure every thing’s accurate, in the off chance that something does occur.

(6) Cut the lawn the day before you leave. If you’ll be gone long enough for it to get out of control again, arrange to have a friend or neighbor mow it for you.

(7) Put outside lighting either on motion detectors, light-sensitive photo mechanisms or timers.

(8) Use timers for indoor lighting as well. If you can, get the kind that randomly turns lights on and off quite than doing it at the same time every day. Replace all the light bulbs with fresh ones to ensure they don’t burn out while you’re gone.

(9) Write out a trip route with contact numbers for each place you’ll be staying, and leave it with a friend or neighbor along with a spare key to your house. Don’t place keys in any of the usual hiding places – thieves know them all.

Warnings

(1) not at all leave an outgoing message on your answering machine that indicates that you’ve gone on vacation, or set your e-mail to auto-reply while you’re gone.

How to Handle Sexual Harassment When Traveling Abroad

If you are a woman traveling alone or with a small group of other women, there may be times when you feel in danger or angry by persistent male interest.

(1) Look to nearby women for help, especially older women who may feel protective of you. A specific appeal to a woman, such as a shopkeeper, will likely be more effective at shooing away unwanted solicitors than a general appeal to a crowd of women.

(2)Study connections between local men and women for appropriate nonverbal ways for interacting: Do men and women who are strangers make eye contact when speaking? Are outsider treated differently than friends or associates? How far apart do women and men sit or stand from one another when conversing?

(3) Make known yourself with how to find local police, proprietors of stores or conductors on trains, and appeal to such authority figures for help if harassment is persistent.

(4)Be assertive when saying, “No,” to unwanted advances, making certain that everything in gesture and demeanor indicates “No”: speak loudly so that others will hear you; turn away or cross your arms firmly in front of you; be prepared to leave the venue or join others for protection.

(5)Do your study ahead of time to know what to expect as a foreign woman traveling in the country you will be visiting. Your research should include appropriate clothes for women, racially appropriate behavior between men and women, and places women may be restricted from entering.

(6)Watch how local women avoid advances from men and follow their cues. If shooing a man away or turning suddenly away appears to shame and dissuade a pursuer, be prepared to use these gestures yourself.

Tips & Warnings

(1) Believe taking a self-defense course before departing on a trip if you plan to be traveling unaccompanied and in an unfamiliar area.

(2)Check guidebooks for advice on clothing that is considered appropriate for women in the region you intend to stay. It’s a good plan to pack at least one modest and conservative outfit in case you hit upon yourself in a situation where you don’t want to draw attention to yourself.

Along with talking on your cell phone, smoking and applying make-up, eating is one of the most disturbing things to do behind the wheel of a car. approximately 70 percent of drivers admit to eating on the road and this is unlikely to change any time soon. To try to stop accidents there are some things you can do while munching.

(1) Pull off and clean up. Possibly more dangerous than the distraction of eating in the car is trying to clean up spills. Stop in a safe place before you effort to clean up any mess

(2) drape it up. Salads and tacos have many different (and messy) elements, which increases the chance of something falling on your lap or dribbling on your hands and face. Shredded cheese, lettuce, beans and finely chopped meats or vegetables are things to avoid. Sandwiches that have few solid ingredients are a better choice and wraps that are firmly together limit the opportunities for spills.

(3)Be healthy. With the majority of easily accessible foods being fast food drive-through, it’s easy to pile on the calories while on the road. Choose low fat wraps, protein or cereal bars, 100-calorie packs and pieces of sliced fruit instead of greasy hamburgers and tacos. For more ideas, visit health food shops or websites (see resources).

(4) bypass on the candy. Not only will this help your waistline but limit the mess of sticky chocolate fingers in your vehicle. The same is true of barbecued and fried foods, which also cause greasy marks and messes. Have some napkins or wipes on hand in your car.

(5) Take care, liquid can be lethal. The most dangerous thing to consume in your vehicle is coffee. Hot liquids such as soup and tea are more likely to spill because of the containers that they are in. Not only can they stain the upholstery of your vehicle but they can also burn you, increasing the risk of an accident.

Tips & Warnings

(1) To prevent crumbs inside the car, swing legs out first when getting out.

(2) Water is the best drink to have, as it causes no burns or stains.

(3) Vehicles with a stick shift can double the likelihood of an accident.