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Usefull
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Travel
Tips : At The Hotel |
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Hotels,
especially of the four and five star
category are normally extremely safe;
providing you with a safe in the room
and at the reception area, security
guards hiding around the place, and
cameras that can be as much your friend
as your enemy . However still things
do occasionally disappear, sometimes
without the owner ever knowing that
they have gone. So here are a few
tips to avoid your valued possessions
from taking a walk:
If the hotel has an in room safe use
it and keep all your valuables in
there. However, if the safe is electronic,
wipe the touch keys down before operating
it with a damp cloth, and then dry
it before entering your secret code.
Try to do this every time you use
the safe.
Also after you have keyed in your
code and closed the door firmly locked
on the safe. Press all the other keys
/numbers that do not make up your
code, and press them firmly. Doing
this may set off a small alarm from
the safe but it stops quickly and
no one will pay any attention (!!).
The reason to do this is because certain
hotels have caught their own hotel
staff placing, a light oil residue
or powder on to the touch keys that
shows them when using a certain light
what numbers were pressed. They were
managing to open the safe, and one
very clever thief was taking only
1 or 2 US$ from each room. Would you
have noticed ? It is not a lot but
in a 400 or 500 room hotel the guy
was doing quite well for himself.
Never leave valuables in soft/material
bags with pockets even if they are
padlocked like Alcatrass This avoids
any potential of somebody simply splitting
a seam to a pocket with a knife and
removing select contents. This has
happened to one of our friends and
he never even noticed until he went
into the and bag and pocket a while
later. This should also apply to luggage
that you check into the airplane.
Never get drunk and invite a stranger
to your room. This seems funny, indeed,
but better safe than sorry. |
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Travel
Tips : How to Pack |
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Having appropriate luggage can make
a world of difference. It may mean
the difference between carry-on and
stowed (which may mean the difference
between lost and not lost!), health
or a hurting back, and damaged vs.
undamaged belongings.
Note: This article assumes that you
are packing for a plane flight; travelling
by train, bus, or car may be slightly
different
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Garment
Bags |
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Garment bags can be exceptionally
nice for short business trips. Most
airplanes have little compartments
with a bar that you can hang them
on. Be advised, however, that those
compartments fill up pretty quickly,
and you may have to jam it into an
overhead bin, wrinkling your suits
and dresses.
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Wheeled
Luggage |
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If you must take heavy items (like,
for example, six computer manuals
and a replacement power supply), seriously
consider some sort of wheeled contraption.
One can purchase carts that can fold
up and go inside the suitcase or suitcases
that have wheels and a handle built
in.
Suitcases with stiff, center-mounted
racks are much more manageable than
suitcases with "leashes". The leashed
suitcases have a tendency to wobble,
tip, get stuck, fall over, etc. The
leash is always too short for your
height, so you end up walking hunched
over anyways. Leashed luggage is exceptionally
ill-suited for those lovely, picturesque
cobbled streets that your charming
little pensione with no elevator is
on.
A good, hard-sided suitcase with a
rack can be a bit pricey. However,
consider that this is much, much,
MUCH cheaper than back surgery. |
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Cheap
Luggage |
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On the opposite end of the spectrum,
you should remember that it is not
mandatory to purchase a special valise
for carry-on items. A few sturdy garbage
bags can work just fine.
You can also put things in boxes.
Be sure to wrap them extremely securely
with glass-reinforced tape, and recognize
that they will get very rough handling.
Furthermore, the airlines will not
take responsibility for damaging anything
in a cardboard box. You take your
chances. |
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Duffle
Bags |
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For long-term, low-end travels (e.g.
the Grand Eurail Tour of Europe),
my personal luggage of choice is an
old, beat up, blue nylon duffle bag.
It is large enough to take a week's
worth of clothes (if I am not too
fussy) and small enough that I can't
fill it fuller than I can easily carry.
It fits in the overhead compartment
and it weighs practically nothing.
Furthermore, it does not scream "Wealthy
Tourist!!"; I could just be returning
from figure-skating practice or something
like that. |
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Backpacks
and Camping Gear |
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You can ship camping-style backpacks
as well. Some airlines will put them
in large plastic bags to help keep
things from tearing off. Otherwise,
make sure that anything that you have
attached to the pack (sleeping bag,
tent, roll) is securely fastened.
And, as with packing in cardboard
boxes, airlines will not take responsibility
for damaging anything in a backpack.
Do not pack the good china in the
backpack. |
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Bicycles |
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There exist hard-shell bicycle cases.
Shipping your bike in one of these
is the least dangerous to your bicycle.
Unfortunately, these cases do not
strap onto bike racks particularly
well, so you will have to find some
place to leave the case while you
are out touring the countryside. Some
airports and/or airlines may have
places to leave your luggage; it would
be prudent to make arrangements well
before you leave. A good rule of thumb
is that the more domestic terrorism
there is, the less likely you will
be able to find a good place to leave
your luggage.
You can also ship your bicycle in
a cardboard box. You can probably
count on an airline at a major airport
to be able to sell you bike boxes
(US$10 at San Francisco International),
but it may take them 30 minutes to
find them. Smaller airports might
not have them at all.
The bicycle boxes that the airlines
provide are huge. This is good and
bad; your bicycle will fit with minimum
disassmbly, but all that extra room
will allow your bike to slosh around.
This is the most dangerous method
of shipping your bike. The best compromise
is probably to go to a bicycle shop
and get a bicycle box from them. This
box will probably fit your bike better,
but will require more creative disassembly.
When you get the box, also ask them
for a fork brace. |
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rights reserved, Midwest Hospitality Group |
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Phone: 317.356.4000 Fax: 317.356.4004 |
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