As someone who travels fairly regularly, I’m always looking for the path of least resistance. i.e the easier it is to travel the better.
Add into the mix security and teething problems at airports across the world (Heathrow Terminal 5 et al) and I’m seriously considering services like First Luggage. They claim to be shipping up to 6000 pieces of luggage for international travellers.
You can see why, when First Luggage statistics seem to indicate one in six bags go missing nowadays
First Luggage say:
We collect any items (including outsized skis/surfboards etc) prior to the day of departure and delivers them direct to the destination (be it hotel or holiday home) so that it awaits its owners on their arrival. Travellers can check-out of check-in queues and cruise past the luggage carousel hands-free. And with all items scanned up to 20 times en route, the perennial fear of luggage going astray has been all but eliminated – there is even the option to log-in online using a unique tracking number to check the progress of the baggage.
It’s an interesting concept and one well worth considering if you wish to take some of the hassle out of travelling.
Michelle Reesman, RN, Executive Director of Passport Health Colorado, says far too many international travelers leave home without taking the basic steps to prevent health problems.
Her suggestion is to follows her top 10 travel tips which are as follows (my comments are in bold):
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Posted by Ruth Miller on Thu 13th March 2008 at 06:00 AM, Filed in Travel Tips
We spotted some great hotel room tips from Peter Greenberg of NBC which we have listed below in bold:
“1. How close is my room to construction? (Few hotels these days are not undergoing some kind of renovation)
2. Are there any rooms available below the eighth floor? (Fire departments literally cannot fight fires above that height).
3. What floors have booster pumps on them? (Those will the be the floors with the best water pressure in showers).”
We then went on to embellish this with our own tips:
4. How close is my room to the bar? This has a variety of important connotations.
5. When are the hotel’s bedrooms redecorated? You might discover some were done more recently than others - in which case you are within your rights to push for the equivalent, most recently decorated room.
6. How close is my room to the restaurant? Air ducts carrying food smells might be running right past your window….
7. How full is the hotel? If it’s virtually empty and you’re a bit cheeky - ask if you can have one of the empty suites. As it doesn’t cost the hotel anything to put you into an already vacant room - many hotels will offer an upgrade anyway. I heard this from a hotel executive and from personal experience it works a treat.
8. What’s going on in the hotel. If there’s a conference for example, ask where the delegates will be sleeping? Late night drinking sessions and constantly slamming doors can be a pain, so ask to be moved elsewhere.
9. Which direction does my room face? If you want some natural light - ask this question before you check in.
10. Is the room smoking on non smoking? This is a crucial query if you don’t want to end up smelling like an ashtray.
After a hard day’s skiing you might need something to limit muscle soreness. By all accounts these body hugging lycra tights do a quite amazing job of speeding up muscle recovery from soft tissue injuries.
Personally, I wouldn’t do without a boiling hot bath - but these might be a handy alternative.
The science behind the travel recovery tights is that they maintain optimal skin temperature without adversely affecting core temperature, this improves blood flow and circulation.
DVT or Deep Vein Thrombosis has been exposed as a major problem. Cramped seats and long flights can be a bad combination. Personally, I like to take half an aspirin before a flight to give some protection. On top of this I should really be wearing a pair of men’s support socks.
These support socks are medically recommended for flight swelling and DVT - and they retail for £10 ($20). Not much for some piece of mind.
