16 TIPS FOR SAFE TRIPS

• Mark Broadhead
• Lonely Planet Author

 

The world isn’t dangerous or unsafe. Quite the opposite. There are some desperate places and people, even in your home town, but these are a minority. In fact, you’re more likely to get into trouble at home than travelling if you follow these common sense tips on your trips.

1. Back (packer) glance

Image by Inti

Get in the habit of looking back when you get up to leave somewhere. Travel is very distracting, and you’re probably carrying more stuff than when you’re at home, so you’re more likely to leave a jacket or journal at that Parisian cafe table where you were people watching.

2. Separate your sources of money

Image by Dennis Wong

You know how you keep all your bank cards in your wallet/purse when you’re at home? Well, don’t do this while you’re travelling. Keep at least one in a different place, preferably not on your person. If you lose all your cards on the road it is very difficult to get replacements, and being without money in Timbuktu can be kind of unfun.

3. Don’t keep your wallet/purse in your jeans’ back pocket

Image by MasonJars

To avoid being pickpocketed, keep your wallet in your front pocket, especially a pocket that can be buttoned up. Best of all, use the inside pocket of your jacket. There are also a load of different ‘money belts’ (see examples here) that either hang inside your shirt or wrap around your waist (under your shirt), etc. Make sure it’s waterproof because travelling can often be sweaty/perspiring work. I’d advise against the bum bag/fanny pack varieties. There is no better way to advertise the fact that you have a load of valuables on you…and, of course, they were never ever cool.

4. Scan all your major documents

Image by Ken_Mayer

Scan your travel documents and email them to yourself. It was traditional to photocopy your passport and visas, travel insurance etc, and keep them in a separate part of your luggage. But that’s old school. These days, digital is best – that way your documents won’t go missing even if your bags do.

5. Don’t trust strangers who wear turtle neck/polo neck tops

Image by Search Engine People Blog

Only kidding about the turtle necks. It is hard to get to know the locals at a destination if you don’t trust them, but there are limits to how much you should trust them when it comes to your personal safety (going with them into a risky area of town), money, and consuming their food or drink (if they are not consuming it themselves). Do a search on Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree forum for the latest scams that travellers have reported for where you are going. Also, look at the ‘Dangers and Annoyances’ sections in your Lonely Planet guidebook and ask your hotel/hostel staff for safety tips.

6. Get travel insurance

Image by Patrick Denker

This is mainly for health costs if you get ill or injured while abroad. Hospital costs can quickly get into the tens of thousands of dollars, even for a minor injury. Insurance is worth it. We recommend these guys.

7. Get vaccinated

Image by I woz ere

Visit your doctor before you leave to get all the relevant vaccinations/immunisations for the destinations you’re visiting, and to learn what health precautions you should follow.

8. Avoid PDAs

Image by Clive Power

I mean Public Displays of Affluence (not affection). If you’re travelling abroad then you’re more than likely to be richer than most of the locals, but advertising this fact by wearing gold jewellery or carrying a $2000 camera around your neck is not advisable. It makes you a target for thieves. Leave your jewellery at home and keep your camera in a bag when you’re not using it.

9. Some things are best perfected at home

Image by René Ehrhardt

It may seem like a breeze, but be advised that teaching yourself to ride a motorbike or jet ski in a foreign country is probably unwise. In Thailand, for instance, 38 people a day die in scooter accidents. Nb some travel insurance policies won’t cover scooter-related injuries.

10. Check the fine print and certificates of instructors

Image by _e.t

If you’re doing a specialist course (scuba diving) or something risky (bungee jumping) then check the operators have legitimate qualifications and a good safety record. There’s usually a reason a course is cheaper than the others. PADI has a list of qualified diving operators here.

11. Don’t leave your belongings unattended in public spaces

Image by buyalex

This is so obvious that I am embarrassed to mention it, but people do it all the time. Most notably, travellers leave their bags at their feet or hanging from the back of chairs when they’re at cafes or restaurants. Either keep them on your lap or wrap its strap around your leg.

12. Give it up

Image by silver marquis

There is a simple rule that people find hard to follow: if you are mugged, give over your wallet, watch etc. This shouldn’t be a problem if you have insurance and you’ve left all your irreplaceable stuff (eg grandma’s necklace) at home. Just do it, and walk away uninjured.

13. Don’t give to beggars

Image by magical-world

There are exceptions to this rule, such as monks seeking alms. But, in general, don’t give away money to people on the street. Apart from the fact that you may have to get your wallet/purse out, encouraging begging is not the most efficient use of your money (and goodwill). If you want to help out then do some volunteer work in the destination or donate some money to a local charity for the homeless or loan some money to a poor entrepreneur via Kiva.

14. Be wary of using your credit card at an internet cafe

Image by TimYang.net

Internet cafes’ computers may have keylogger software or hardware that records your key strokes, so unscrupulous characters (not necessarily the owners of the cafe) can see the username and password to your online accounts (banking, email etc) or grab your credit card details. A good trick to make this more challenging for them has been proposed by Thorn Tree user Karlo: open a couple of other browser windows (for the website you are using) and half way through entering your passwords or credit card information type incorrect information into these windows.

15. Don’t pat stray dogs and cats

This is more of a ‘note to self’ than to you, after a stray dog tried to pull my thumb off in Buenos Aires. You may be missing your pets at home, but stray animals may be carrying rabies and other fun infections (and big teeth). You should also not feed monkeys, for the same reason. (Pictured above is me with an affectionate Siamese cat in Bangkok — who belonged to this store owner.)

16. Your worst enemy may be your travel companion

Image by Ed Yourdon

Often your travel companions will take risks that compromise your safety. They’ll ask for help from people that you wouldn’t go near, they’ll aggravate a situation with arrogance, or they’ll break any number of the no-nos mentioned above. Don’t submit to their peer pressure. Stand your ground. And if they continue to be unsafe then consider parting ways.

When traveling to Mexico, stay always in a Quinta Real Hotel http://www.quintareal.com/

TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY: GET YOUR GEEK ON IN 2011

• Shawn Low
• Lonely Planet Author

While I’m still waiting for flying cars, a hoverboard and my very own Mr Fusion Home Energy Reactor (OK, so Back to the Future II is clearly my vision of the future), technology is advancing at a scarily fast rate.

In fact, 2011 is going to be the year where travel technology goes mainstream. Have you so far ignored all the benefits that technology can bring while you circle the globe? It’s time to get on board.

Crowdsourcing – the answer to your travel questions

It’s increasingly easy to crowdsource for all your travel needs with social media. Want a flight buddy? Use Planely, the social network for lonely passengers. Want a flight? Just recently, a group of people used Twitter to coax KLM into organising an extra flight for them to get to Miami for the Ultra Music Festival. They found 351 passengers so KLM put the extra plane in the air. Groupon for specially chartered flights with your friends? We’d be up for that.

Foursquare have used their massive amount of user-generated content to create a travel guide to America. Mediamatic have their own crowdsourced arts and culture destination guides. Lonely Planet’s Facebook routinely gets hundreds of travel ideas. Stuck or need a couch to crash on? Just tweet. Meanwhile, our Thorn Tree forum is the original crowdsourcing platform – you’d be hard-pressed to find a travel question that hasn’t already been answered by Lonely Planet’s intrepid members!

Smartphones: your ticket to the world

It doesn’t matter whether it runs the Apple iOS or Android. Smartphones are more computer, less phone. What can’t they do when it comes to travel? Google Maps on the phone provides navigation, as does the internal GPS when combined with navigation software. With a 3G or wi-fi connection, you can blog and upload photos and videos from your phone. You can also post trip updates on Facebook and Twitter.
Smartphones will truly take off for travel when the price of data connections drops. In the meantime, when travelling, get a local SIM card with data. And make sure you carry an extra battery or an external battery pack. Heavy usage = dead phone.

Apps for every travel need

Of course, a smartphone is useless as a travel tool unless you load it up with apps. Look for a place to eat on Urbanspoon. Read user reviews on Foursquare. Score the best plane seat with SeatGuru’s app. One of the apps that’s had the Lonely Planet office talking is Word Lens: an iPhone app that instantly translates languages on signs instantly – fire up the camera, point it at a sign and off you go! This kind of augmented reality is only going to get bigger in 2011.

Lonely Planet has a bunch of iPhone City Guides with things to do and see marked on offline maps. This means that you don’t need a pricey data connection to surf your hotel and sightseeing options when touching down in cities from London to Hong Kong. We’re biased, of course, but we think they’re pretty nifty. We also have phrasebook apps for when you want to order a beer or book a hotel room on the go but don’t have the lingo.

All this app buying can get expensive so where possible download them when they’re on sale or when a ‘free’ promotion comes about. Or get AppShopper for the iPhone – it lists apps when they drop in price. Big retailers often discount iTunes gift cards. Wait for the sale to save as much as 35%.

Wi-fi in the air: the new in-flight entertainment

With more airlines installing wi-fi hotspots on airplanes, being entertained on your long-haul flight is now less dependent on the in-flight entertainment program and all about how long the battery on your mobile device lasts! The year 2011 will see more planes equipped with wi-fi.

Until now passenger take-up of wi-fi on US airlines has been slower than expected, but with the ubiquity of smartphones and increasing sales of iPads and their ilk (the ultimate travel companions) – and with more competition hopefully pushing prices down – this should change in 2011. For now, if you’re wanting to go online in-air, do make sure you check costs before blindly using the connection. Only threat to this trend: people actually enjoy going offline while flying.

Cloudsourcing – access your details from anywhere

Don’t fuss with saving documents on a portable USB stick (which you could lose) or taking a laptop with you (weight). Store all your files in the ‘cloud’ so you can access them from any internet cafe across the world. It’s the best way to travel light. In theory, cloud computing could be something as simple as emailing your travel itinerary to yourself – or sharing it with yourself using something like Google Docs. There are any number of ways to store files and photos: Flickr, Picasa, Box.net or Dropbox. All that said, it’s still a good idea to keep a hard copy of all your documentation – in case you can’t get online.

E-books go multidimensional

Pencil this one into the ‘we’ll believe it when we see it’ category, but a company called Delta Electronics has announced that it will focus on developing 3D electronic paper in 2011. Think of the possibilities: flexible sheets that can display dynamic holograms while weighing less than a tablet computer. Princess Leia would be proud.

Xbox Kinect – hacked for travel?

What does a console gaming device have to do with travel? We’re not entirely sure yet except that there will be new and more interesting ways of integrating the little motion detector/camera unit into travel. Already, clever people have managed to manipulate the device’s hardware to make themselves invisible (kinda) and create adorable 3D shadow puppets. What next - 3D travel videos on YouTube? Ultra-interactive displays in museums and galleries? Real-time 3D cameras rigged up in key tourist sights? A Lonely Planet Xbox Kinect game?

@shawnlow is Lonely Planet’s Asia-Pacific travel editor

GUIDE TO REDUCING TRAVEL ANXIETY

Travelling is all about the unknown. That’s its attraction. If it were possible to ‘know’ a destination completely then it wouldn’t be much fun to explore. For most people this ‘unknown’ creates anxiety to some degree. If it gets too much, here are few tips to reduce travel anxiety:

Choose a destination that suits you. What do you like? If you like large cities then visiting Alaska may not be your thing. Likewise, if you like the countryside then going to Mumbai may increase your anxiety levels. If you are a first-time independent traveller then you may not know what you like, so choose a destination with a little bit of everything you think you may like (wildlife parks, soft cheese, etc).

Image by kozumel

Choose a destination that isn’t too challenging. How ‘easy’ a destination is will depend on your background and experience, such as which languages you speak fluently. If you’re from Mumbai then visiting Sikkim isn’t a big challenge. But going to Sikkim as your first independent travel destination if you’re from Scotland is a big jump. Try British Columbia first instead. As with most things, the more you do something, the better you get at it. With travel it’s good to find your feet in one or two easy destinations then spread your wings.

Image by kalyan3

Don’t worry too much about what to pack. Should I bring this or that? Should I take a jacket in case it’s cold at night? Inevitably these questions lead to a sore back and/or unnecessary tension. Whenever I feel these questions bothering me I bring everything back to the only three things I really need to pack (if I’m not flying straight to the South Pole):

• Passport (with appropriate visas sorted out)
• Money supply (ATM card, credit card)
• Primary transport documents (flight ticket, train ticket, etc.)

If you’re going abroad then these three things are sine qua non. Everything else you take is either a bonus or (more likely) a hindrance. So the nights are cold at the destination…buy a local jacket and have a great souvenir of your trip.

Image by mil8

Travel with someone else. Anxiety hates company, so travel with a friend or family member. Obviously, make sure they will be good travelling companions. Travelling can test any solid relationship, so go with people who are good communicators, who really want to visit your destinations (not just tagging along), and aren’t more anxious than yourself.

Book ahead. Use the web to book things you know you need before you go, like hotels/hostels for your first few days. Lonely Planet even has a load of hotels and hostels you can book here.

Pace yourself. Don’t make your itinerary too busy. Rushing from city to national park to town can be nerve-racking. You can always add extra sights when you’re on the road. Being flexible is the greatest gift you can give yourself. The beauty of travel is the sense of freedom it gives. Tying yourself in ‘itinerary knots’ may enable you to see more of a destination, but you’ll almost certainly experience it less.

Do your research. Read up on the destination from other travellers on Thorn Tree or your trusty Lonely Planet guidebook. Particularly helpful on Thorn Tree are finding out about the usual scams at the destination.

Image by Sistak

Information taken fron lonely planet.

QUINTA REAL ZACATECAS ENTRE LOS 20 HOTELES CON ENCANTO EN MEXICO

                                                    

Su ubicación no puede imitarse: el Quinta Real de Zacatecas está acotado en uno de sus lados por lo que queda del Acueducto del Cubo, del siglo XVIII, y montado en lo que fuera la antigua Plaza de Toros de San Pedro y el patio del antiguo vecindario por donde desfilaban las cuadrillas para entrar al ruedo, en el centro histórico de la ciudad. Lo más sorprendente es la transformación de la Plaza de Toros en el patio central de las instalaciones. El ruedo fue un referente de la ciudad, un lugar de encuentro, diversión y un imán de personajes famosos. Pues las corridas de toros, una tradición proveniente de España, se arraigaron en Zacatecas desde el siglo XVI. Durante el siglo XX, en San Pedro hubo también funciones de lucha libre, box, circo y celebraciones privadas, como las que organizaban a fin de curso los estudiantes universitarios.

 Ahora es un deslumbrante salón al aire libre y en lo que fuera la zona de toriles hay un bar en el que los huéspedes pueden tomarse un trago, cómodamente sentados donde solían guardarse los toros antes de que iniciara la corrida. O cenar en lo que fuera la zona de sombra numerada y caminar con tranquilidad en la galería, donde la gente vibraba ante los embates de los toros de lidia. La manera en que el hotel preservó el carácter y el encanto de la estructura original es tan excepcional, que el proyecto de restauración recibió el Premio Internacional de Arquitectura poco después de su inaugurarse en febrero de 1989.

                                               
PERSONAJE La idea de adaptar el coso de San Pedro como hotel fue de los hermanos Ricardo y Roberto Elías, los dos arquitectos que construyeron y operaron el Quinta Real Guadalajara y, posteriormente, varios de los hoteles de este grupo. Y al lado de ellos, las aportaciones de Federico Sescosse, jefe del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (inah), fueron también muy importantes para que la plaza de toros de San Pedro abriera sus puertas, ya reconvertido, al público.

ESPACIO PÚBLICO El antiguo ruedo es un apacible patio donde pasean los huéspedes y visitantes entre semana y donde, casi todos los fines de semana, se organizan celebraciones y bodas. Un escenario muy especial.

HABITACIÓN La amplia Suite Presidencial cuenta con una terraza privada con vista al ruedo. En el primer nivel tiene sala, un pequeño comedor y un baño con jacuzzi; en el segundo piso hay dos habitaciones, cada una con dos camas queen size.

PLATILLO El filete de res La Bufa: a la parrilla, relleno con queso menonita, jitomate y cebolla, bañado en una salsa de tomate con chipotle y crema.

BEBIDA El Trompo Zacatecano, preparado con mezcal de Huitzila, refresco de toronja, jugo de limón, jarabe de granadina y un toque de sal de grano. Típico de las callejoneadas, se lleva en cántaros de barro a lomo de mula por las principales calles y plazas de la ciudad.

DETALLE Si se mira con atención el bar, se descubre ahí una de las antiguas paredes de adobe y varias piezas de madera originales de lo que fuera la zona de toriles.

IMPERDIBLE Desayunar en las mesas de la terraza, ubicadas en lo que alguna vez fueron las gradas.

QUINTA REAL ZACATECAS
$$$$
Av. Ignacio Rayón 434, Centro
Zacatecas, Zacatecas
T. +52 (492) 922 9104

                                                                                           http://www.quintareal.com/

INFORMACION CORTESIA DE http://www.revistatravesias.com/