How Reading The News Helps Travellers Be Prepared

  

No news is good news, goes the old saying. Because newspaper headlines and the ones which grab out attention are often about wars, individual deaths, murders, accidents robberies and scams. 

Those Who Avoid Bad News

I have one friend who has a sick, elderly husband.  Yet she is very active in the community. She goes to art exhibitions. But she says she doesn't read the news because it is depressing. 

I, on the other hand, read the news because it is vital to me when I am travelling. 

Flights Affected Worldwide

I always remember 9/11, when I and my husband were in Singapore. A friend in Singapore phoned told me, gasping, "Turn on the news because a plane flew into a tower block in New York!"

My husband and I were busy packing to go to a conference in South Africa the next day. I am creative and easily distracted, but my husband is scientific and focused. 

My husband said, 'We should get on with our packing, not waste time reading or watching the news from far away. It won't affect us, or out travel plans."

But it did affect our travel plans. Changi was badly affected. Signs did not say where to go. Finally, after an hour's wait, go to this gate. Then Change - Go to that gate.

Why? Firstly, because the planes which were supposed to land in the USA were turned back. Those planes supposed to arrive in Singapore from the USA did not reach us. Passengers, as well as planes were diverted. Planes had not enough passengers, or too many passengers, had to land at different airports.

Secondly, a nervous potential passenger, scared to fly, sent a bomb scare threat to give himself an excuse not to fly.

Security was stepped up at the airport so the opening of bags, checking of bags, questioning as to whether you packed your own bag, was increased.

People cancelled flights because their events were changed, their holiday destinations changed, meetings were cancelled.

I read the news for the bad news and for the good news.

On my travels, I read local papers to know about local events and people. When I go to another country, I read their newspapers. I need to know the bad news, dangerous roads, pickpocket hotspots. 

Discount Delights

But I also want to now the good news. Restaurants which won awards. Discount stores. Free drinks with meals Tourist deals on two tours for the price of one.  Free delivery to my hotel or home.

Today in the online news I see three different kinds of news story. First, war in the middle east. 

Secondly, a teenager who killed his parents and siblings in the USA. I am wondering if we need to be teaching the next generation worldwide not to fight over grievances going back three generations, or even three weeks. Or are memories of old fights a warning of dangers to come?

Skyscraper Balcony & Window Falls

The last dramatic story I read was from the UK and it was about a pregnant mother of five who fell out of an open window in a skyscraper where she lived.

Five children in a skyscraper with open windows strikes me as a danger, even without a mother who has a lot on her mind, and no foresight to use birth control.

Not everybody would agree with me on the birth control issues. But I still think there is mileage in this question. Why is a family of five housed in a skyscraper where you can open and fall out of windows?

USA Hotel Window Precautions

I remember visiting a hotel in a skyscraper in American. The windows did not open, to prevent accidents.

Skyscraper Versus Ground Floor Motels And Garden Cities

 We need to rethink the advantages for families of garden cities with accessible employment and shopping and health services. We need to rethink ground floor living. 

Skyscraper, Balcony and Window Security

We need to rethink windows which have air vents. Maybe add bay window for views. But not windows which open wide. Consider grilles. As is done in Singapore before you can get a license to have a cat in a flat.

Photo credit Cyberuly - My Nikon D60 from Wikipedia. window safety grille.

In the UK a copany called Omlet makes a caat balcony run.

Omlet cat balcony run, UK.

Alarmed Fire Escape Doors

Instead alarmed windows, and fires escape doors with alarms to prevent burglary through the fire escape and to alert residents and neighbours and caretakers and fire services when children run out or fires break out.

News At Night And Good Sleep

But that is the future. What is the message for you now? It used to be the case that the ten o'clock news was the last thing at night and people did not watch because it worried them before they tried to sleep. So the news always ended with a funny or happy story.

After reading the news last thing at night, I try to read something jolly, or watch a humorous item on YouTube.

Happy Thoughts & Plans

When travelling, I gather up free newspapers. I often don't have time to read them thoroughly when busy travelling during the day. So last thing at night I cut out the coupons for offers to chase the next day. I note these welcome thoughts and plans in my diary.

Useful Websites

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13991417/pictured-pregnant-woman-died-tower-block-fall.html

https://www.omlet.co.uk/shop/cat_products/cat_balcony_enclosure/

Please share links to posts you enjoy reading, and re-reading. See my similar post including seasonal Halloween clothes on my blog dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com 

https://dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com/2024/10/what-news-at-home-and-overseas-tells-us.html

American and British Dates - the difference

American and British English vocabulary has differences. We all know that. But what about dates. Yes.

One more thing.
Dates. In writing, the Americans put the month first.


The British put the day first. Not always.

Americans say the numbers for the months. Such as 9/11 which is the 9th of November which seems to contradict what I said.

When filling in forms, watch out for this.When filling in your credit card numbers on forms. And when devising forms and questionnaires for other people to fill in for you to collect information.

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have many more posts on Americanisms and America. Please bookmark the most memorable posts and share links to your favourite posts.

What Not To Do At Airports and Everywhere: Pranks, Police, Jokes, Hoaxes

Today I read two news stories. Both so-called pranks.

One woman ends up killing a stranger in Asia.


In the USA a man who kisses a woman on the cheek ends up in trouble.

The moral is simple and clear.
No pranks.

Do not play pranks in public.
Do not play pranks where you are recorded in video.

Do not play pranks in airports.

Do not play pranks on strangers.

Do not do to others what you would not want done to yourself or a member of your own family.

Do not play pranks.

Do not joke with strangers, or even friends.
Especially not at airports.
You know its a joke. How does a stranger know it is a joke?

Do not let strangers persuade you to play pranks on other people. Let them do their own pranks. Better still, tell them pranks are not a good idea.

Do not send others to do pranks.
The person being pranked may think they are being attacked and instinctively try to kill you or somebody else.

Do not perform pranks, whether you are drunk or sober, whether the victim is drunk or sober. They might easily not find it funny, and try to have you arrested for assault or worse.

Hoaxes
On the day of 9/11 not only flights to and from the USAa man who was afraid to fly decided to make a hoax threat to our Singapore Airlines plane. Our flight from Singapore to South Africa was delayed all day. Luckily we had planned to arrive a day before the conference started.

To sum up, no pranks. No hoaxes. No jokes. It isn't funny, for others or yourself.

Many websites warn you against making jokes at airports.
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/At_the_airport

Useful websites
Also see Daily Mail.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7515839/How-tricked-killing-Kim-Jong-Uns-brother-Young-mother-tracked-remote-village.html

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts

What The News Teaches Travellers - lessons from 9-11

Problem
I want to get away from it all on holiday. But do I need to listen to the news to be aware of dangers? How can I be prepared?

Answers
I read the news for entertainment, but principally for travel news involving health and safety.

Story
I remember the evening of 9/11 when I was in Singapore. The phone rang and a Chinese accent voice in a high squeaky tone I did not recognize said, "A plane has flown into a tower in America. Turn on the news."

I had no idea who it was, but told my husband, who said, "You haven't time for that. Get on with your packing. We have a flight to catch."

I finished packing. We turned on the news. We were shocked.

Who was the stranger who had called us? She rang back. It was a close friend, whose voice had been unrecognisable because it went high in her panic.

We did not know at that time, never having experienced anything similar, how it would affect our flights next day. My husband was an optimist and thought that an event in the USA would not affect people in the Far East.

(I know when you are in Asia, it is politically incorrect as well as geographically absurd to talk about the Far East, and the old word for China was the character for centre, or as maps say ' you are HERE', but from the point of view of people and events in the USA, the far east is far, and east.)

We had three problems.
1 Heightened security checks worldwide. So we had a long delay at check in of people, luggage, searches.
2 Delays because planes from the USA were not arriving and continuing their flights so planes could not take off. We heard rumours our arriving plane was delayed. but a replacement was summoned.
3 This meant re-routing of plane landings and takeoffs and planes and terminals. More delay.
4 This meant overbooking and transfers of passengers to other flights. People in a hurry were missing connections, cancelling and re-routing, pessimists were giving up and going home.
5 Hoax calls.

A passenger afraid of travelling sent a bomb threat to the airline in Singapore. The plane was removed and parked far from the terminal. The luggage was unloaded onto the tarmac. We were checked and bused out to it. We did not get on a plane. We were surrounded by a mile of black suitcases. Army disposal squads. Fire engines, Ambulances. Army with machine guns on us. Each family group had to parade up and down 500 yards of separated luggage to identify all our scattered suitcases, prove we were the owners, open them to prove nothing dangerous. Return to airport.

Suitcase cover.

From this, I learned several things.
1 Allow at least 24 hours between your arrival at a destination and the start of a vital event such as a conference - especially if you are involved in the opening ceremony such as keynote speaker.
2 Don't buy black bags. If you already have black bags, attach identifying colours so you can spot them at a distance.
3 Be ready to fly earlier or later.
4 Always carry food and water. You may not be able to take it on the plane. But if the plane take-off is delayed you will be glad of it. Tap water costs very little.
5 Keep the destination hotel and meet and greet/taxi details to hand to warn them if you are delayed.
6 Always check flight details for last minute delays.
7 AND check the local, foreign and international news before flying.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have several other posts on travel, UK, Europe, USA, Singapore and 'The Far East'. Please follow my blog, bookmark posts and share your favourite posts.

Guarding Against Loss: Suitcases, cameras, lipsticks, scanners

Problem
When you report a missing camera or laptop you will be asked to supply details such as serial numbers.
You will also be asked for the make and colour of a missing suitcase or other item. It helps to take a photograph at home or on arrival at the airport including the brand name, plus yourself holding it.

Answer
Take a photo of the serial numbers and missing items and keep them in the cloud, and/or give a print out to somebody who is travelling with you such as a spouse. That way if your luggage or one item goes missing, you have a record.

Story
I had to identify black suitcases in Singapore the 24 hours of 9/11 after all the luggage was taken off our plane at the airport because of a a bomb scare.

Tip
Take photos and add your business card to ziplock bags when putting your lipstick through security. I recently lost mine at Heathrow.
If you lose anything, you register online at a website which operates for many organizations:
https://www.missingx.com/Goods/DetailsPage

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Overnight travel kit

What do you need when you travel?

Your first items are your travel jacket with a safe pocket for your passport and tickets and the suitcase and wheel-on bag, which seems to self-destruct between one trip and the next, losing a wheel, the keys, zips which no longer zip up, the torn luggage tax, the outside needing a wash and time to dry, even the inside plastic disintegrating, and the missing colourful clip on ribbon which identifies your black suitcase from two dozen others on the carousel when you are waiting to claim luggage going out and coming home.

My preference is for coloured luggage. After 9/11 we were on a Singapore Airlines flight which had a bomb scare. The plane parked at the far end of a distant runway. We were divided into family groups and one group at a time, escorted by army lads with machine guns, plus a few fire engines and ambulances, we had to run along a mile of luggage trying to find two black suitcases which were ours.

Later, after one of my wheel-on bags broke, the only bag I could find reasonably priced was a half price bag which obviously nobody wanted because it was covered in pink roses. However, roses came to our rescue. On the next flight our luggage went missing. As we stood, disconsolately filling in forms for lost luggage. As I wrote down, 'pink case with flowers', a distant pink patch the opposite end of the airport caught my eye.

I ran towards it, increasingly excitedly. My family watched from a distance, as I did something resembling a cross between a Maori war dance and Swan Lake's pirouetting heroine. I leapt with arms aloft to signal success, around our blush pink luggage. They understood. I got a Mexican wave, sets of arms waving back in unison to acknowledge my success.

Treble victory. I had found my luggage. I had found their luggage. I was winner of the buy the best luggage competition.

Packing Lists
One person I know who travels regularly keeps his packing list on the back of his wardrobe door. I keep packing lists on my computer. I used to have seasonal packing lists. Winter included ski clothes, gloves, sunglasses, suncream. The summer list included sun hats and sun cream. The logical place to keep a printed copy of you packing list is on the inside lid of your suitcase. With columns down the right hand side for ticks so you can tick each item packed to go, and each item packed to bring back. That way you don't leave behind the slippers under the bed, the night dress under the pillow case, the hat in the wardrobe, the bathrobe on the back of the bathroom door, nor toddler's teddy in the hotel cot. We once did that and had to drive thirty miles back to retrieve it.

Airport Shopping List
List the numbers of people you might meet and what you might take them. What is the price of wine and chocolates at the airport. Can you buy cheaper in the supermarket at home or at the destination? Take the home supermarket price with you, to work out whether it's worthwhile buying goods at the destination to bring home as a souvenir for yourself or the neighbours, babysitters and house sitters who looked after your plants and post and pets.

Shopping List
Before travelling, I would visit a pharmacy, a stationery store and a supermarket. At the pharmacy I would stock up with lemon or lavender scented soaps and other items to ward off mosquitos. Plus small sizes of all those things one needs, Bonjela, lip salve/balm, small tube of healing ointment. Anything not available, second chance at the supermarket.

At the supermarket I would look for notebooks. If no luck, at the stationery store I would buy small notebooks for each destination. Whilst in the stationery store and supermarket and newsagent I would look for a couple of cards, birthday, wedding, baby.

I had a list of items to buy on my first shopping trip at the destination. In Singapore I headed down to Mustapha's department store. I needed a gym kit. Trainers and socks. A tote bag and matching baseball cap.

Off to the local pharmacy. Mosquito repellent and after bite cream. In Australia and sometimes imported from Australia to Singapore you could buy a spray or roll on which combined insect repellent with sun cream.

You can also buy sun-impervious and insect-proof clothes from specialist shops.

The best place to buy jackets with inside pockets? For winter, ski jackets. For summer, look for photographer's jacket, a camping jacket, a hunter's jacket, a fishing jacket, any sports or outdoors shop.

In your pockets:

Umbrella.Travel toothbrush, toothpaste,
Travel pillow, eyeshades.

Passport. ID photocopy.

Mini first aid kit.

Spare underwear. Or bikini. Swimsuit so you can shower in leisure centre and have a swim while waiting for porters to deliver luggage and before leisure centre opens.

Stamped addressed envelope. So if something is confiscated at security it can be posted home to you, rather than lost or having to remember to claim it and get delayed on the way back.

Elastoplast. Toothpick and floss. Comb.

Address and phone of venue and organiser. Address of nearest doctor, dentist and hospital at destination. Much easier to check them out in advance.

Nail file and tweezers. Bottle opener. Wet wipes.

Spare shoes/overshoes (from a gym). Footwear suitable for destination.

£1 coin. Waitrose card to get a free coffee. Spare wrapped in foil chocolate bar/biscuit/small cake. Tube train map.

Stamped addressed padded bag in case you have souvenirs too big to go in luggage.

Something to read.

Newspapers and magazines cluttering up your home to read on the plane and throw away. Notebook and pen. Miniature round ended sewing scissors for cutting addresses or coupons out of newspapers.

Phone with camera, to use as a camera, and phone home if you have trouble on the way to the airport, even if it is an old one and you are getting another phone at destination country.

Coins in both currencies for phone boxes and rinks at airport. Small change to tip taxi drivers, porters, buy a drink.

Spare socks if you are in sandals in case it rains.

Dictionary and/or phrase book with language of destination. If none handy, download and print off a quick guide. Can't find one? Use google translate for a few handy words and print the results.

Compact Clothes
Reversible dresses, skirts, blouses.

Reversible jackets.

Co-ordinate your travel outfits in three colours, such as black, red and white. Or navvy yellow and green. Or chocolate brown and beige and cream with a gold scarf for evenings.