Packing List for business and holiday trips

 

Here is a generic packing list you can adapt

Shopping list

Checks in advance

Passport checks 

Check for the expiry date, and the expiry date allowed by destinations. Some countries require 6 months, in case you overstay.

Check your passport has no rips or tears or the airline might deny you boarding

Check enough blank pages are left for visas.

Visas - check requirements for all family and colleagues including spouse, children, nanny, granny, driver, guide, family members who are different nationality.

Allow time for visa issue, or you have to pay extra for fast delivery or courier if you don't have time to go to the embassy, even if sending it remotely is allowed

If you need a new passport you may need to reapply for visas in the new passport. You might have to send back your old passport. In that case copy it so you have a permanent record of your travels for your diary and family history. Records of travels can prove you meet residency requirements, and remind you to not exceed them. In addition, evidence of travel might prove you could not have committed a parking offence or serious crime because you were overseas.

Car

Car tax

MOT (car road worthiness)

Tyre pressure

Petrol (gas) - fill up, note or dated photograph amount in car, in case of petrol theft

Car numberplate noted

car insurance, check expiry date

Car insurance number 

car insurance helpline

Compare car hire costs and book car hire

Note location of car hire office

Note location of meet and greet at airport, or parking or valet parking, which side of building, which side of road

Suitcase

Check suitcase is regulation size and weight, 

fits in boot (trunk) of car, 

is not too heavy to carry

leave space for souvenirs, gifts from family, hotels, restaurants, conference bags and literature, guidebooks bought at destination, maps and brochures

Check suitcase wheels work and are clean

pack luggage trolley, strap, string, labels, scissors with blades less than the regulation, which could be a maximum of six inches from a certain point on the scissors or knife blade

Photograph luggage and note colour and brand in case you need to report loss, or speak to those whose language is not English

add identifying colour or sticker to black suitcases and all suitcases and bags, umbrellas, walking sticks

Note hiking sticks with points might not be allowed, as carry on, also sports equipment such as cricket bats, surf boards, tennis rackets, so these must be packed in checked in luggage or sent separately as oversize luggage

Clingfilm or luggage protector might be useful to protect luggage from scratches and dirt

LANGUAGE

Print vital words of foreign language of destination (from Wikitravel phrasebook of the country or countries of your travel tip)

Learn the word for help

(I was able to shout AYUDA, Spanish for aid or help, when I fell downstairs in a Spanish parador hotel in La Palma, in the Canary Islands)

Print the word for allergy and the type of allergy for a restaurant or doctor or pharmacy

Travel insurance

 patient number, eg UK  NHS number 

helpline number

Destination

Destination and contact details and names for family, neighbours or colleagues

Hotel

Book room upgrades

Airline

Book airline upgrades such as leg room, exit seat, 

check in online at correct time, being sure not to pay extra on budget airline for printing boarding pass, ate or early check in

Holiday booking location and date confirmation

copy of passport left at home with passport number

First night hotel reservation

Location of destination hospital or doctor

Before leaving home

Inform work or club of duties others must do whilst you are away

Inform work or club of dates you are not available. For security do not tell media nor allow others to broadcast the fact that you are out of the office, your home, or your country. Simply say you are unavailable, or away from desk, or unable to take calls.

Cancel gardeners or window cleaners, or leave their payment with others, or book them for your return.

Leave a set of door keys and credit cards at home in case they are lost or stolen from you whilst away

Turn off gas, electricity, water, heating, air con, or leave it on low, according to length of stay and weather forecast and safety requirements

Check for items left in dishwasher or microwave or fridge which might go rancid

PETS

Arrange pet sitter.

Get pet acquainted with pet sitter or pet holiday location. 

Put chip and tags on pet. Leave pet toys and food and instructions. Check pet insurance and where pet sitter should take pet, and instruct pet sitter on insurance, pet hospital or vet location and whether pet should be saved at all costs if injured or ill. 

Check if pet is allowed in cabin of aircraft and what leash or bedding or pet food must be provided.

AIRLINE

Book special seat, window for photos, aisle for claustrophobic, near toilet, away from noisy galley and babies, quietest part of plane, upgrade, seats of family together, near exit if in transit,

Available airmiles

HOTEL OR CONFERENCE CENTRE

Find out if there is a group or delegate or longstay discount

Join hotel loyalty scheme to get upgrades, freebies, better toiletries.

Book junior  suite or sea view.

Note which side of hotel is on busy road.

Book ground floor if afraid of heights. Book higher floor if afraid of intruders through doors and windows.

Book room near fire escape, or away from left noise, or near lift or conference room or restaurant or swimming pool if likely to be in a rush.

Book rooms near other members of family or group.

Book rooms near lift if you have mobility problems.

Check hotel has a lift or porter for luggage if you cannot carry luggage or have many bags.

Ensure suitcases are locked, and keep valuables and laptops with you because the luggage trolley may go in another lift.

Keep swimsuit handy in travel bag, wheel on gab or top of suitcase, in case pool closes at 5 pm or just after your arrival. You could even travel in a swimsuit to be sure of using the pool if you are only staying one night.

Check pool closing times (5 pm at some SPANISH parador hotels in the Canary islands of La Palma and Tenerife).

Tell restaurant in advance it is your birthday, allergies. 

Arrive early and check room before accepting it.

Compare with rooms of others in your group. 

Swapping Bedrooms For A Bidet Story June 2026

My bedroom in the Parador Teide on Tenerife had a bidet but the next Parador on La Palma gave me a room with no bidet. I thought it was just a lower grade or older hotel. I asked to see a friend's ground floor room and discovered they had a bidet. 

I went back to reception and asked if they had a room with a bidet at the same price. They did. I requested a swap. 

My husband was already asleep on the bed. However, I wheeled out the suitcases and left him a note of the new room number. 

After installing everything in the other room, I went back and found he was awake and astonished that all the suitcases and bags had been moved in the dark without disturbing him.

   

Travel ITEMS

Clothes

Travel Documents

Travel Bag

Before Returning Home

Before Leaving Hotel

Before Leaving Hotel Bedroom

During and after accident

Photo of location for insurance

FORWARD A COPY TO another family member

Photo of injury for doctor/insurance claim

Details of vehicle or condition of place of injusry (eg broken step, wet floor)

Hospital x-ray and report and translation for continuing care at home on return

Make report to insurance within the required time frame

MEDICATION

Daily pills 

Painkillers eg aspirin or if allergic to aspirin, panadol/paracetamol - know the local generic name to buy cheaper than branded products eg in the Philippines

Travel pills

 sea sickness 

sleeping pills

Insect repellent

Insect spray )if travelling by car, not a pressurised can if on aircraft_

Stingose or other bite cream.

Medication for mouth ulcers, athletes foot, dandruff.

Special Trips 

Equipment

Clothes

Sports

Swimming = swimming costume, hat, beach shoes, beach bag or towel, sunhat, sun cream, wqterproof keyholder, waterproof watch, cover for phone. Buckets and spades for children. Information on tsunamis, beach flag warnings/

City and hotel Precautions

Earthquake shelters, fire escape. 

Check in

Check out

Day before departure

Pack all except travel clothes and food. have address inside suitcase.

ALARMS

set alarms on hotel clock, mobile phone or watch

Order early picnic breakfast if needed, vegetarian if needed, request compact packing if travelling on airline with luggage restrictions. remember to ask for vegetarian or fish alternative such as salmon if you don't like beef, pork, processed meat, cheese, egg, tuna (our three star parador de las Canadas del Teide on Tenerife gave us salmon and egg instead of ham and cheese, but the grander five star Taoro hotel said they only did regular and vegetarian, gave us thick white bread, and when we changed one item to vegetarian and said one vegetarian, for me, we got one breakfast instead of two, so the other made in a hurry had to be rushed up the car park to us after we had checked out.

Skiing

Ski boots, poles if practical and preferred rather than hiring, trousers (pants) thermal underclothes, gloves, hat, goggles, padded jacket with interior and exterior pockets, lift pass lanyard and identity photos.

Hiking

Wine events

Pack bottle stoppers, Champagne stoppers, Platypus flat screw top drink containers, water bottles filled with water, wafers or savoury biscuits, tee shirts with wine logos, ear-rings with wine symbols, names of delegates, good year charts, colour identity charts, books on wines, business address cards, passport or identity card to prove you are over 18, hard shell suitcase to support wine, protective plastic bottle covers, gift tags and bottle bags for gifts to VIP speakers, or helpers 

Conference

Learn the names of the VIP speakers, your colleagues overseas, the organizers. Look up their photos on Facebook or LinkedIn in order to recognize them.

Check if any of your group of old or new friends or colleagues are travelling back the same way. You might car share, sit together, swap advice, share alternative car hire if the airline cancels the flight.

Before boarding plane home

Pack computer or laptop if on airline with luggage restriction, pack

Leave room for computer, umbrella, folding walking sticks if travelling on airline with luggage restrictions.

Thank organizers.

Note hotel names in your diary and write reviews whilst you have time at the airport and it is fresh in your memory.

For some repeat events you might wish to book the hotel again for next year, especially for annual events such as the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland in August.

SIMPLE PACKING LIST

Dress / Suit for travel, underwear (bra, vest, underpants) socks, sandals, bag for documents, spare clothes, night dress / pyjamas Optional swimsuit. Scarf, belt, jewellery for evening. Sunhat. Jacket, Raincoat.

Toothbrush and paste, comb, lipstick.

Notebook and pen.

Diary.

Travel documents - passport, visa, airline ticket on phone, car park ticket, driving license, hotel reservation letter, mobile phone and charger, and sockets, laptop and powerpoint, mouse and cover. Additional camera for conference calls.

Packing Clothes

Day dresses and suits (numbers of days of stay, maximum 7, wash and wear repeat for second week.

Sandals, spare pair, waterproof or beach shoes, evening shoes, hiking boots or walking shoes.

Socks.

Evening blouses and skirt, 

best dress or suit, 

jewellery to match,

 necklace, bracelet, rings, brooch, scarf slip, safety pins and sewing kit with needles threaded with black and white cotton or self threading needle, or needle threader. Optional spare spools of black and white thread for shortening hems and dresses or repairing tears.

Packing Medication / cosmetics

Toothebrush or elecgric toothebrush and charger

Toothepaste

Tweezers and nail file or  manicure set

Hair conditioner and shampoo

insect spray for car and bedroom

insect repellent for body in day, evening and night

warm evening jacket for air conditioning

Shorts and sleeveless top for sunny spells

Warm jumper, sweatshirt and jacket for cold mountains, sea breezes, mountain hikes, evenings, bike and boat rides.

Paxkable umbrella, kept handy for travelling. 

(Some gym bags have a waterproof zip compartment underneath for wet swimsuits, sweaty gym outfits, laundry, or wet umbrellas).

For travelling I have bought a bag with a horizontal strap to fix the bag on top of a wheelie bag. You can also buy computer cases with a strap.

Soap and or shaving cream and razor

Packing List  - take it with you to check you have brought back everything you set out with, nothing left behind.

Hotel Bedroom Check

Two or more people should do the bedroom check.

Check every room and every cupboard, behind every door (hook on the back of the bathroom door for your own bathrobe or night dress or swimsuit or underwear_

Check in cupboards (even if not used by you - our toddler put a toy in a hotel cupboard)

Check under beds for pens and slippers.

Check under pillows for night clothes and contraceptives. 

Check wastebins for items which have fallen off tables.

Check the minibar for your pills as well as food and drink, alcohol, birthday cake, chocolates and cheese and milk.

Photograph the minibar when you arrive and leave to prove to yourself and the hotel whether you took any goods.

Check bathroom for toothbrush left for you to clean teeth after breakfast.

Check balcony for shoes and swimsuits and underwear and night clothes left to dry.

Check pockets of all discarded items. To get onto a Ryanair flight without paying fifty pounds for excess baggage, after we had already paid for three bags, my husband put my laptop in a suitcase and threw away the case. I check the padded pockets and found my power brick and mouse.

Car check

Check car boot, glove box, door pockets, pockets on the back of the front seats, under the front seats.

On the end of your packing list write reminders for next trip.

My reminders are

1 Keep a coin handy for a luggage trolley at Stansted airport in the Uk.

2 The collection point for cars is by the valet direction upstairs, not back down at meet and greet where you left your car.

3 Pack Nespresso or Lidl coffee capsules if going to the Canary islands. We did not like the coffee capsules given free with the coffee making machines in four different hotels.

Happy holidays!

Useful Websites

Visas

See embassy websites.

Suitcases

A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING

Have a standard place for everything. For example, business cards on the left, toothbrush and cosmetics on the right. Swimsuit top left. Swimsuit and underwear top right. Day clothes on top. Evening clothes at the bottom. Or day clothes on one side. Evening clothes on the other side. Always lay the suitcase down the same way. For example, pull up handle on the right. 

If two of you have a suitcase each and both need an x shape folding suitcase support. One hotel reception told me they have a room full of them to supply to guests on request.

Check ebay and amazon and other specialist luggage shops and brands. You might look for hard shell cases to protect fragile items and bottles. I like expanding suitcases, which have double zips.

Suitcases with double dividers allow you to open one half without the contents of the other half spilling everywhere. Another solution is packing cubes. Or pack flat and secure with inner straps.

As for scissors, no blades longer than 6 cm measured from the fulcrum.

Useful Websites

What you cannot take on Ryanair

https://help.ryanair.com/hc/en-gb

Packing To Leave & Return Home

Packing box and see-through box. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Planning To Leave

I once came home with only one slipper. A popular modern saying which is set as an impromptu speech (a two minute 'table topic', selected from the table or screen by number) is 'We learn faster from our mistakes - do you agree?'

Yes. After losing my slipper, I learned to keep a list of what I packed.

What have my family left behind, or nearly left behind? The food for the jourrney left in the fridge. The toddler's toys in the hotel cot and cupboard. The pen, noebook, map, hat and gloves in the ca's glove box.

Packing lists are useful for three reasons. Firstly to check that I packed everything on leaving. Secondly, to be sure nothing went astray in transit on arrival. Thirdly, to be sure everything is with me on leaving the hotel or holiday home.

1 Packing Lists

1 Make a packing list before you leave. 

That way, when returning home, if the slippers are missing a tick on your checklist, you know to check under the bed or in the bathroom or in the cupboard.

For A Brief Trip

2 Addresses

Take the addresses and phone number of the place and people you are leaving, . Also make sure every member of your group has all numbers of those at the destination. This ensures everybody is organized. Your passenger can check or ring ahead if you are the driver, stuck in traffic, unable to check a phone number. Or you can separated on the journey. Or your jacket contained your paperwork goes missing.

3 Umbrellas

Pack an umbrella. Or keep one in the car. You can keep it in the glove box, the boot, under the seat. Remember it is there. Retrieve it from a hire car. Collect it from the umbrella stand at the entrance to a restaurant.

4 Fill the vehicle tank

Fill the car with petrol. 

If it is not full, allow time to stop and fill up. This applies when leaving 

Put the address in your satnav in the car and in your mobile phone. Get familiar with the car satnav and the google maps or other service such as Street View on your mobile phone.

Check for train cancellations. Check weather warnings. Check road motorway closures and diversions.

Packing

I have managed to leave all sorts of things behind. You may know the humorous song, because of battle the kingdom was lost, because of the horse the battle was lost, and all for the loss of a horseshoe nail.

What have I lost? A bathrobe behind a bedroom door. It belonged to my boyfriend. I was checking out while he was on the last day of the conference. That relationship came to an end. I married somebody else. 

A passport in a shoulder bag on the back of a dining chair of family friends in France. We never got to Italy from France.

Crockery in the dishwasher. Food in the microwave. The dictionaries - I have loads at home - why buy more, unless you don't want to carry them outwards, but then your packing is heavier on return.

Friends have left behind pets, which went missing. One family even had to cancel their emigration flight because a child who didn't want to leave went and hid.

To sum it up, packing needs preparation, and precision in planning, when you need to return home from a hotel or a winter home overseas, or moving country for a new job, or back home to look after parents or see grandchildren. Your mind is on your destination and plans. But you need a checklist of things you must take with you and do.

Let's start with the commonest situation.

Leaving A Hotel

Check items in the bathroom. And on hooks behind the door. On the shower shelf.

On the balcony. Items hanging over railings. Left on chairs. 

The Bedroom

Check under pillows, inside bedding, under the bed.

Empty the fridge. Ensure you have your food, drink, medicine. Check any food, drink, or pills, left downstairs in the hotel kitchen or bar.

 Check all the hotel drinks and foods are returned if you took them out to make room for takeaway food.

Reception Checkout

Check you have handed in all room keys. 

Pay bills, and check bills. 

Leaving A Ski Resort

Remove drying boots and clothes from balcony and radiators.

Check for any skis and boots and jackets left in a locker room. Return locker keys. 

Reclaim deposits on rented skis, boots, clothes, snowboards. 

Allow time to clean off ice and dirt, pack skis and boots and snowboards in zip up bags or special packaging, and large item check-in at airport.

Beach Resorts

Remove swimsuits, swimming hats, bath towels, beach clothes, wraps, and swim shoes from balconies or radiators and bathrooms, and lockers.

Pack children's beach rings, buckets and spades, or allow time to give them away. Unless the airport has an area for tourist to leave beach items for others, to loan and recycle instead of using landfill for abandoned items.

Leaving A Winter Home

Turn down heating. However, leave enough heating to prevent broken pipes bursting and leaking. Arrange for family to check property heating and plumbing

Leaving For A Holiday or New Home

Check all travellers have passports, o ID including driving license, plane or ferry or train or coach or bus tickets. 

Check neighbours will push in post.

Check all members of the party have address and phone number of destination, last check-in time, onward travel from airport to destination. 

Overnight clothes in case of lost luggage, photo of luggage to fill in forms asking colour and make of lost suitcases.

Arrange neighbours to water plants, or put plants outside, or add watering systems.

Check no items are left behind a front door or bedroom door. 

Rental Car

Check  no luggage or bag is left on the doorstep. Nor on the top of the car. 

No keys left in the front door.

No car keys left in the car - unless that is required by a rental company. Nor in the boot, or glove box

Leaving Your Old Home For A New Home or Holiday

Fridge

Empty fridge of milk, or take it to neighbours. If you leave it on their doorstep, warn them in advance, or leave a note or email to tell them it was from you.

Gas, Electricity, Lights

Check you have turned off gas, electricity, lights. Check you have set timers to turn on lights or sounds to deter burglars, or engaged house sitters. 

Insurance

Your insurance might have a limit on the amount of time the property can be left empty. They may extend the time 

1 f you inform them in advance, 

2 have relatives  and/or neighbours going in and out to make the place look busy, 

3 or are willing to pay an extra premium to insurance, if you decide this is cheaper than a house sitter. 

Insurance, house fire and health - countries UK and USA compared

Fire Problem 

January 9th and 10th 2025 saw wildfires destroying areas of Los Angeles on west coast USA. I saw news reels showing the destruction of homes, restaurants, and a gas station (which in the UK would be called a garage, with petrol pumps). 

Fire was not a once in a thousand years unexpected event. We have known about the spread of fire since the Great Fire of London, for which there is a monomuent you can see in London, where the fire started in a bakery. Wooden buildings were built close together. Fire just ran along rows of houses from one to another.

I saw something similar happen to the house opposite. A man was gardening. He dropped the flaming weedkiller on the ground to answer the phone or the front doorbell. The weedkiller flame or spark ignited low plants. The flames or sparks reached the row of trees along the fence. The flame ran horizontally along the trees.   

Fortunately, the anxious neighbours in their back kitchen had seen flames near their window and later shoot along their fence and had called the fire brigade before I saw flames appearing above the garage, and thought, oh, a bonfire, wait a minute, that's above the garage which is taller than a six foot man, that's a nine foot high flame right beside a garage with a car in it or beside it, don't wait a minute, call the fire brigade now.

Afterwards the lady fire officer told me that she and her crew arrived just in time. In another fire minutes both houses would have been alight and gone.

So the fire brigades as well as insurance deal with fires in an area and know about fire worldwide and through history. Every househoder landowner landlord and tenant hotel management and hotel guest needs to know what precautions could and should be taken to prevent or to tackle or escape from fire, flood and burglary / invasion by burglars or hooligans or war.

Fire Insurance

Fire insurers (as well as governments doing worst case scenario planning) know what fire prevention measures are taken in each area, the likelihood of fire, and the cost of compensation, for rehousing and rebuilding.

 Home owners complained that a major insurer failed to renew insurance cover for homes and buildings, because a legal cap on the amount the insurance could charge. This was supposed to protect the consumer. However, the insurance companies apparently saw that they risked going broke because of the hire risk of fire. 

Yet some islands of unburned building remained. Brick chimneys standing like towers over the ash of woodden dwellings. The entire Getty museum estate with fire up to its gates.

What was different about the safe areas? Apparently As far as I can tell, precautions are well known but not budgeted for.

Building Construction And Reconstruction

What was not done? 

1 To prevent dry burning bushes by cutting,, or controlled burning of bushes which would catch fire naturally, from sparks from other fires (or from arson). 

2 Water Storage For Prevention

Houses were built of wood, which is good for resisitng earthquakes, but bad for fires. If you build rows of houses together that saves on heating but prevents access to the back and means fire spreads unless the construction is fireproof. If you build out garages to adjoin adjacent buildings, that could make a domino effect for fires, and a gap which is too narrow means you cannot repaint to remove insects animals, humans who fall, work there, trapped cats, mould from leaking gutters, nor provide a fire break.

3 

4 Affordable Insurance

Apparently, the government's laws, designed to protect the consumer, put a cap on the price or percentage increase of insurance in order to make it affordable by the consumer so that people did not risk going without insurance. 

Unfortunately, it seems that the insurance copanies calculated that the see saw balance tipped so that the income would not cover the outgoings in a catastrophe (which was not preventable because the govenment had cut funding of services such as fire brigades, trained officers - bringing in untrained people from ethnic minorities or majorities to provide them with employment and water storage.

Insurance companies are required to hold enough money from income to pay out for scattered or grouped disasters. They might write in clauses warning that they will not (and cannot) pay out for major catastrophic events (such as war and riots) which would require more financial compensation than has been paid in that year (minus the payment for the insurance companies' staff, offices, and shareholders dividends).

Possible Solutions - Water Storage

If water was not stored, use sea water. 

Why was sea water not brought in? 

At first it was. This works in small scale fires if the winds are blowing smoke away from the approaching planes. 

However, in a major fire with huge amounts of smoke blowing towards the incoming planes the pilots cannot operate and even if they want to take the risk they are banned for their own safety and the safety of the aircraft (and those below in the event of a crashed plane) and the cost of more compensation for injured firefighter pilots and loss of firefighters or pilots.

That leaves us with two options for the future.

1 Water Storage

Every house should have water storage and be warned at fire risk times to store water and to water gardens and bushes. 

But you get hose pipe bans during hot times of drought. Yes. So you have to cut down un-needed bushes.

But conservationists say that animals and insects live there. 

Also in London, our local professional gardener, Martin, complained about people concreting over front gardens to make driveways. Cynics, or kind people, might say, that means less work available for gardeners. That affects him. But he is already in high demand. 

Water Drainage - Flood Risks And Prevention

What affects everybody is the risk of flooding, made worse by concrete and roads, because water cannot sink into the ground but flows downhill. It pools above the damp proof course, a horizontal black line which looks like slate between the bricks about a foot off the ground, which you can see on blocks of flats. 

I was sent videos of flooding in Northwood at Sentis Court. It also affects bungalows (such as Hillview Road in Hatch End, and businesses at the bottom of sloping roads (such as the Broadway, (the high street, which American call main street) in Hatch End. So, this could affect housing complexes and hillside streets worldwide. 

Eveything requires the right balance. Too much water (dams not repaired or overflowing) and you get flooding. Too little water, you get fires or cannot put out fires.

Insurance Options

The state (of California) could, and in my opinion should, offer last resort insurance the way that the NHS (National Health Service) in the UK operates. The UK government taxes your income (National Health Insurance contribution) and provides basic health care.

 If every state in the USA including California did this, then each state would take an amount to insure your home and provide health care. The state would also be responsible for rehousing and rebuilding homes for the homeless. 

But the hospitals in the UK are only where the state builds them, and they want big hospitals in one place near cities, so local residents are often heard of running cmapiaagns to prevent th closure of smaller hospitals which the state or local council wants to centralise. Similarly, the state (in Singapore Housing Development Board, HDB for short) provides homes on cheaper land out of town, and sometimes on flood risk land. So, hospitals and homes, are only where the state builds them. (And where government decides to build them.) 

The same applies to local government and commercial and individual decisions. In an ideal world, every individual has the money and sense to take good precautions. Also, and so does the govenment. No ignorance, risk-taking, irresponsiblity, corruption, greed.

If only.

Lessons Learned

Ghetty Museum

1 Concrete Building

Not wood, thick concrete walls.

2 Sprinklers outside. (The Ghetty Museum can't have water inside all over watercolours and oil paintings. 

Modern hotels are different. They have sprinklers to protect people. They don't have heirlooms. Minimal objects, to prevent theft. Furnishings changed every three years anyway because of wear and tear and to update.)

3 Evacuation

When a fire is nearby, museums like the Ghetty get fewer visitors. They can send away ticket selling staff. 

They could just keep a minimum of outdoor firefighters, mostly daytime only, keeping watch. Already outdoors, they could escape in a hurry.

Onlookers From Afar

Those of us far away can only look on with horror at disasters. No. We can learn. To prevent disaster happening to us. (Global warming. Water storage. Budgets for fire fighting. Meritocracy for recruiting firefighters. Insurance.)

And to step in with advice, and financial and equipment help. And sympathy. 

Travel

Meanwhile, for travellers, your travel to Los Angeles or through Los Angeles might be disrupted.

May the rest of 2025 bring better news for all of us worldwide. 

Useful Websites

Daily Mail article on Ghetty Museum

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Healthier Places And Plans For New Year, Winter And All Year? Precautions for fire safety and pets, for candles, cats, clothes, mould

Fire fighting devices, installed by home owners and landlords.  Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Safety, Scented Candles & Incense 

I read about the potential dangers of scented candles and incense.

Allergies And Precautions

I started reflecting on which places are romantic and which are healthy and safe.I and my nearest and dearest family have lived in the UK, USA, Spain and Singapore. I was tested for allergies in my early teens and knew after that to avoid feathers. So feather pillows in our home and in hotels were on my list of things to avoid. (Also animal fur. So no pets such as birds and cats. Nothing which floated fine particles in the air.)

After my parents died I lived for a time in their flat, so did my son after that. Eventually I rented it out, which covered the cost of the annual maintenance charge and shifted the council tax onto somebody else.

No Smoking

No soking bans are increasing worldwide in hotels, restaurants, to protect the lungs of the building occupants and others nearby, living in the building, working in the building.

As landlords, we made a no smoking rule mainly because of the fire risk. You also have to consider the safety of your tenants, and neighbours. 

Insurance

Plus the terms of your insurance for your property and fixtures and fittings. Plus the buildings insurance of the freeholder or management company.

Smoking might also set off the fire alarms. The fire alarm went off, endangering the blind man upstairs who heard the alarm, smelled smoke and he ran downstairs hurting himself. This happened when a fire ceremony was conducted indoors for a new baby.

Other successive tenants burned incense, some lit candles.

Bans On Cats and Petd

Others wanted a cat. We reluctantly gaver permission. They acquired two cats. 

Later, their neighbours, tenants of the same landlord, included a wife who was afraid of cats. She was  upset when the cat wandering outside made a habit of trying to get in through her patio doors alongsisde. The solution found by her husband was to buy cheap cat repellent stick which was placed outside the second patio door.

Fortunately, the two neighbours had already established a good relationship.

This means that if I allow tenants to have birds or cats, the hairs are infecting furniture, bedding, carpets and curtains. Making the place unhealthy for me if I am widowed and want to downsize into the flat. 

Cats

Plus, the new problem I had not anticipated in addition to problems within the flat, outside it, upsetting other tenants.

On the plus side, I was told that the arrival of the cats had resulted in the disappearance of mice.

I also heard at an AGM from the management company rep, that you mice and rats don't get along, so you either have mice or rats, not both. 

I later learned about the following suggested precautions.

Mould Prevention

Some countries have a lot of rain. The UK. The wet west coasts where the mountains have greenery, showing that plants on hillsides receive rain dropped from clouds and mists coming in from the sea. 

On higher ground you might be safer from rising water, tides, tsunamis.

Mould Prevention and Clothes Drying On Radiators

Keep Clothes Away From Walls

Keep Walls Clear

Mould Prevention and Plants

Another idea I read, was to change or replace existing plants with succulents or cacti which take in water from the air. One such plant is nicknamed mother-in law's tongue, which can grown into a large, plants with spiky tips.

Useful Websites

 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-14160749/Disturbing-risks-festive-scented-candles-revealed-experts-say-worse-health-cigarette-smoke.html

Airplane Accident - should be prevented, preventable

 

An attractive airline design from a Thai airline.. 

Airline travel should be glamorous and trouble free. Accidents are rare. 

But every accident is a tragedy for those involved, and bystanders, even nervous passengers who have heard about the accidents. 

Can we reduce accidents to zero? Why not? \\

Firstly, in modern times we have a duty of care. Secondly, studying the past, we learn that Viktor Frankl reduced suicides to zero among Austrian students, as long ago as before WW2.

Regarding a death on the ground, outdoors, involving a plane, a reported accident was later  reported as not an accident, was apparently not an accident. A person died, apparently a suicide. Either way it should not be possible to climb into any moving part of a plane or get sucked in. 

An airplane design fault. You should not be able to climb inside moving machinery when it is in operation. It could have been an animal or bird in a foreign country with wildlife on landing and caused a major accident.

Warning Signs

 It is mandatory to have warning signs about washing hands above basins in restaurants. Warnings signs should show sheer drops from cliffs, and railway and river banks, an doors into lift shaft - and moving machinery.

Are Signs Sufficient?\

But warning signs are not enough. There might be so many signs that people don't read them. The population is not 100% literate. People might not be paying attention. They may not be wearing their reading glasses. They might not speak English. They might be in a hurry and not stopping to read sign. They ight not know that signs apply to them. Elderly and confused people. Drug takers. People tired from flights overnight, long working hours, exciting love lifes. Forgetting signs read long ago and not re-read every day.

Therefore, you cannot rely on people reading signs, nor obeying them. A boss or colleague might say of a sign, it doesn't matter, never mind, it's an old sign, we haven't time.

Actions

Therefore, safety design required keeping machinery away from people, and people away from machinery. A designer or AI can generate a list of suggestions. Such as a physical barrier, a warning sound. a net. A bar. A way of stopping the moving machinery. A moat. A moving barrier. 

Who Can Help?

Sometimes the design department does the job to fix the problem. Lawyers or Insurance companies can bring pressure to ensure action is taken.

Occasionally a contest is used to appeal for designs. Or a student or group of students work on the idea.

 Or a family member, albeit shutting the door after the horse has escaped, is obsessed with fixing the problem. It gives them a purpose. Action after the event is useful - so that it never happens again. 

Useful Websites

 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13477673/Man-died-Schiphol-airport-deliberately-climbed-planes-engine.html

Please share links to your favourite posts

Travel Safety - suitable clothes,sun protection, insects, preventing pickpockets

 An Indian contact on zoom asked me, "What about safety when travelling in Europe?".I replied:

First check weather and clothing. You want to proect yourself against sun and insects in the topoics, and summer.  I always travel with a protective hat which has a brim, neck covering.

You also need some way to prevent a hat or cap falling off when you or I look down. You might look down over a cliff path, or above a well. Your hat could get caught by a gust of wind by the sea in a sea breeze, or on a boat.

1 What precautions should he take?

2 Will a foreigner be safe, acceptable?.

3 Any other advice?

1 Dress for the weather. Carry clothes for all weathers. You might change your route Secure hats so they don't fly off in the breeze, such as when in a rickshaw, in Cambodia. Secure spectacles with chains.

2 Take out travel and sports insurance with 24 hour hotlines for emergencies.

3 Find some local organization with connections to your work or hobby. Find out if there is a conference. They may have excursion in a group, or for spouses. 

You could offer to speak, in which case you might get free entry fee, accommodation, meals, drinks, a welcome dinner, 

Clothing with extra pockets is also handy if you want too be hands free when climbing over rocks on a hike, no handbag needed.

Security Clothes

Double pockets are handy. Make sure all your pockets have closures such as zips.

Useful Websites

Pick pocket proof (pockets) in convertible trousers

https://www.clothingarts.com/products/pickpocket_proof_convertible_travel_pants

5 pocket t-shirts (With two open hand-warmer pockets and three concealed zipped pockets

Useful Websites

https://ayegear.com/products/t5?variant=12113869668396

Please share links to your favourite posts.

The cost of relocating to France or Spain, Europe, the USA

If you move across continents, as we did from Singapore to the UK, you can rent  a furnished place and leave goods in storage, or rent unfurnished and ship stuff from the UK to France or Spain (or Portugal or Italy).

How do you compare costs. We had a huge bill for moving our goods from Asia to Europe. Now we will have to find more to move stuff across country to country, in addiiton to the costs of renting or buying.

Usually you have to specifiy dates and amounts, weight, 

This site gives you estimates for 20 or 40 foot containers, and quicker airfreight. 

Another list gives you the add ons, which are insurance, and customs. You might need to pay to import wines.

Useful Websites

Where to go

https://europeinwinter.com/warmest-places-in-europe-in-january/#comment-665

https://www.booking.com/hotel/es/beautiful-apartment-with-swimming-pool-and-beach.en-gb.html

Cost of removal

https://www.getamover.co.uk/international-removals/

Please bookmark this blog post for yourself and share links with your family and friends.

Travelling For Thrills?!? High Rise Buildings, Horror and Heartache

Remi Lucidi or Remi Enigma travelled the world for the thrill of looking down from the rooftops high rise buildings and sharing videos of his antics. He chose destinations with high buildings. 

Paid Work

What did he do for a living? His last location was in a hostel in Hong Kong. There he went to a high building and broke through a security door to reach the rooftop. So he doesn't sound as if he earned much money. But he must have spent on travel.

Surely he could have got a job with a circus? Or in movies as a stunt man? He needed an agent. 

He could have been an agent. He could have been the head of a team of agents cum performers. Event entertainers. Weddings. Best man. Dropping from overhead with the ring.

How about the traditional job of a steeplejack? Or mountain rescue, or suicide rescuer, or fire service rescue department, health and safety. 

He could have been a fitness trainer. 

He would have got legal access to heights as a window cleaner, crane operator, skyscraper building supervisor. Tower clock renovation, plant wall and irrigation installation. 

Did he want to have the excitement of travel as well as the excitement of heights? He could have been useful as a UN emergency rescue worker, or SAS, or trainer for the military, 

I was going to end with the words, rest in peace. That might be suitable for somebody who died in wartime, or an elderly person who had a long illness. But not quite the right phrase for a youngster and thrill seeker.

How shall we think of him, travelling on away from us, ahead of us. To the afterlife? He was taken too soon, to fly above the heights of planes to the heavens. We can imagine him as a happy, mischievous angel, watching down from above. Or still travelling to other galaxies.

Most of the commentators on the Daily Mail news site said in effect, not for me.

Those of us who are cautious will take out family insurance. Check the exclusion clauses.

From Brainyquote.com

We are the people our parents warned us about.

Jimmy Buffett

From the A to Z of Quotes website

It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others.

Ashleigh Brilliant

Useful Websites

https://metro.co.uk/2023/07/31/daredevil-skyscraper-climber-30-dies-after-falling-700ft-19218705/?ico=related-posts

https://www.azquotes.com/quotes/topics/warning.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings

#tallestbuildings

#remilucidi

Preventing Vehicle Traffic Accidents, Reporting and Rescuing

An accident in Wales left three dead and two alive, but trapped for more than two days before friends and police found them. 

Time

What could be done to prevent this happening again? Nothing good happens after midnight. But they, apparently, according to the report I read, set off at 11.15 pm? 

Drinking

They went out for 'a few drinks'. The Scandinavians have a rule about serving food with alcohol. A Singapore restaurant recently told us they had only bottled water which we had to buy. The rule worldwide should be that free tap water is served with alcohol, unless the customer prefers to buy fizzy or still bottled water.

Drinking & Driving

What about a designated driver?

Stay In Your Own Car

One rule when on a blind date with a stranger is to stay in your own car.

In Wales, one woman had her own car but left with the others, presumably in a guy's car. 

Stick to a slow convoy

Agree in advance to a speed. Prevent getting into a car with somebody who wants to show off and ignore pleas to slow down.  

Tracking Car Routes

Ask for the destination to be texted. Text to tell family your destination. 

Tracing Phones

When two or more persons go missing, after driving, a police warrant for phone tracking should not be required. 

New phones and cars and hired or shared vehicles should have tracking and automatic impact reporting. This should be required by insurance. 

Insurance Requirement

What if there's no insurance? Cars should fail to drive unless the driver is sober and licensed and insured. 

What if you need to move the car In an emergency? 

The car could be driven by a passer-by or rescue service, but with a report on who is then driving. 

Privacy

What about privacy? Yes, that is a valid issue. But, if you die, you have no privacy. Better to be alive.

Rescue - barriers

How to prevent this? Barriers around run offs into trees around roundabouts. Even if it won't prevent a crash, it will show a gap where the car went through, bringing help sooner. 

Call For Help

A comment says saying hey Siri call emergency services would work even if you were unable to reach your iphone. All new phones should have this service. Maybe it could be built into all new cars and hire cars too.

Safety for Cyclists

The Dutch Reach makes you turn your head to check the mirror for oncoming cyclists and vehicles.

Separate lanes in Amsterdam, Holland, The Netherlands

Useful Websites

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11832347/Bank-worker-20-survived-Cardiff-car-crash-suspended-wreckage-TWO-DAYS-mother-says.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_safety

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dooring#Dutch_Reach

see Wikicar

What you need to know about quarantine - stories from Singapore

A member of my family recently had lunch with a friend who travels a lot on business and has friends who do, too. On returning to Singapore in August the government helpline told us that on returning to Singapore from overseas we would be taken straight from the airport to be quarantined.

Which hotel? They could not or would not say where. Would we do better if we paid business class? That's a lot of money.

The cost of staying in the hotel is about 2000 Singapore dollars per person for the two weeks. You get to stay in a grand hotel. But you cannot use the swimming pool or the restaurant. You have to stay in your room. You hope it has a good view.

Some couples don't want to be cooped up. They travel on different days. That way they get two different rooms. Maybe even two different hotels.

That doesn't suit me. I would be bored. Lonely. I would rather be with my family.

During that time you can order food and goods to be delivered but neither you nor any goods can leave your room.

Supposing you want particular equipment, which is bulky or heavy, and not required on your trip elsewhere. For example, excercising eqipment susch as skipping ropes and dumb bells.  Or a coffee maker - and the capsules. And a camera for your laptop?

Delivering A Suitcase
We were considering deciding what to take when our friend said: I have lots of friends in quarantine. They leave a suitcase with me and when they come back, I deliver it to their hotel. They can have things delivered to their room. Just nothing is allowed to be sent out of the room.

It is important to label the suitcase twith the name or nickname by which your friend knows you, so he or she can identify the suitcase, especially if it is a black suitcase. You also want your passport name so that the hotel can identify the recipient.

You also might want to photograph the suitccase and list the items. If your friend got sick, died, moved house, went into quarantine, got burgled, couldn't find the case, you might need evidence for an insurance claim or to tell others where to look for your case.

Meanwhile I am weighing myself daily and slowly losing weight, so that when I travel at least I am in the best of health. That at least is under my control.

Costs
You will have to pay 2000 Singapore dollars per person for the 14 day hotel stay.
Plus 200 dollars for a test (presumably on your last day). You also have to pay for your transport to the test, not on public transport.

I hope this helps you, or, if you are stuck at home, provides information and entertainment.

Packing During Covid19
Masks
Empty bottle to refill with hand sanitiser at the other end.
Hand wipes.
Phones for both ends of your trip including numbers for the hsopital, doctor and Covid19 reporting and general covid19 information phone numbers or whatsapp.

Bye for now.

Useful Websites
https://www.gov.sg/article/questions-about-the-dedicated-shn-facilities-for-returnees-answered

About the Author

Angela Lansbury is a travel writer and photographer, author of 20 books, and a speaker and speech trainer.
Her books include:
Wedding Speeches & Toasts
Quick Quotations
Writing Poetry For Fun
Angela's Alarming Animal Poems

Pantomime characters, pantomime dames create humour.
Angela Lansbury is a travel writer and photographer, author of 20 books, and a speaker and speech trainer.
Her books include:
Wedding Speeches & Toasts
Quick Quotations

Writing Poetry For Fun
Angela's Alarming Animal Poems

This blog has many more posts on learning languages and destinations around the world. Please share links to your favourite pages.
See my other blog
https://how2bfunny.blogspot.com/2020/08/why-be-funny-advantages-

A wedding with coronavirus?

A wedding with more than 100 attending?

We had a wedding planned for June om the UK. We had guests from all over the world.

They were from the USA, the UK, the Middle East, Israel, Singapore. All ages, including the elderly and those with health issues.



We were watching the situation in the UK, the USA, Israel and Singapore.



And airlines such as Ryanair and Singapore Airlines.



Flag of Cyprus.

We had planned a trip taking in Cyprus and the UK.

 Then we wanted to bring it forward to March. Then American and other countries started putting in more restriction on travel, and quarantine on arrival.

The venue allowed us to make a reservation for September.

The big cost is the catering.

What are the problems? Guests cannot travel. No flights.

Quarantine
Guests could be put into quarantine on arrival in your country.
Guests travelling from overseas may be put into quarantine when they return home.

Cancellation Charges
If the government bans big meetings, maybe you can cancel the event and recover from insurance the catering cost. But if you cancel or bring your wedding forward, you may not be able to claim on insurance. Check the terms.

Checking
Call the caterers and insurance company to find out.

Travel Bans
On the other hand, the longer you leave it, the greater the risk that your family will be unable to travel.

Will there be flights? Road blocks? Travel restrictions.

Health Risks
Or they won't want to risk getting ill. Or you won't want to risk infecting all your elderly relatives. Or being to blame if even one person falls ill.


Singapore flag.

Singapore Airlines Queues
In Singapore there were huge queues (line ups) of people wanting to cancel flights, change flights, leave, not leave, bring journeys forward to get out whilst they could still get into other countries.

Singapore Airlines was asking people to not go to their offices unless their flights were in the next 72 hours, so they could reduce waiting times and make a priority those with immediate travel needs.

We looked at the insurance websites. Some insurances say you cannot get a refund unless you have a medical reason, supported by a certificate from a doctor . If you are over 70 with an underlying medical condition and over 70s are told not to travel, you may be able to get a doctor's certificate saying it is not safe for you to risk travelling. It is wroth phoning your insurance company and your doctor to find out.

Useful Websites
Ryanair
Singapore airlines
Singapore government health information updated daily

About the author
travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite post.

Where To See Joseph Conrad memorial in Singapore and other statues worldwide

Author Joseph Conrad, 1857-1924, who wrote Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim(1900).

Why would you find a plaque to Joseph Conrad in Singapore? He features Singapore in his short story, The End of the Tether in 1902, as well as using Singapore in other stories. As the plaque says, Singapore was his home port. he would have had to register at the post office which is now the landmark Fullerton Hotel.


Singapore flag.

Singapore was and still is an important port and stopping place for ships to re-load goods and fuel, crew and passengers. Conrad spent a lot of time aboard ships and went from one country to another.

I was visiting the historic hotel in Singapore by the museum and river when I came across a plaque to Joseph Conrad. He was a most remarkable man. He grew up surrounded by the patriotic Polish people and language in places which were under Russian rule, in what is now Poland, in cities such as Krakow (now Poland) and Lvov (now in the west of Ukraine on the border).

He lived in many countries, first France, and finally including England where he became British and managed to extricate himself from Russian citizenship. He later had chosen to avoid countries such as Russia and France where he would have been forced to serve in the military.

He had lost his parents (who both had tuberculosis) when he was a 12 year old child. Later in life he attempted suicide.

He wrote best sellers in English, which was not his first language. It was his third language after Polish and French.

Like many authors, he lad a life more dramatic and incredible than his plots and books. He met other famous authors and was the model for the character in another author's book.

He spent about ten years at sea, working his way up through the ranks.

I took a photo in Singapore at the time I first saw his monument and again, which has unfortunately disappeared into my stored photos on a disc somewhere. Never mind, you can easily find photos of  his monuments including the memorial in Singapore in Wikipedia and on the web.

I had copies of his books but looked up the plots in Wikipedia. I like that about Wikipedia. In review sites you don't get a through analysis of a book because they are to anxious not to reveal the plot twists and ending. Wikipedia gives you plots, characters, films made of the book, enough of the author's life to see what inspired him, and separately the author's life and quotations.


Conrad's grave at Canterbury Cemetery, near Harbledown, Kent.

Conrad's grave in England.
As Jonson famously said, 'Worth seeing but not worth going to see'.

Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Conrad
https://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/Attraction_Review-g294265-d11824838-Reviews-Joseph_Conrad_Korzeniowski-Singapore.html

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

Should you or they apologize? It's not always so simple.

I was rear-ended when driving on the motorway. Fortunately I was too shocked to say much.

I thought I was at fault. May I was too slow, maybe I drifted into the other lane as a car was trying to overtake?

However, the driver of the truck which collected me and my vehicle told me that if the other car hit the back of mine, judging by the damage to the back of my vehicle, it was automatically their fault.

It is also a British, female and personality thing to apologise, even when somebody else steps on your toe.

Afterwards I read through my insurance document and found that it said that at the scene of an accident I should not admit guilt, nor apologise - which the other driver's insurance could take as an admission of guilt and refuse to pay to your insurance company - therefore that invalidate's your insurance and your insurance company will not pay you.

After I received physio for damage to my arm, I thought I was better and signed a document of release. However, I now find that my arm is in pain when carrying a bag.  I blamed the bag, the angle of carrying, all sorts of things. Then I remembered the damage to my arm in the accident.

When you spill somebody else's drink in a pub, it is agood idea to apologise and offer to pay for another drink, even if you think it's not your fault.

On the other hand, in a road traffic accident, your legal obligation is usually to provide your contact details and no more.

I was surprised to read online that you should get seen medically before contacting your insurance company and saying you were fit.

Be aware that at the scene of an accident you will often be asked to go for an immediate medical check. You could have a slow internal bleed and collapse later.

In one accident I had no surface injury and was in a state of shock. A bystander exulted that I had not a scratch on my, no blood, nothing.

Other poeple dashed up and asked how I was.

I said, "I'm fine, thank you."

Then somebody told me to get out of the car. When I tried to get out of the car and realised I could not move. My breathing was shallow and I had damage to ribs.

Websites
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7549699/Father-British-teen-run-killed-diplomats-wife-
https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/what-not-to-say-to-your-insurance-company-after-an-auto-accident-18067

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

Is your family safe while travelling? Motorbikes in Singapore and worldwide

I am going to tell you about luck, police investigate, DIY first aid, and the cost of repairs to vehicles.

Singapore Flag

Lucky Numbers And Sale Prices In Singapore
 In Singapore buyers of motorcars and bicycles are interested in the car or bike having lucky numbers in the numberplate.  Eight is lucky. Number four is unlucky inspiring death because the word for four sounds like death. The good news is that if you have to sell your vehicle, you will get a better price if it has eights in the numberplate, and if you are buying you can pay a lower price for a vehicle with fours in the numberplate.

Flag of India

Indian Safety & Insurance
I am a Westerner, a Caucasian, so I am more inclined to rely on caution and prevention - and insurance. I was amused in India to see vehicles plastered with images of sacred cows and Gods, supposed to protect the vehicle.

I was less pleased to learn of the high accident rate, to see cows wandering along the motorway towards or across traffic, or lying dead in the road. The accident rate was scary.

Superstition & Prevention
I read a book about superstitition and an investigation was done in hospitals. It was found that the days 12 and 14 were no luckier than the 13th of the month in terms of admissions and deaths. Another finding was that swift attention and acurate diagnosis of  illness and injury affect statistics. So a quick response by medics on bikes to both heart attack victims and road accident victims saves lives in countries such as states in the USA which have introduced such a service.

 At weekends and holidays when medics are in short supply, overworked by drunk drivers causing accidents, or junior doctors are on call in hospitals and reluctant to attend quickly at evenings and weekends and national and relidigous holidays you get less attention and less quick attention and less accurate diagnosis.

My Many Accidents
I have been in several accidents. Once as a driver turning right at the lights in the UK.

UK flag

Now I understand why many junctions do not allow right hand turns, or prevent traffic oncoming, only allowing each lane to move seaprately.

Once, in 1984, as a pedestrian in a crowd crossing the road in Corsica. The moral of the story was, look both ways when starting to cross and reaching the centre of the road. Try not to cross a road below the brow of a hill. Remember that in the UK, cars are on one side of the road, in France and Corsica they drive on the other side.

Later, my car was hit from behind on a motorway in England. (By a dozy driver who had just come to the UK on an overnight flight from the Indian subcontinent.)


In Singapore I waw a passenger in a car which hit a pedestrian. (The pedestrian was jaywalking so was deemed at fault. The driver was in a hire car so any fault in maintenance was not the driver's fault.)



Singapore flag

I was reminded of all these factors this week when my husband came off a bike after being hit by a vehicle in Singapore. Since he rides for business and pleasure, on public roads and on racetracks, has taken courses by professional drivers, and watches racing on TV, he has been in or seen many accidents. You need to think of prevention of accidents and cure.

As far as I know, he was not doing anything wrong or careless. His bike was not out of fuel. He was wearing a helmet.

He claimed another vehicle hit him from behind. Fortunately they were near a junction so public independent cameras recorded the incident. In any case drivers have a duty of care and if it can be shown that you are hit from behind, even if you are stationery, it is the fault of the driver which hits you, in the UK as well as Singapore. (You can check with the insurnce company, the AA, or your lawyer.)

Photo Records
It is useful to take a picture of the position of the vehicles after the accident, to remind yourself and as evidence. Photos might show signalling and skid marks on the road. The length of the skid mark might indicate direction, position and speed. You also need the damage to the vehicles.

I like a record of the people involved (in case they give false identities or you lose their details). But they probably won't want to be photographed, suspecting you might have some ulterior motive such as blackmail, character assassination, revenge, who knows.

If you have a dashcam (dashboard camera) that will automatically record the other vehicle with the people inside and them as they get out, without them taking issue with you for photographing adults or children.

Statements
Insurance companies tell you not to admit you are in the wrong (to the other party) as this can be used against you by the other party's insurance company. Your insurance company might take issue with you. Check your insurance document. You will probably be able to find the clause which tells you not to say anything, because that might invalidate your claim.

Preserving Personal Documents
It would be handy to have your identity on your person, not in a bag left behind in a broken down or inaccessible vehicle. Imagine trying to claim for a car which burns out when you have jumped out and left all your documents in the glove box with no record on your person nor at home nor in the workplace.

So it's handy to keep records duplicated on your person and elsewhere. Also a credit card or travel card in your pocket in the event that you have to leave your vehicle and travel onwards or back home on public transport or must hire a vehicle.

The same goes for a driving license, even if you were not planning to drive.

Another useful item is some kind of first aid. Even a plaster to cover a wound, and a length of sterlile bandage and a piece of waterprrof tape or a safety pin. Plus a quick link to a first aid book or website and a knowledge of  first aid. I have a first aid kit in the boot (Americans say trunk) of my car in the UK. However, if you are hit from behind and the boot is not accessible it is handy to have a plaster in your pocket or purse. (The British word purse is more like wallet, whilst the Americans use the word purse to mean a small bag.

First Aid
By chance the very day of his accident, the Singapore government had delivered to every resident in the neighbourhood a fridge magnet with advice on DIY first aid for burns, scalds and accidents and emergency number.

The Magic of Ice Packs
The ice pack advised for reducing pain and swelling for minor scalds was also useful in reducing the swelling on his leg. First he photographed the injury, the blood and the swelling. Then showered to remove dirt which could infect the grazing. Finally we secured an ice pack to his leg with large rubber bands. We used face flannels to protect his skin from ice burn or being indented by the rubber bands.

Morale
Often you are busy tending to the injury and trying to reassure the patient. Only the next day or the next week do you start to feel anxious, especially as you tell family or friends or colleagues or relive events for a hospital report or police or insurance assessors who look at the vehicle, as well as the repair shop.

By now we are quite philosophical. Although shaken, we keep telling ourselves, we were very lucky. It could have been much worse. We are the survivors.

Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_emergency_telephone_numbers

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

Why Your Family Should All Know How To Swim

Facts tell but stories sell, so instead of giving the numbers who die by drowning every year I am going to tell you a story about a little boy who was saved and the moral of that story.

The toastmasters International Harrovian Toastmasters Speakers Club Meeting In London. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

The Challenge - A Lesson Learned In childhood
In London, England, at a Toastmasters meeting, Harrovian Speakers, one of the table topics for impromptu speeches was, tell a story from your childhood which changed your view of the world.

Indian Flag

Drowning Danger Story
The speaker described how as a small child in India he chased a duck into a pond, further and further out until he was up to his neck and it was still out of reach.

One more step and he might have it in his clutches. But one more step and he might drown. He did not know how to swim!

At this moment a hand grabbed him by the shoulders. The helping hand pulled him back to safety. It was his older sister.

The Moral - Needing Teamwork, Support, Protection
At that point a realization came over him, that having an older person to always be there to rescue him was vital to his survival.

UK flag.

When he reached London, England, he knew nobody. He had nobody to help him, look after him rescue him. He realised he had to create a family, to make friends at work, marry and have a family and an extended family of in-laws, join a club such as Toastmasters and have friends who could listen, watch, advise and literally lend a hand.

He realised that for both the individual, the family, any group, and the country, you need a team so that the older ones with more experience can help the younger ones out of trouble.

Tales From Toastmasters
I thought he was going to win the ribbon for best table topics. But he didn't. He was not the only person to tell a great story. Toastmasters meetings have so many interesting stories from interesting people. You find out things about others, and about yourself.

Practical Lessons - Learn Swimming
And the moral of the story - there's a second practical moral. Learn to swim and insist that everybody in your family knows how to swim. As soon as I found out that I was pregant with our son I insisted that my husband should learn to swim. I should have sent him to learn life-saving as well. Swimming can save you and you can save somebody smaller. But if you go to help somebody the same size and they grap you by the neck, then you both sink and drown.

My Story Of Drowning My Mother
I know because when I was a teenager I nearly drowned my mother and she nearly downed me. I and my mother were in a pool in Spain at a hotel; and I was teaching her to swim.

Spanish flag.

She swam over the line dividing the shallow end from the deep end. I waited for her to come up, but she didn't. I shrieked and swam towards her. She grabbed me and we both sank. My father and another man heard me shriek and saw us both disappear. they dived in from opposite ends of the pool, disentangled my mother and towed her to the side.

Neither of them thought to help me. I was now coughing water and shaky from shock and desperately doggy paddled to the side.I learned that a swimmer cannot rescue a drowning person face to face. You have to get behind them out of reach of their arms and tow them backwards with their head up and out of the water so they can breathe.If you are taller and stronger, and have another person to help, even better.

Swimming Safer - Never Alone
A friend of mine in London, Sandra, used to live in a house which had a small garden swimming pool. Her husband, who was a doctor, forbade her to swim alone. She used to to invite her neighbours, or if they were out, me - I lived some distance away, to be there so she could swim if he was out.

Flag of Asutralia.

Australia's Rules On Fencing Pools
The Australians investigated swimming accidents and safety and were surprised to find that the greatest number of deaths from drawning came not from the seaside but home swimming pools. Australia cut the death rate by drowning by making it mandatory for back yard pools to be fenced off and gated and locked when not in use.

I remember in a New Zealand post office reading the story of the stamp issued to commenorate this legislation.

My American Experience

When I lived in the USA in Rockville, Maryland, our condo's pool had a huge wire fence like a tennis court. Two high chairs for liefguards were by the pool. You needed two lifeguards so that when one went to the toilet or to speak to somebody, the other was still watching the pool. I was told the insurance company demanded this.

Everyone Should Learn To Swim - Even Babies
Later I learned that in the USA black people suffered more chid fatalies from drowning becuse they did not know how to swim.

Later I larned that babies were being taught to swim in the USA.
You can even teach babies to float and swim before they can walk. See that on YouTube.

People spend money on lots of things, such as music lessons and sports, when their priority should be ensuring that all the family can swim.

Some people are afraid of the water. Swimming lessons cure that.

Call to Action
As soon as a child can walk, it can walk to the edge of a swimming pool, canal, lake, river, or the sea. Teach everybody to swim, your family, your school, your college, your club, your community.

Useful Websites
Book On Teaching Your Baby To Swim
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Teaching-Your-Francoise-Barbira-Freedman

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