Keep Calm When Travelling - And Avoid Embarrassing Moments

 

How do you keep calm when travelling? I have learned from my sinking heart moments what to do. What were my sinking heart moments? My Embarrassing Moments - I have written a book about them.

The Lost Coach

We were the first coach to arrive at a car park in China. However, when I got back to my coach, the car park was full of coaches. I knew our coach had been parked near the fence. I hopped on the front coach.

The coach drove off. The guide spoke in German. 

I asked him to repeat what he had said in English. 

He said, but this is a German group. 

I was on the wrong coach! 

The coach had to drive back to the car park. The coach driver was not happy. But I had my own problems.

I ran around frantically. Which was my coach? Finally, the guide on my coach called out to me. 

Most mishaps can be prevented with a little forward planning - and a few photos.

1 DESTINATION DETAILS

Know where you are going. Put the address in your contacts list, your diary, and phone. Add the address with map and directions in your computer, mobile phone or car satnav. Know the motorway numbers, exits, alternative routes.

2 CONTACT DETAILS

Know vital contact details. 

Emergency numbers at your destination. 

Hotel or restaurant address, and the name in which the booking was made.

3 BACKUP PLANS

Have backup plans for everything. A second restaurant or hotel. Spare clothes in your airline wheelie bag.

4 ALLOW TIME FOR DELAYS

 I don't arrange meetings the day of travel, nor driving the day after. Then delays don't stress me. I don't get stressed driving tired, nor drive when accident prone.

5 ID

Check all passports and visas and driving licenses and credit cards for expiry dates the month before travelling. Carry a pair of spare passport photos for a replacement passport, or lift pass.

6 CAR & coach

Check your car tyres pressure and petrol levels a day in advance or better still a month in advance.

When leaving a coach for a break during an excursions, note the numberplate and photograph the coach and driver.

7 BOOKS, TOYS

 Have a book or activity to amuse yourself and family. Have activities to keep children in seats with books or toys with no pieces to lose.

8 IDENTIFIABLE CLOTHES

Wear matching colour outfits to find each other in crowds.

9 MEETUP POINTS IN PUBLIC PLACES

Arrange where to meet up in cafes and malls and outside toilets which are at the ends or corridors or with gents and ladies in different directions.

10 MEETUP POINTS IN HOTELS

Decide on hotel reunion points, lobby, reception, restaurant or bedroom, or in car in car park, gym or swimming pool, or hotel shop.

SET WAITING TIMES

Have waiting limits. Arrange whether to jump on the first bus, train, taxi, or wait for the group.

Inform your group leader if you are leaving after a fire, flood or emergency so nobody endangers themselves nor wastes time looking for you.

TRAVEL KIT

Carry: 

spare plasters, 

a comb and comb case, and 

a toothbrush and toothpaste.

Take a photo ID. 

Carry a badge and lanyard, in case you are not on the meeting list and they have not printed your name badge. You can also be photographed wearing your name badge and carrying your company brochure or your book if you are an author.

About Angela's Books

I am the author of twenty or so books and e-books on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Lulu.com

My latest book in 2025 was Embarrassing Moments.

How To Photograph A Celebration - lesson from 15+ Heartwarming Pics Of Children Who Were Just Adopted

15+ Heartwarming Pics Of Children Who Were Just Adopted: According to Together We Rise, every day, 1,200 kids enter foster care in the United States, a life that is often filled with stigma and uncertainty. To combat this, TWR brings together volunteers to help kids in foster care and to encourage families to adopt; two years ago, they started to post pictures of newly adopted kids to Facebook and Instagram. The response was tremendous.

Delightful pictures. Shows you how to get lovely photos.

Many people warn you not to include children or animals in a photo. But you can get delightful pictures of children and animals by taking multiple shots. Also offer food or treats.

Celebrate an important event with a chalkboard announcement, before and after an event.

Adoption
Before and after adoption.

Wedding
Before and after the marriage. (Bride at parents' home. Then bride with groom.)

Ask the subjects to wear co-ordinating clothes.

Stand the subjects in height order.

Have them clasping the announcement board or pointing to it.

If you are small, sit or stand on a chair or a step.

Another common pose is two people back to back, for example astride a piano stool.

If you are entering a contest, be sure to take photos in advance, when you are hoping to win.

If you don't win, congratulate the winner, who might be charming enough to say your effort was also excellent, and be photographed with the winner.

If you enter a contest, or driving test, several times and don't win, you could still take the sad face photos on failing.

Add an upbeat caption.
Then when you do win you have a pair or set with caption such as this:

Failed in 2000! Passed in 2020!

Or copy the caption idea from the adoption boards:

600 days studying French. Finally awarded B A Hons in French!

Or even,

300 days saving for our holiday, honeymoon.      Finally reached Paris!

Add the French flag.

Smile!

Share your photos.

Singapore ginger flower with pink blossom

This ginger plant is from the garden of my new friend in Singapore. I stopped because she was photographing another yellow flower (in my other blog post) and I wanted to do the same.

She insisted on showing me another flower, this one. Bright pink. It is ginger. Not ginger coloured, But ginger flavour.

We used to by ginger in syrup from London, England. A small slice in a fruit salad is wonderful.

When we ran out of the bottled ginger in syrup in Singapore, we made our own, with ginger in a boiled sugar syrup.

We had bought fresh ginger from a supermarket. Having seen what a wonderful flower you get from ginger, I now want to grown it in a pot.  My friend in Singapore said that you need a piece of the root to get a new plant.

This really is the colour of the flower. I must admit I tried enhancing the colour on my smart phone, using the 'pop' feature which you slide to the right to enhance the colour. I thought the resulting bright pink looked unnatural. I preferred the colour left as it was. So here you have it, the real thing.

Author

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

How To Buy And Use A Mini-Tripod With Your Mobile Phone

I just took a photo with my mobile phone on a tripod, for the first time. Success? What took me so long?

Problem
For years I had seen people setting up their mobile phones on desks to record themselves giving a speech. I had also seen people set up a mobile phone on a tripod to take a wide-angle photo of a group, set the timer and run to join the group.

I had suggested that a group I belong to should invest in a tripod so that members and visitors could record themselves speaking.

I recall the format: attention, interest, desire, action.

Why record yourself?

Attention
You can share your photos and make friends and win kudos. Keep in touch with guests.

Equally important, look at the photo. The camera makes you pay attention to yourself and your surroundings. The camera does not lie. Friends will be polite. You look in the mirror and from the front you look okay. But from the back, the mobile phone photo or video reveals, your hair is uncombed.

Hair - Bald Patches and Roots
Your camera says that when you walk onto the stage everybody can see your bald spot. Back view shows the roots of your hair are a different colour. Nobody will tell you that. The camera will tell you.

Interest - Your Outfit Analysed
The camera shows if your shoes are down at heel, or your shirt is hanging untidily below your jacket. If you got your appearance, your look, just right, the camera tells you that you looked wonderful, even if everybody else was too busy to take time to congratulate you.

The Room Revealed
The camera will tell you that the room looks a mess and a fire hazard with bags in the aisles. The Sargeant-at-arms responsible for the room set up and health and safety should be like the air hostess before take-off. He or she should walk up and down the aisles to check the route to the exit is clear and ask for obstructions to be removed, before they trip up somebody running up the aisle to speak on stage.

Desire
Yes, I had wanted to record for years. The camera can be set up on the front table. No need to have yourself on recorded telling somebody else, 'Press here'. If other people are too busy with their own speeches, never mind, you can record youself.

In Focus
The other great thing about the tripod is that you can take photos indoors, at night, in poor light and artificial light, with less risk of camera shake.

Action
How did I do it? The first surprise was that the tripod was so cheap. I already had a tripod. I must have bought it from the Poundland Shop in Harrow, London, England. The tripod was still attached to its backing, which said that it came from Birmingham, which is on many items supplied to the Poundland Shop.

So it had cost me only £1!

First step was to cut the plastic ties, relasing the tripod from the instructions and backing and pop the tripod into my bag. The tripod folds up small.

At the venue, second step was to attach the camera. I struggled with this. I was trying to pull the supports sideways and they clearly would not go. I asked my friend Anand for help and the problem was isntantly solved. You really have to be logical. It's like those taps in toilets. Process of elinination. If the door won't push, try pulling. If it won't go up sideways, try up and down. The camera was fixed by pulling the grip upwards, inserting the camera into the space, and letting the grip back down.

USING THE TIMER
At the end of the evening, we took a group photo. Another expert came to my aid. He set the camera up at the back of the room, checked everybody could be seen (small epople at the back come forward into the front row). He set the timer and ran to join us.

Afterwards, I went to take a photo but nothing happened. The camera was still set to timer so there was a delay.

REMOVING THE TIMER!
I ran after the photographer and asked him: 'How do I turn off the timer, and set the timer?'

He showed me that on an LG phone, the timer is in settings. You can move the timer through three settings, three seconds, ten seconds, and off.

Practising Using A Tripod
Before setting off to a meeting, try out your new tripod. Go onto the internet and type in the brand of your phone and the question, how do I set the timer.

Practice doing it at home. No tripod? Ask to see somebody else's and ask how the delay device works. Now that you know how to use it, you will be more inclined to buy one for yourself.

Buying a Tripod
If you don't have a tripod, look for one next time you are in a camera shop. You don't see one displayed?  Ask if they have one? Too expensive? Ask if they have a cheaper model. They might have a different one. Or they might mutter, "You can get one down the road in ... shop.'

Alternatively, look in a budget shop. You might also get one cheaply on the internet.

Happy snapping!

If you are running a speaking club or a photography training session, look for a cheap tripod to record your training, or to demonstrate the tripod to your pupils.

Harrow, London, England has both a Poundland and a One Pound Shop. Keep checking because their  stocks change all the time.

A miniature tripod from a budget store is also an inexpensive gift which is small enough to go in a Christmas stocking for children or adults. You'll be surte to get good use from it, taking pictures of the family's Christmas dinner.

Useful Websites
Lazada
A sturdy tripod at S$16.99
https://www.lazada.sg/products/heavy-duty-tripod-ubeesize-phone-and-camera-tabletop-mini-tripod-with-cell-phone-clip-holder-for-iphone-smartphoneswebcams-compact-camera

You Tube Demo of Poundland tripod


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

Photographers' Tricks For Natural Poses

Problem
How do you make your subjects look natural?

Answer
LOOK AWAY
Ask them to look away and to look back when you reach three when counting.

You count, one, two, three. They turn to you and smile and you photograph them.

Does it work? Yes.

Why does it work? Because, instead of a fixed grin, they turn away and smile naturally when they see you.

SAY NOTHING
Instead of asking the subject to 'say cheese', ask they to say the equivalent word in another language. Ask them to say another word, such as the club or organization they belong to.

Ask them to say a funny word. I would choose a word such as 'Nothing'.

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

How to remove your own shadow from a photo, fix parallel lines, create silhouettes

Problem
I photograph an object on a table and the shadow of my mobile phone and my head is on the lower half of the photo.

Answers
Practise Eliminating Your Own Shadow
Practice with the phone in your hand before taking a photo.

Practise Indoors
1 Practise on your kitchen table.
2 Practise looking through the window at your own garden ready to snap a bird or fox.

(NB Americans simplify spelling, following Webster's dictionary, and use the same spelling for the noun and verb. In traditional British English, to verb uses S, 'to 'practise', but the noun has c, the usual practice'.) 

Outdoors
You won't have time when photographing a moving or living object such as an insect or passing car, so practise in advance likely situations.
1 Stand at a window watching traffic. Practise taking photo through a window to avoid getting your reflection or the street behind you when photographing through shop windows when window shopping or taking Christmas displays.

2 Go into the garden or park to photograph objects on the ground such as snails, or on a pond.

Indoors
Turn off the overhead light.
Move and photograph near a window which creates light all over the object.
Lean forward so your shadow covers enough of the object to leave just a small lighter contrast at the top of your photo which you can crop out.
Ask somebody else to hold an umbrella above you to mask out the overhead light. A white umbrella will cast light. The bigger the umbrella, the more options you have. When buying an umbrella, remember a white one would be handy when taking photos. In a studio a large white umbrella is used to create even light on a portrait. The umbrella is fixed on a tripod and can be tilted.

Light, Dark and Silhouettes
However, you might deliberately cut out light, for example, to create a silhouette. If standing with your subject's back to a window, their face is all in shadow, which is no good. However, if they stand sideways against the light (in French called contre jour) you get the profile of the forehead and nose and lips which can be interesting.

Ask an expert in your family. I did and was told:

Parallel Lines
Move the camera to one side or away from an object on a table. However, this may distort the picture by changing the parallel lines.

Edit distorted parallel lines with an option called perspective.

We bought a photo from a professional who took photos of the interior and exterior of Guildhall. Using a camera tilted up (to get the tops of buildings, columns, rooftops and spires), everything was leaning.

You might choose to leave a photo like this. Alternatively, you might leave it or do it deliberately to create a sense of being small and dominated by buildings looming over you.

Buying and Editing
Your own eye sees this but with a camera it is distorted. We paid for the photo we liked the most and downloaded it. Afterwards, having downloaded the photo we have paid for (which now has the watermark removed) we can correct and edit it ourselves.

Credits and Conditions
When loading up you might wish to check what the conditions are. Wikipedia has various conditions chosen by the original photographer, which may be free use including giving them credit, or simply using it, either allowing you to edit photos as you like, sometimes not changing it because you might distort it and this could reflect badly on the reputation of the photographer who created the original image.

Credits For Photographer and Editor
I generally put, 'photo taken by ...' (name of photographer), edited by ... (my name). This gives me credit for improvements. However, the photographer might disagree that my version is better, in which case to protect them and protect myself I have made it clear that there's another version by the original photographer.

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

Planning For Self-Portraits, Promotional Pictures And Selfies

Problem
How do I get good pictures of myself?

Answer
EVENT PHOTOS; parties, weddings, funerals
Any time you are dressed up, for Christmas, a party, a dinner, a wedding, a funeral, take a picture of  yourself. Also ask another person to take a picture of you.

If nobody is taking photos, suggest a group photo.

If the group refuse to be photographed, or to take a photo, try the head waiter, the chef, the waiter, the receptionist, another tourist.

My Photo Coup
At a grand restaurant in London, England, my family and friends wanted to concentrate on eating their meal, then went to pay, and to go to the toilet. Afterwards they would be rushing off. In the hallway, I spotted the chef who I recognized from the publicity email we'd been sent about the half price midweek lunch offer.  The restaurant owner was delighted that I wanted to photograph the chef. The chef could not refuse because the restaurant owner wanted the photo. I managed to photograph them separately, together, and with myself.

Get in the picture with the flowers, the sweep staircase, the sign on the door.

Be photographed with the bride, the camera man / woman, the cameraman's wife / spouse / business partner.

Even the corpse. Not allowed? Be photographed with a photo of the deceased at a funeral. Take a photo of the widow or widower with the order of service, the person who sent the wreath with the wreath.

Take the names of the people in the photo. Simpler and quicker, ask for their email, or ask them to type it into your mobile phone, and send them the photo immediately. That way:
1 You have photos matched with names and emails.
2 You collect all the emails of useful contacts.
3 Saves time later.
4 No trouble reading your own handwriting, nor losing the paper with the emails and names.
5 If they didn't receive the photo, you have time to check you have the correct email whilst they are there and if necessary get any typos corrected.
6 If they don't like their photo, you can take another.
7 If they like the photo, they can tell you, so you get the feedback.
8 They may reciprocate with a photo of you taken on your camera or theirs.

Take a photo of yourself with your new book and the publisher.
Do a rehearsal at home, even if you are planning a professional shoot at home, in a studio or out on location. You want to check:

Clothes
Shoes
Accessories and jewellery
Nails
Hands
Poses - standing or sitting
Accessories
Glasses and reflections

Hide Imperfections
If you have crooked top teeth, you can be photographed smiling with your mouth shut.
If you have crooked bottom teeth, see whether you can cover them with your lower lip or your tongue.
If your neck is creased, you have a prominent Adam's apple, or a double chin, cover your neck with a polo neck, scarf, high blouse or Mandarin collar. Alternatively, hold a paper, newspaper or book.

Take photos from left, right, looking straight at the camera, looking up, down, smiling, not smiling.
Clear the background of clutter.

If you wear glasses, try wearing them at the end of your nose and pushed right back. If they create reflections, take them off. If you feel that is concealing the real you, wear the glasses on top of your head like a hairband, or hold them in your right hand as if you are about to put them on or take them off, or rest them on a table or in a glasses case..

Check and correct. If you have a friend, family member or neighbour with a better mobile phone or camera than yours, ask them to take a picture of you.

If you are going for a professional studio picture, you can remember to wear the best clothes, turn to show  your good side, look up or down, and conceal your imprfections and reveal or promote your assets.

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

Autumn Colour Poems, Fall Photos, And Inspiring Autumn Tips to America, Britain, Italy and Russia

Problem
I love the autumn colours but forget and regret the arrival of autumn in England; yet in America, we loved autumn, because we could take a trip up and down the east coast to see the swathes of trees in the Fall colours. Because the north is colder than the south, the Fall starts earlier in the north. We lived in Rockville, Maryland, just north of Washington DC, and read that the Fall had started in the North. So we drove north until we reached the Fall colours. We spent a long weekend or week there. As we drove south, the trees were turning to Fall colours further South.

Novelty Pumpkins
Pumpkin time means piles of pumpkins in America. Last year, 2016, for the first time I saw pumpkins everywhere in supermarkets in England.

Exotic Fruit
As a child in Britain in the 1950s I had never seen a pumpkin. I read about them but they were exotic fruit in post-war Britain which had had rationing until 1952. I remember my late mother talking for years afterwards about how she met her friend Sylvia in a banana queue, and my mother's excitement at being able to buy a fresh peach, and how I had been so disappointed that it was not as sweet and soft and bright orange as a tinned peach in sugar syrup.

Autumn Poems
Today I read on the BBC page about poems on autumn. Why didn't I write about Autumn? Why didn't I capture autumn colours in poems every year!

Poem Year Book
Poet Alison Chisholm, who edits poetry books and runs courses at Writers' Holiday in Wales and Swanwick Writers Sumer School in Derbyshire, suggests that we keep a poetry diary for the year and add seasonal poems.

Now is the time to start a poetry book, with a poem on autumn colours, and take a photo of colours in your area, your city's or country's landmarks, and those of places you visit on weekend trips, holidays or business.

Here's mine:

Autumn Green Turned To Gold
by Angela Lansbury

The leaves have turned from green to gold
Warm mid-day, chill breeze, nights grown cold
Storms mean you stay indoors to play
So treasure every sunny day

As daylight fades, outside we run
To catch our daily dose of sun
Leaves fill the roads, the paths, the park
The days are short, headlights - it's dark

Look up, mouth open, upturned head
And see leaves contrast green and red
Clothes match the season, yellow, brown
The country calls us from the town

To drive along the country roads
Envy gabled, peaceful abodes
Surrounded, in our autumn break
By trees reflected in the lake

We see trees far away and near
Sense season's wave, crescendo year
Eat pumpkin, take great photograph
Children kick leaves, delighted, laugh.
-ends-
Copyright Angela Lansbury 2017 October.

Autumn/Fall Trips
Italy - shoulder season, November is the rainiest month. But, prices have fallen, and fewer crowds.

More information from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b095qcjt (BBC autumn poems and Fall photos)
https://www.visitusa.org.uk/blogs/article.aspx?pname=7-autumn-adventures-in-the-USA&blog
http://www.st-petersburg-essentialguide.com/autumn-in-st-petersburg.html
https://www.visitbritain.com/gb/en/wheres-best-see-autumn-colour-england-and-wales#MJjRtohJv5rzrzJR.97

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

Horror And Humour - Naming Living And Dead Bodies In Texas, USA

Problem
How do you identify a dead body? What should you do to prepare for the worst?

Answers
1 Evacuate when told to do so.
2 If you prefer to stay to guard your property from looters, or are too frail to travel, the Mayor, Rios, of a town in Texas, tells people to write their name and National Insurance number on their arm.

Why the National Insurance number? I imagine it's the same as the National ID number (NRIC) in Singapore. It ensures that if you have more than one person of the same name you can be sure which is which. (For example, there are 13 people with my name, Angela Lansbury, on LinkedIn alone. It would take hours to try to identify a dead body from a name if they were not found in the house where they lived.

Light Note 1 on Disembodied Arms
On a lighter note, somebody suggested that you should write your name on the torso instead, in case the body and arms were separated. Somebody else said you still need the name on the arm, in case somebody discovered an odd arm by itself.

Having the name on your arm might save a member of the family from the grim task of identifying the individual dead body, or looking at dozens. Or hundreds.

At least you could photograph the name and number before burial.

Light Note 2 - Identity change

A chance to go missing. Write your name on somebody else's dead body.

Hm. Why is the body of John Brown marked as Joan Brown?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4825052/Texans-stayed-told-write-SSN-arm.html#reader-comments

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and Photographer, author and speaker. Please share your favourite posts. 

Which Seat To Pick On A Plane?

Problem
Which seat to pick? Problem - they've given you the middle seat!

Answer
I was on a daytime flight to London. On check-in we discovered I had the middle seat. It didn't matter whose fault it was. they were not going to upgrade me to first class. Nor were they able to change my seat. The plane was full.

I had no choice. It was a case of go with the flow.

Advantages of Window seats
You can photograph the view. You can lean against the window to sleep.

Advantages of Aisle Seats
Aisle seats make it easier to get up, stretch your legs and go to the toilet or go to ask for a glass of water. Aisle seats make it easier to hail a passing flight attendant for something to eat. Aisles seats make it easier to find your way back to your seat.

Being in the middle of three gives you two people to talk to, doubles your chances of making a friend. I found myself sitting next to a fellow toastmaster.

Being in the middle of the central bank of seats is better than being by the window of the two some or  three some by the window. With two people either side having the aisle seats, you have double the chances of getting up when their seat is empty to go to the toilet.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share posts.

YSL Handy Travel 'Lip Twin' Lipstick Update - and a Photography Tip

Problem
I lost a lipstick, and looked on line and now I see potential replacements. However, now I have found them, I don't know what to buy.

Answer
I noticed that my lipstick had an end label and took a photo. The print was too small to read but I was able to blow up the photo and could read the name, Lip Twins.

Having the correct name found me items to buy. When I typed Lip Twins into the internet I got results on both Amazon and Ebay.

No Brushes
The ones on ebay were cheaper. However they had no brushes. Why?

I seem to remember that I enquired once before. I think I phoned and asked why - where was the brush? The lipsticks without brushes were testers.

So maybe somebody no longer selling the product did not need the tester for customers and was selling it off. Or the item was discontinued. So no point in having a tester displayed.

YSL Website
I went onto the YSL website. However, they don't stock it.

Old Or New Internet Offers?
That leaves me with a question. Are the ones being sold as new, of new appearance and condition, unused, but literally past their sell by date? Maybe rancid?

Some reviewers say the product is dry and dries their lips. That could be because it is old.

Or it could be discontinued because customers didn't like the product. When travelling, you need to moisturise your lips, not make them drier.

Impractical?
I have to agree with one reviewer that the rotating part rotates by itself in your make up bag, then falls agains other projecting items and leaves lipstick, sticky stuff, all over the make up bag contents. Or gathers dust and fluff.

Is This Gadget Useless?
You don't get a lot of lipstick either. You get a more liquid gluey lipstick in a little tray. It has to be soft for application by the brush, I imagine. One other reviewer said the brush application took ages.

One reviewer commented that colours are not as bright as the regular lipstick. That may depend on which colour you order. On line, it's hard to tell if they only show the case and not the contents.

The idea of mixing the colours is amusing.

At least I have the old one - but not in the colours I want. £32 is a lot for a lipstick in my opinion.

Photography Tips
My internet research has tight me one interesting thing. You can photograph a cylindrical lipstick and maybe other items the same shape by standing it on the flat end, instead of trying to stop it rolling.

You can't do this with a rolling pin which has projecting ends, only one with flat ends. But it just shows, when taking photos, try to turn the item to balance on all sides.

What other lessons have I learned? Always remember to photograph all sides. Take a picture of labels, brands and expiry dates.

Angela Lansbury travel writer and photographer.

How To Speed Up In An Airport Or Other Queue (Line-up)

Problem
You are stuck forever in the queue at the airport. You are tired and your taxi driver is waiting. What to do?

Answer
The answer should be obvious but last time we went through Heathrow, despite having been through three or four airports in the past few weeks, we still forgot our strategy, so it's worthwhile making a mental note.

IDENTIFY SUITCASES WITH COLOURS AND PHOTOGRAPH
Before leaving home, identify your luggage. Try to buy a distinctive pattern or colour. Black is nicely anonymous. But colours are handy to deter thieves and identify your luggage fast.

Stick a large ribbon on the handle. Write a name of a person or place or even a large initial letter on the side of your case. Buy a set of luggage all the same colour so you can tell airport staff or other tourists, "Have you seen a suitcase same colour as this but smaller / larger?" Write a funny message on the bag, "Mine. Not yours. Contains left shoes. Contains right shoes."

Photograph your bag at home and print a picture. Photograph again in the departure hall. This proves you had it with you for insurance. Helps you find it. Reminds you the brand and colour if you are filling out a lost item form. Count your pieces of luggage, out of the door and into the taxi, out of the taxi, into the airport check-in.

PLAN FAST ARRIVAL
In the taxi, check your terminal to be sure you are dropped at the nearest door. You can check the airport layout on line. Also see if you get free trolleys, need a coin, or need money for the tip or fee.

GENERAL
1 Have your passport and ticket handy, so you can check check in counters on the board overhead.
Make sure you are not delayed before the queue trying to decide which queue you are eligible to join.
Be ready if you see a free counter.
At checkin and security you might get called or beckoned forward to the front of the queue at very busy times because staff know you and others have a connecting flight and little time.

CHECK IN DEPARTURE
Checking in at passport in the airport arrival hall, one of the family might be in business class, another on a redemption fare. If the lines are all busy, you must go to the correct line.

Keep your eyes open and smile at the smartly dressed girls or boys handling the queues.
If another desk is free, rather than leave you wearing behind somebody in economy with twenty bags, you might be beckoned forward to the business class or even first class desk even if it's the first class or business and only your partner is business and you are not.

BOARDING
a) In the departure lounge, you might get priority boarding and be eligible to go first onto the plane if you are business, with children, with a disabled person.

b) After that some airlines board by row and call out Seats 1-20. So you need your ticket handy to check the number - unless you have memorised it. In any case you are going to need to show it.

ARRIVING
2 If you have a fast track ticket because you are a frequent flyer, get your ticket out and know where it is. For example, in top right pocket, in lower left pocket, in front pocket of around my neck bag.

The frequent flyer's fast track ticket should get both of you through in the same queue - no point in having one of you going through fast toad the other delaying them. Have your brief explanation ready and say it confidently.

3 COLLECTING LUGGAGE
While waiting by an empty carousel, one of you can watch and keep a place beside the carousel whilst the other goes to the toilet.

Check with staff where oversize items are delivered. Your large suitcase or box or skis might already be at the other end of the luggage hall waiting for you.

JOING QUEUES
As you approach the lines, don't just join the nearest. Watch all the lines to see which are shortest and which are moving fastest. Whether you are at an airport or supermarket, if your family group has two or more people, you might split between two lines. If possible jump from the slower line to the faster one. (Either both/all of you move to a different line. Usually the line at the far end has fewest people and a member of the airport staff is trying to encourage people to move to the gap. Or one of you joins the spouse in the quicker line.

Lots of people will be half asleep, too tired to move. Others are chatting to family, and / or stuck with heavy carry on bags, coats and small children.

TAXIS
Check where in the airport to find the taxi queue and the desk where you pay in advance (for example, Changi Airport in Singapore.) Have your hotel name address ready for the taxi advance payment desk, including postcode so they can calculate the fare. Note that cities my have several hotels called Marriott or Holiday Inn and variations on local names such as Royal Hotel or Paris something or other.

In Phoenix, Arizona, USA, we went to the Holiday Inn and checked in only to find we were at the wrong one. In Wales we went to the Castle Hotel when we were booked into the Castle View hotel, smaller - that's why it was cheaper.

In Cambodia, staying at a small guesthouse, we asked the guest house to send a driver who knew the hotel.

If your hotel is a small and probably unknown guest house, try to find a nearby landmark, or ask the hotel for directions (in English and written in the local language). When leaving your hotel, ask for it to be marked and named on a map to show the taxi bringing you back.

Also get the hotel address card for the name, which you might not be pronouncing right. If they don't have an address card (it's being reprinted) nor a brochures (you book on line), get the breakfast or dinner bill receipt headed with the hotel or guest house name. Failing all else, if the towel had the hotel name and logo, photograph that; if the sewing kit or matchbook has the hotel or hotel's restaurant name, take or photograph that.

Photograph the front of the hotel as you leave. You can show the taxi the name of the hotel and what the building looks like. Photograph from the front and also approaching from both directions with the traffic flow so the driver can see if he pulls in alongside or has to cross to the other side of the road.

TAXIS
Check other hotels with similar names to be sure your driver is racing to the right one. Check the route. If he's driving towards the West and your hotel is in the East, be sure you are being taken to the right hotel.

Check the distance and the route. If he expects to take half an hour on the motorway to a hotel which is just around the corner, near enough to walk if you weren't carrying heavy luggage, either he is cheating you or he has misunderstood where you are going.

TAXI NAME AND NUMBER
Keep the taxi receipt so you can phone your favourite driver, call if you have left your luggage or umbrella or passport in the front or back seat or the boot (Americans call it the trunk). Identify the driver if he overcharges or drives dangerously.

Photograph the number of the taxi and the name and phone number of the driver (even if its hand written. If you put it in your pocket it might be quicker to find the photo than the lost scrap of paper. When you come out of the building or temple by another exit you can phone to ask where he is or say where you are.

(Cambodian temples have a one way system. You go in at the West and out of the east, occasionally vice versa. I lost everybody - different exit once. We had trouble finding our driver - correct exit but dozens of tuk-tuks in three car parks - twice.)

You might also like to ask for:
1 A driver who speaks good English.
2 A lady driver, if you are a single woman travelling alone. (Singapore has a small number of lady drivers. I had one by chance and she told me that she was the first, but now there are several. Some of her regular customers specifically ask for a lady driver.)

Author
Angela Lansbury, frequent flyer, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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Artwork on Singapore City Stations - Hillview

Problem
You get out a stop early or late when travelling.

Solution
Enjoy the serendipity - random chance encounter with good fortune or joyful discoveries.

Story
I didn't overshoot my station. But I was studying Italian and German languages on my phone and was afraid of going past my stop that I jumped up in a panic and got off a station earlier. Up on the concourse area I immediately noticed the difference in style between one station and another. Hillview has brown terraced hills on the platform level and photos of green hills on the ticket concourse level.

I could probably have gone back to the ticket office and explained and asked for a refund for the extra journey created by separating my last stop. But I felt too foolish.

Meanwhile, I pretended it was not my mistake, but an Act of God, or twist of fate, or maybe the angels on somebody else's shoulder (when the angel on my shoulder wasn't looking) which had sent me to the wrong station in order for me to enjoy it.

In London, England, I went on a one day training course for London registered tour guides. The trainer taught them to write down fact on card index cards, in the order of the direction of the journey and the return journey. They needed another set o cards to fill in time if the coach was held in traffic for an hour. They also had to keep the tourists happy and entertained, if they had to wait an hour for the replacement bus to be sent after a breakdown.

Tips
Look at every station, at home or abroad, and pretend to be a travel guide, answering questions form a group of mixed nationality visitors.

See my other posts on stations in Singapore, Hong Kong and London, England.

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

Ten more easy Indonesian and Malay words

English - Indonesian/Malay

Pear - p e r
pen - p e n a
pencil - p e n s i l
Perfume - p a r f u m
Photograph (noun) - f o t o

picnic - p i k n i k
pilot - pilot
pyjamas - p i j a m a
radio - radio
restaurant - r e s t o r a n

Angela Lansbury, author and teacher of English and languages, author and speaker.
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Listed Buildings To Visit And Photograph

If you want to take a daily walk or a free tour of your area of the city where you are living or visiting, look at a map and find the historic buildings nearby. You might pick historic buildings in your nearest high street, or old buildings in the countryside or down leafy side streets.

Map Search
My family did a search in north west London and we were amazed at the number of listed buildings. A great opportunity for a walk and some photography.

St Anselm's Church, Hatch End.
Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Timing Your Trip
If your primary aim is fresh air and free of noise, you might choose to walk early in the morning. A late uncle of mine used to travel the world and take photos (actually colour slides - I still have them) of temples and buildings around the world at dawn.

You might also try gardens and parks with the morning dew. Carry a plastic bag like a dog poop scoop to remove litter from the ground, especially cigarette butts dropped around doorways, for your romantic photos.

Reality Pictures
Other people prefer to show life how it is. They like to reveal that beauty spots are ruined by litter. The french word verite or truth or reality comes to mind. Ralists want to show that third world countries are slums, dumps, poverty stricken, and not the idyllic places of our dreams. I like to take one of each. First the reality, then how it looked after I cleared it.

People Pictures
I also take a place without people and with people. I had an editor who always wanted people in photos. He said people made it interesting.

Local Characters
But you also need the right people. Do you want to show only local people to match the venue. Or tourists enjoying the trip. Or people meeting the locals?

A Chinese magazine might want only Asians. Or they might want only foreigners, because that's what readers aspire to imitate, or because that fits the text. Or because they already have lots of local people and want something different.

Fashions
I found that people in last year's fashions dated a photo. They look untidy with shirts hanging out. They were inelegant. For a fashion magazine the aim would be to include cute characters.

Passers-By
Passers-by are often keen to pose.
They might move and caused blur.

What if you want a natural shot. Even people standing still or slumped can be an anomaly. An amazing number of people shut their eyes, cover part of their faces, glare, stand looking gormless.

Others are in the wrong place with trees and lamp posts growing out of their heads.

They run forward demanding money. Or try to rob you whilst you are taking a photo.

They move hands and wave and cause blur. They move out of shot at the last moment, leaving bits of bodies. You get a disembodied arm or foot as if you are chasing a fugitive.

The solution is to take lots of shots. Choose the best. (This is called bracketing.)

Twilight
I like twilight pictures. I won a competition from Polaroid and a ferry company when we were given Polaroid cameras. I took a statue silhouetted against the still light evening sky.

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

Amateur Dramatics - Plant Your Video Friend In The Audience

If you are giving any kind of performance, such as a speech or amateur dramatics, a musical, pantomime, college play, get a picture or video. I performed in Swanwick at Writers' Summer School in Page to Stage. I had not thought to ask a friend to take photo with my camera or hers.

She took one a couple of photos but was not sitting near the front. Here is the result. I am on the left of the picture with my hair in pig tails, acting as the young mistress of a man dying in hospital because of a nut allergy.

The reason I am slightly blurred is that I was moving and the light was dim.

You could also video a dress rehearsal.

Alternatively, if it is a short scene, 5 minutes or less, re-enact it afterwards whilst you are still wearing your stage clothes and wigs and stage make-up. That way those friends who are too ill or tired to attend, or those in your family at home, can enjoy seeing it.

Here are our group's post production photos.

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

Safe Emergency Exit From Trains

I was sitting on a train on the line to and from Wales from Paddington, London, England. The reason why I'm spelling out the location in detail is that there's a London in Canada. This morning I had a conversation with a lady who said she had moved to Boston and I thought she meant USA, but she was referring to the East of England. So, I'm on a train between London, UK, and Wales.

The emergency exit signs are on both sides of the carriage where I am sitting. The one on my side is in Welsh, a language I do not understand.

The English language sign is obscured by the luggage of the lady beside it; she has a large double bass or double something.

So I move to the next carriage where a couple beside the sign are preventing me from getting close enough to read it. The signs should be bigger.

I have photographed the sign and now, later and off the train I have time to read what it says. Useful advice.

This advice would apply on many trains and vehicles.
1 Stay on the train if safe to do so and wait for instructions from staff. If necessary, move to an adjoining carriage.

2 If you need to get off, look for other trains approaching on the track side and try to get off on the side away from the track.

3 Don't jump off but sit on the floor before 'jumping' down (I presume to reduce the distance between your feet and the ground - and enable you to slide slowly to reduce distance further and reduce impact).

(Assuming you won't get trampled by people behind! Ask your gym teacher to show you how to fall and roll to reduce impact and injury when forced to jump from a height or falling accidentally. If you don't have a gym teacher, research this on line.)

4 My additional advice: If you get on a train early, read the emergency exit notices before people sit beside the signs and obscure instructions. The pictures may show you where and how to break glass to reach emergency handles. Another diagram may show how to open doors manually when the power is turned off. Also which direction to turn the handles. Right or left, clockwise or anticlockwise, up or down or backwards or forwards.

If you speak a second language such as French or Spanish, mentally translate the instructions, then look up online any words you don't know. That way, in an emergency, you will be able to instruction others.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

Losing your car at an airport:: what to do

Have you ever lost your car in a car park? What a worry. Is it stolen? Moved by the police? Moved by the parking people? Will you ever find it?

Who will help? How quickly? Where do you think you left it? Which car park?

What is the numberplate? The colour? The make of car?

Lost Car
A relative of mine lost their car for about half an hour on returning to S t a n s t e d airport. The driver noted the car park (three huge car parks) and the nearby bus stop for the link bus to the airport. But when they came back they could not find the car.

Trudging around a car park, although brightly lit at night, when you are tired from travelling and its raining and you are worried is not fun.

Websites
I went on line to try to help. The help lines go off at 6 pm. Nobody to call for help. I remember once something similar happened to us as Disney, I think it was the one in Florida. They had a bus to drive people around. Each car park was named for an animal or something memorable. At least you were driving in the warm. And there was no charge for the help.

Stansted
Back to the problem at S t a n s t e d. (Predictive text called it stagnated. Yes, the driver was stagnated.)

Valet Parking
Valet parking sounds a good idea. Unfortunately the cost is £45! I presume that's on top of the cost of the parking charge. If you are highly paid and on expenses, maybe.

Photos
My solution in an unfamiliar car park, at a supermarket, is to take a photo of both my care and the parking place and the exit I use. I can show any helper the car I have lost. I have a record of the number plate. I know the model of the car. I can't do what has happened a couple of times, forget I am looking for my relative's car instead of mine. If it's a hire car, I know the numberplate.

Number Plates
No good just remembering just the first three letters or the last three letters. I've done that, either deliberately or accidentally (having forgotten the beginning or could not read my writing. It may turn out that all the city's cars have that ending which happened to me (in India), or all the country, or all the state, or all the county (Middlesex), or all this year's cars (UK), or all hire cars have the same prefix or suffix (Malta).

Success
The good news is I got a call half an hour later to say the car had been found. What was the reason for the problem? Two nearby bus stops, went to the one ahead of the car and not behind it, the furthest not the nearest.

Remote Control Sounds
Eventually the driver had thought to try using the remote control door opener. The lock or unlock flashes twice as it does when you get into or out of the car. So you walk along the rows and whether the car is right or left, even a few yards away and in the dark, the remote locates it and alerts you. If you are really desperate you can press on the warning triangle which makes the siren.

Happy ending. But remember not to rush off in your haste to catch the plane, and end up delayed on your return. As the saying goes, more haste, less speed.

Remedies
At least one of the Disney theme parks has or had characters (animals) in the names and visual reminders of the car parks. A multi-storey car park in Paris has or had different colours or murals on each level.

Malta had numbers on each marked parking place.

Call To Action
If you are a regular user of an airport or have any kind of clout please write and ask the airport to address the problem and to provide ways of remembering.

I hope you will always find your car. Happy holidays.
http://www.stanstedairport.com/parking/

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

Author of How To Get Out Of The Mess You're In

How to Protect Your Suitcase & Valuables?

   Everything I have is of value to me. Unless I buy a book at a charity shop and wear dirty torn old clothes.
   Whether on business or holiday I like new clothes, new underwear. But I try to keep my camera in my pocket and photograph the contents of my suites at the airport before sealing the bag and checking it in. That way if I have an insurance claim I have proof.
  The trouble is you buy new clothes or goods on holiday. Then you have to bring them home. You can't put everything in carry on luggage.
   When we were living in the USA, we had to bring everything back. We thought goods were safer in suitcases with us than in containers.
  One solution is wearing clothes with large pockets. But what about pickpockets at airports? And happens when you take off your coat when asleep overnight? Or going to the toilet? Other people can access your luggage in the overhead lockers.
    If you see me get off an airline wearing two dresses it's not that I've stolen one. I've bought it. Or decided my two silk dresses are safer on me than in a suitcase.