Cautionary tales: Safety on road trips and Joshua Tree National Park, USA

Joshua tree picture from Wikipedia. The Joshua tree is so named because it reminded early travellers of Joshua in the bible raising his arms to the sky.

Joshua trees in Joshua Tree National Park, USA.

I was inspired to write this post by the sad story of a a single mother, Erika. who took a trip in the USA and was found later, dead, miles outside a damaged car.  Windows damaged. But also a damaged radio? 

The comments made some useful suggestions, mainly about not travelling alone, taking water, and one about a compass. Here are my collected suggestions.

1 Have a health and safety plan. Known to UK school trip organizers as Risk Assessment.

For example, a class teacher might not be allowed to take a class of  twenty or thirty children to nearby pond or river or field if the regulations require one adult for every thirty children. Another teacher, or two or three, would be needed, or a parent or another helper. You need a second adult in case a child falls and has to be accompanied to hospital. The ratio may vary with age. In some areas you need one adult for ten children for the reception class, but fewer chaperones for older children. Check your local regulations for what is required and what you feel would be a sensible precaution.

2 a Don't go alone.

2bTake another person.

3a Don't take children to remote places unless you are a group.

3bIn a group have a designed person with a minor at all times.

4 Take two cars. 

5 Leave behind a map of your direction.

Ask your friends and family before they depart to show you or mark their journey route on a map.

6 Have your water bottle attached to your body so it can't get left behind or roll downhill.

7 Consider a bubble compass attached to your body.

The cheapest compasses are only under five dollars, and I looked for a waterproof compass and found them under ten dollars.  I looked for scout compass because I thought they might be simpler to use and read than the ones used by professionals.

Phones may contain compasses which can be used in cities and built up areas. But make sure you have a spare battery. In national parks and deserts and on hiking trails you might be out of range of transmitters so you will also need a separate compass.

Thumb compass, left. A see through compasses can be placed over a map.

Simplest compass, with ring to attach to your clothes, so it is not dropped and broken, nor forgotten. 

8 Learn how to use a compass.

9 Have a map, with directions marked. 

10 Have two big car windshield (UK word windscreen) signs for emergencies, one saying help, the other saying who to contact if your car is found abandoned.

11 Looters will break a window. Glass falls inside. Angry looters or vandals might break more windows out of anger or for 'fun'.   Cars you left parked when you return may be vandalised and undrivable, glass on seats, footwells, hand rests. Happened to us outside Madrid zoo. We hired another car to take ourselves and our small son back to London. Our car was towed to a Spanish garage and given a temporary unmovable window. The car was sent by ferry to a UK port where we had to collect it. When my husband went to drive it off, he found it had no petrol. (Americans say gas.)

Teach children, adults, rangers, criminals, never break into or damage an empty house or car. Think of other people. Eventually somebody will come looking for their loved one in the house or car. It is distressing to the family, especially if the owner is found dead. Think of yourself; you might become a murder suspect or accused of tampering with evidence.

Finally, you can take a virtual tour of the park.

Useful Websites

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9283847/Mom-disappeared-setting-pandemic-road-trip-dead.html#comments

https://www.nps.gov/jotr/planyourvisit/safety.htm

https://www.wikihow.com/Use-a-Compass

Bubble compass on amazon and camping shops

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=compasses

https://www.lazada.sg/catalog/?q=waterproof+scout+compass

ROSPA

Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents

https://www.rospa.com/

Joshua Tree Park, touring and virtual touring

https://www.nps.gov/jotr/index.htm

https://www.nps.gov/jotr/learn/photosmultimedia/virtual-experience.htm

Author

Angela Lansbury

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Deydration - could it cause dandruff and other dire consequences?

I went to see a doctor about an aching leg muscle. The doctor asked how often I drnak water, how often I went to the toilet to urinate and what was the colour of my urine. He suggested drinking more water.

As a result, all my family started drinking more water and various longterm aches and pains disappeared.

I recently read an article about health which explained what happens clearly. Your whole body needs water. If you are short of water, blood and water are first directed to your brain, afterwards to other parts of the body such as your limbs.

Lack of water - what do you imagine might be the consequences?

Dark urine.
Less moist excreta and theefore constipation.
Aching muscles.
Dry skin.
Dandruff.

Whatever your health problems, keep an eye on adeuqate uptake of water.

Your family, friends, colleagues, staff, are likely to be irritatble and not alert if they lack essentials and basics such as sleep or water.

The cure is very simple. Drink more water.

Where can you find water?

Carry a water bottle and refill it when you see a water fountain. In the USA they are often on every floor of a hotel. You might also find them in public buildings such as hospitals and shopping malls and airports.

Is it safe to drink tap water? In the UK I use only taps marked drinking water. Taps in bathrooms in homes may come from water tanks on the roof of the house. This is not fresh water but stored water. Not only is it lacking in the bubbles which make tap water more freshing. The tank, despite the lid, might contain dead birds or insects or pieces of rusting metal.

In Singapore tap water is afe to drink. In India and Indonesia it is not safe to drink the water. In some countries local people can drink the water becuase they are immune to local bugs. But foreigners might suffer adverse effects.

If in doubt, buy a big bottle of water from a supermarket. Take the whole bottle with you or decant it into smaller bottles to carry around. Refill it from a safe source when you get the opportunity.

Overseas, I suffered from a stye, which the doctor said was a blocked pore at the base of an eyelash. I was thinking about this and wondered if I should be keeping myself hydrated so that all the fluids in my body were kept flowing.

In many countries water is free or cheap.

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

Assistance with luggage on trains

You don't have to be in a wheelchair to get help moving around or carrying a suitcase on the British rail system. I took a trip from Paddington in NW London to Fishguard in Wales and pre-booked on line assistance with my two pull-along suitcases.

I was amazed how well the system worked. I was told to find an official at each station and inform them that I had arrived and needed help.

At Paddington I was helped up from the underground to the overground. We proceeded along the underground corridor, my assistant taking the larger case whilst I pulled along the smaller one on four wheels.

I was accompanied by a character busy on his walkie talkie. We had just reached the ground level and light and bustling Paddington station when a siren and announcement told everybody to leave the station immediately. I was very glad to be having help because I could foresee a longer walk out of the station and back and I was very anxious about being able to reach my train in time.

Fortunately, just after we left the station and gathered in the road leading towards it, the Tannoy told us we could return.

On Paddington station I was taken to an office where other people with wheelchairs and sticks were waiting. The office had a screen showing the times of trains and whether they were on time and the platforms. Best of all, the office had a disabled toilet. I had been wondering how I would manage to negotiate a public toilet with two pieces of luggage, getting through the barrier without leaving behind a suitcase, and then getting into a cubicle.

Outside on the concourse the public disabled toilets have a key or radar recognition system. Who has time for all that?

I was so relieved (literally) to see the disabled toilet. I was also saved the anxiety of letting go of my two suitcases, handbag and umbrella, whilst hunting for coins to operate a toilet barrier.

Finally, along comes a man on an electric cart, the sort you see at airports and conference hotels with golf courses.

The electric cart took my luggage and sped us along. Not only did it carry the luggage. The driver knew which platform had my train. (You can be confused at a big station at any age.)

The electric cart not only went fast, it had a bleeper so that people moved aside to let us speed along. Finally, it had a system for opening barriers so we rushed along the platform to the far end of the train. The driver knew which carriage. (Otherwise on some long trains, you might easily by boarding one end of the train, anxious not to miss the train, struggling along with two suitcases past everybody else.

The only worry left was that my booked seat was the far end of the carriage, but my suitcase was left in the luggage rack by the door. The rack by the door is three levels and takes a maximum of nine big suitcases. I had two, the large one and the smaller one with what I needed for the journey, reading matter and food. If you have a computer, or camera, or anything else valuable, you might want to keep it in a smaller bag which can go with you and be put in the overhead rack above your seat. The train to Wales was very full, so I kept to my assigned seat.

We had lots of stops - lots of opportunity for somebody to grab a suitcase which was not theirs and race off. It's not just an idle worry. I saw a newspaper article only a few days before my journey showing the CCTV of a person wanted for taking somebody else's luggage. The CCTV showed them getting on the train without any luggage, then getting off with a suitcase. (The suitcase belonged to somebody who later reported it missing.) Another risk is that somebody with similar luggage, suddenly arriving at their station, will grab your similar black or red bag, and only realise they have the wrong bag as they land on the platform and the train runs off.

Nine spaces for large luggage is not many on a train with 50 or more seats. Fortunately on the way home, the train was relatively empty. I sat by the door, and watched my luggage all the way, especially when the train stopped, to reassure myself my luggage was there - and remind myself to collect my second case as I left.

At another point when I changed trains (at Cardiff) I had only to change from one side of the platform to the other. By then I was quite ready to summon to my aid any passer by. I've found that people of both sexes and any age are willing to help in the UK. A young woman or old man travelling are as willing to help as a young man or station employee.

I discovered by accident that if you stop and hesitate in a doorway of a train, holding up a dozen people behind you, somebody kind person, or impatient traveler, will quickly jump forward to assist you.

So if you need help, or have an elderly relative, somebody with lots of luggage who is easily confused, or anybody with a leg in plaster, or a pregnant woman, a blind person, anybody who needs help, you don't have to actually be in a wheelchair to register for help.

At Carmarthen the station staff carried one of my suitcases for me to the waiting room. (I pulled the smaller suitcase which was a spinner case on four wheels.)

He came back and collected me when the train came in and got me to the door of the carriage with my seat. I took the easy way out and just sat in the nearest seat where I could watch my luggage. If the train had been full, I would eventually have moved to my assigned seat. But the seat I sat in was not allocated, and it was under a notice saying that people in need had priority.

On my return to Paddington I was speeded on the electric cart over to the lift.
A successful journey, far less stressful than I had feared.

What do I need for next time? Locks on luggage - as it may go out of sight. Maybe an old phone or computer switched on so you can find it with the find my phone/laptop ap. Finally, a blow-up pillow to sleep on the table on a long intercity journey.

TIPS FOR DISABLED TRAVELLERS
Checklist:
1 Suitcase lock and key.
2 Travel pillow.
3 Water bottle, sandwich and nuts/chocolate/biscuit.
4 Book a seat and register online for assistance.
5 Tickets in a specific handy pocket (such as top or lower right if right-handed).
6 Duplicate/photocopy of all tickets one one sheet in order, with a pen to strike through part of the journey completed, so you can check your destination and seat numbers without risking dropping the actual tickets. (I had six tickets for my journey. Two tickets because I changed trains. Plus two tickets for seat reservations on the longer journeys.)

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

Packing List For Summer Courses

If you take a summer course, writing, songwriting, painting, sports, etc you may wish to make a packing list.

PASSPORT/ID/driving licence
MONEY/local currency for taxi?
Taxi and hotel address.
Friend/relative/conference organiser phone number and email.
Check family or friends have not moved since your last visit.
Hotel at destination open 24 hours where you could go in case of overbooking, or arriving delayed, in the night.

Address checks
Check local hospitals in case you have to be taken to hospital for minor injury and have a preferred hospital, or whether you'd prefer to drive home.
Check address and opening hours of local pharmacy (US name is drugstore).
Check address of local stationery shop/bookstore.
Check address of nearest coffee shop/restaurant for a break or entertaining hosts or entertaining networking contacts.
Take addresses of family, colleagues, businesses you could visit nearby if staying longer.

TICKETS
for train, plane. Take printed copy even if it's online in case computer breaks down.
Check time changes - are you arriving a day later? Check tickets match. Check day of week travelling.

I once flew home from a trip to the Isle of Man on Saturday, expecting to set off on a Monday to meet a group - but on Monday found they had left on the Sunday. I missed a trip to Venice to stay at the famous hotel. PR was so angry she refused to let me pay for myself for another flight and join them a day late.

On another occasion we flew to Asia, having given our hosts our departure date instead of arrival date. They cooked us a special local dinner prepared by a local lady on Saturday night, but we arrived on Sunday.)

Packing List For A Short 2-7 day educational summer course

For a songwriting course
Book on songwriting
Laptop with online songwriting course
Your songs filed alphabetically
Packet notepad for ideas
Pens
Folder
Business cards
Smartphone or device for recording song ideas
File of websites/addresses to share with new contacts
C.V.

For a writing course
A4 pad
Pen
Pencil
Pencil sharpener
Stapler filled with enough staples
Paperclips
Rubber bands
Loose leaf file
A5 or A4 box file
Briefcase or paper holdall or tote bag
Luggage tag (to distinguish your conference bag from other people's)
Dictionary
Draft of your book
Poem to read at open microphone night
Plot book or poem outlines
Flyers adverting your books
Business cards
List of your published books in date order
List of your favourite authors and books
Not of books you already own so you don't buy duplicates

Speakers /Authors giving readings
Address cards
Copies of your book
Copies of previous books to hold up during talk
post-its placed in passages you wish to read.
(Or large print photocopies of the section you wish to read as bookmarks)
Speeches and poems with highlights for important words.
Mark pauses for laughter.
Printed copy of your speech, hard copy and on line, so if you fall ill or are delayed somebody else can read out your speech and give the audience your shared advice and website.

CLOTHES
Check dress hire shops for last night fancy dress party at conference/birthday party/New Year's Eve.
 Walking shoes/sandals/evening shoes/beach, gym or sports
Socks/tights

OUTERWEAR
Coats, jackets, raincoats, rainhats, umbrellas, overshoes, waterproof boots or shoes
Dresses/caftans
Skirts
Blouses
Shirts
Shorts/Bermuda shorts/cargo pants/culottes
Trousers (USA pants/cargo pants)

Underwear pants (UK - in the USA pants are what the British call trousers so for you reading in the USA pants and underpants or panties), bras, vests, slips.
1 Neutral pair co-ordinating with all outfits
2 Special evening pair or co-ordinating with special outfit
3 Spare shoes in case others get broken or dirty
Slippers for hotel
Beach shoes
Scarves, belts, and jewellery.

BITS AND PIECES
4 Picnic: plate, cutlery, lidded box, plastic bags; water bottle./ Emergency kit: tinned sardines, grapes, orange, Kendal mint cake.
5 First aid kit
6 Cosmetics
7 Toiletries: washbag; facecloth; microfibre towel/turban;Toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, shaver, shaving gel, shampoo, conditioner, soap, bacterial wipe, hair tint (for long trips), comb, brush, nail file, manicure scissors, tweezers, emery board, toenail clippers, nail varnish remover pads, nail varnish, moisturiser.
Pills (regularly taken with daily pill dispenser)
Emergency pills for stomach ache or colds, antibiotics, hay fever, allergies

SWIMWEAR
Swimsuit and swimhat -
Beach towel or wrap/sarong

Nightwear night clothes night dress pyjamas/wrap (even if you sleep nude, wrap helps if fire alarm
Spare bag fold-up suitcase/tote bag/carrier bag, for souvenirs/books/newspaper/wines/literature/ gifts for others/gifts you're given/certificates won
Wrapping paper for gifts and
Spare card for unexpected birthday/wedding/baby arrival/new home/local festival

Outfits for each day, with matching underwear and socks, shoes and coat and hat
(Unless your colour scheme is all black, or black and white with red or blue scarves, and ties
Belts to match all outfits

STATIONERY
Phrase book and dictionary for all destinations (If on laptop, find them and mark as favourites to find them easily and fast when needed.)
Print phrases you are likely to need at destination to please hosts
(Greetings, thanks, my name is, welcome, translation of first line and punchline of your speech to audience or thanking hosts for a meal)

SECURITY
Jacket with zipped inside pockets (or sew in pocket, or sew zips into inside pockets.
Belt with concealed pocket
Change purse

CLEANLINESS & SAFETY
Clothes washing gel/powder
Fly killer spray
Fly repellent for skin
Fly repellent clothes from specialist camping/trekking shops
UV clothes for outdoors
Sunglasses
Sunhats
Suncream
Calomine
Sting relief
Picture of local venomous snakes or wildlife so if you're bitten but can't catch it (dead!) you can point to picture or tell hospital what bit you.

Thank you card to post from destination country or leave behind with host.
Note of host's favourite chocolates, wines, authors colours, for buying gifts at airport as you depart to see them (or to send after you have left).

Make your own list in two columns for day and evening. Day of week (or date for longer than a week).
Rule a line left margin for ticks for when you pack to go, and on right for ticks for when you return.
Copy list on phone and email it to yourself/your family.
You could photograph the contents in the suitcase, and the suitcase showing brand name, in case your luggage is lost.

SELFIES
Finally photograph yourself at the doorstep as you leave.
Check when you get home you are still in the complete outfit, have not left your hat, coat, gloves on the plane or in the taxi.

LABELS
Label your clothes and your children's clothes with name tags or half tags which you can use to prove ownership at lost property without revealing to thieves where you live if your home is left empty or you don't want granny and the babysitters and dogs alarmed by burglars who were hoping the place was empty!

TURN OFF/THROW OUT
Leave 30 minutes extra for turning off heating, checking gas, fridge, waste bins, locks.
Before you go, turn off heating/air con or set on low. Set alarms.

Throw out milk and fruit or give it to neighbours. (We once were glad we had not thrown away the milk. We had a delayed flight, drove home, reclaimed the milk, made coffee. Then got a call to say come back for another flight. Gave the neighbours/family the milk a second time!)
 Leave door keys with trusted family. Tell hosts at other end you are leaving on time/delayed.

Angela Lansbury, BA Hons, travel writer, author, speaker.