Vacationing Tips to Protect You and Your FamilyWritten by Jordan Walt
A.I.C. Insurance Agency Offers Vacation Tips to Protect You and Your Family Milwaukie, OR Feb. 28, 2005 – Vacations should be a time spent having fun and relaxing. By taking a few extra precautions while traveling, you can prevent yourself, or your friends and family, from being a victim of crime. A.I.C. Insurance Agency and Travelers, a leading provider of auto and homeowners insurance, offer these safety tips to help you, your friends and family have a fun and safe vacation: • Do not carry large amounts of cash. Use traveler’s checks that can usually be replaced within 24 hours. • Use ATMs only during daylight hours. If you must use one after dark, try and find a well-lit, busy area such as a grocery store. • Leave copies of trip information with a friend or family member at home. This includes credit card numbers, passport numbers, plane tickets and itinerary information, and phone numbers for your credit card companies. • Keep credit cards, cash, passport, and plane tickets separate. • Wear a “money purse” underneath your clothes that contains passport, phone numbers for credit card companies, and a small amount of cash, should your wallet get stolen. • Carry a “dummy” wallet in your back pocket containing $20 which, if you were to be mugged, would satisfy robber without draining all of your funds. • Have your mail delivery stopped while on vacation. If you have a neighbor retrieving mail and newspapers while you are away, ensure that they will be there every day. Nothing says an empty house like a stack of mail or newspapers at front door. • Do not assume your personal documents are safe in your hotel room. Lock them in a safe while room is unoccupied. • Have separate ATM, debit and credit cards and make sure that you need a PIN for in-store use of a debit card, not only for ATM. • For women, do not hang purses on back of bathroom stall doors. It is very easy for someone to reach over door and grab it. • Leave your regular checkbook at home. If your checks are stolen, it’s difficult to cancel them and track their use as you would a credit card. Plus, if someone reorders checks in your name, you won’t realize it until you receive your bank statement.
| | Photography Tips While TravelingWritten by Robert Bezman
Whether you’re embarking on a family vacation or your family reunion, it’s going to be a special time. When we think of trips we’ve taken, we tend to remember them best with photographs. Here’s some ideas to enhance your vacation as well as your memories of them.Location Preparation 1) Since you know where you’re going (that's a minimum requirement), doesn’t it make sense to check out location before you get there? Create a list of attractions, accommodations, special points of interest, amusement areas, shopping, etc. A good source to help you do this is: Places and Travel section of msn.com ( http://groups.msn.com/Browse?CatId=179) 2) Figure out photo opportunities for each appropriate venue. Anyone can take a “that’s nice” picture of kids at an amusement park. Wouldn’t you rather capture a “WOW” photo that could be hung over mantle? 3) Depending on location you’re traveling to, you can see what books are written about them that highlight best photo opportunities for entire area 4) If you’re cyber-savvy, start at www.google.com and search using different combinations of: your destination, best photography locations, for images of location, scenic spots, etc. The options are endless. 5) If you’re off to a non-big city area, scout out national parks in area. The great thing about national parks is that scenery is usually so breathtaking, that a so-so shot looks outstanding, just because of subject. Once in www.nps.gov, do a search on photos and you will be presented with terrific shots of all parks Photography Preparation OK, you’re either traveling through or you’re at a wonderful location full of photo opportunities. You began this leg of your trip at crack of dawn and as you’re pulling into most scenic overlook for 400 miles, sun is just starting to crack horizon.
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