Travel Alert And Healthy

A couple of months ago I made reference to a good travel information site titled “traveltruth”, written and produced by a well-respected travel agent in the United States, Richard Turen. My background is in coaching and as such, we were always borrowing successful plays and defenses that worked for other coaches....'course it worked real well if we had similar personnel!!! Naturally I've carried over that practice in the travel business and I recently read a couple of travel questions that were answered on their site, and thought I would inform my listeners and readers of their responses with some of my twists.

One question had to do with the safety of traveling to Mexico or Europe or Central America or to some of the other so-called danger destinations. Someone did some interesting research and cited:

--Your chance of dying in any kind of worldwide terrorist attack is 1 in 9.3 million.

--Your chance of dying from food poisoning is 1 in 3 million.

--Your chance of dying from a dog bite is 1 in 700,000.

--Your chance of dying from a car accident is 1 in 18,585.

--Your chance of dying in your own bathtub is 1 in 685,000.

The conclusion drawn from these statistics is unless you plan to stay off American roads, not eat in our fast food facilities, stay away from dogs and refuse to bathe, you might as well take that trip to Europe or wherever you wish to travel. Staying at home is considerably more dangerous!! Of course, some of that last sentence is tongue-in-cheek, but the real thought is as long as you stay aware, use common sense while traveling, and stay with reputable properties and tour companies, travel will be a pleasant experience, and after all, that is the value that you receive by using an experienced travel counselor to help with your travel planning.

Another question they answered concerned the cleanliness of the airplanes. The question was posed by a person who was a frequent traveler and was conscious of the fact that 100+ people jammed in an aluminum tube might be ripe for the spread of all kinds of sickness. That person wanted to know if there was anything they could do to minimize their chances of “catching something”. The suggestion given was to go into the “attack mode” with a couple of sanitized wipes.

Start with the seat belt, wipe it clean before you buckle. Use the wipe to put down the tray table and clean its surface and edges. Look overhead and wipe off the air vent and light buttons. Some of the head rests could use a good wipe too. If you have to go to the restroom, take a couple of wipes with you and wipe the door handle as you go in, wipe the water fountain and flush button, and keep the wipe handy to use when you exit the room. That way, you've done all you can to keep yourself free from those “leftover” germs.

Hope these Thursday Morning Travel Tips gives you a little food for thought as you consider travel, more than anything I hope it encourages you to continue to keep anticipating clearing off that travel bucket list. The experienced travel counselors at The Travel Factory stand ready to help you manufacture the vacation of your dreams, so give us a call today at 698-1421 or toll-free 800-760-4040. We can also visit face-to-face at 4150 Southwest Drive. Touch us too at our website:

www.thetravelfactoryabilene.com.