There are a variety of ways you can protect your home while traveling. Trim trees and bushes near areas where burglars can hide. Have outside lights including motion-sensitive ones. Use lights with automatic timers in the living room and bedrooms. Make it hard for the burglar to get in your home. Nails, screws, padlocks, door and window locks, grates, bars, and bolts can help prevent intruders. An alarm system would be a good investment. Neighbors will hear noise, and help would be on the way. Don’t put valuable items where they are visible such as in windows. You can inventory your items by markings and serial numbers. This would be helpful for the police and insurance.

Don’t tell people other than trusted ones your travel plans. Ask neighbors to pick up mail and newspapers; tell your neighbors when you are leaving and coming back. Leave a key with a trustworthy neighbor; give the neighbor phone numbers where you can be reached in case of emergency. Cancel deliveries if nobody can pick them up. If you’re going to be gone a while, have someone cut the grass. Leave the blinds open in the normal position. Hide empty garbage cans. See if someone can put trash on your curb on trash pickup day. You can put your valuables in a safe deposit box. Find out if the police will check your home while you’re away. Before you leave, make certain the doors and windows are locked especially basement and garage doors. You can leave radios or televisions on or put them on automatic timers. If possible, leave a car in the driveway. By doing these things, you can come back to a safe home.

Unfortunately one of the major causes of holiday accidents is lack of awareness of road safety issues. With this in mind, the following are some simple road safety tips to keep in mind when you’re on holiday:

1. Walking / Pedestrian
When walking as a pedestrian in a foreign country always be aware of the traffic patterns around you. Where possible, walk on the pavement. In countries where walking on pavements is not possible, try to ensure that you walk into oncoming traffic, not with your back turned on it. Also, make sure you’re wearing reflective, bright clothing; especially if you are out walking at night. Finally, some countries have different rules regarding walking across roads at intersections and pedestrian-crossings. In this regard, do not automatically assume vehicles are going to stop for you; for example, at red-lights there may still be a right of way when turning left or right, as the case may be.

2. On the road
When traveling anywhere by road, try to avoid overloaded/overcrowded vehicles. If you think the transport may be overcrowded or overloaded, ask for a refund and/or travel on the next one. During the journey, if you believe the driver is acting recklessly, politely ask the driver to adjust his/her driving style. If they refuse, kindly ask to get off the vehicle and take their name so as to report this to the transport company.

3. Motorcycles
One of the major causes of road accidents whilst on holiday involves motorcycles – especially where the driver is not used to driving a motorcycle and where a beach is near by. If you are going to be visiting a beach resort, and you want to rent a motorcycle to get around, do not drive the motorcycle in the attire you’re going to be wearing at the beach (i.e. swimsuit). Make sure you cover up well and wear a safety helmet. Remember, tarmac on raw skin not only hurts but is likely to leave a scar that’ll not go away easily.

4. General
Aside from those road safety tips mentioned above, please keep in mind the following general road safety tips:
a. only take taxis that have safety-belts. If you’re in a country where this is literally impossible, ride in the back.
b. Avoid intoxicated/over-tired taxi drivers. In some countries, taxi drivers are required to work long hours in order to make a living with little or no legislation requiring them to take a rest period. If this applies to the place you’re visiting, make sure you avoid any taxi driver you believe to be tired or intoxicated.
c. Let someone else know where you’ll be / carry a mobile phone. If you plan a journey, make sure that others know what bus/coach, etc. you’re going to be on. Also, if possible, always carry a mobile phone – just in case you need it. In this regard, try not to take taxi rides late at night by yourself if you are unfamiliar with your surroundings.

Above all else though, stay alert at all times and don’t let a traffic accident spoil your vacation.

Since the dawn of time we have used them to chart both our cultural and geographic advancements. At one time or another they have depicted the successes of the Greek, Egyptian, Roman and European colonies. They’ve also been seen to romanticize the world we have lived in, and continue to live in. And, in all likelihood, you have either an actual or replica of one in your home. Maps: why are we so fascinated by them – and how have they evolved over time?

The dawn of cartography
Cartography is the official scientific name give to map-making. At the moment, the oldest known maps that we have date back to the Babylonian-era, which are carved on clay tablets and are dated circa. 2300 BC (era Before Christ). However, although our first maps date back to 2300 BC, it is fairly well accepted that the first time map-making was considered to be in an “advance” stage was during the period of the ancient Greeks. And, by the time the Roman Claudius Ptolemaeus launched his world map (which actually isn’t a world map at all, but only covers the known world at that time – 60 degrees north, 30 degrees south), all had accepted the importance of this fascinating art.

Medieval Maps
Anyone who has undertaken any study of our medieval period cannot help themselves but be amazed by the level of work that went into their map making. That all of the maps of the time seem to appear to be Euro-centric is actually a misconception as other peoples of the world, noticeable the Chinese and Vikings were also making good use of maps around this time.

The invention of the printing press – Renaissance maps
Probably one of the biggest factors in the increased popularity of maps was the invention of the printing press. Until this time, all maps had to be made by hand. Thus, distribution of replica maps was an extremely onerous task. However, with the invention of the printing press came major advances in map-making skills and distribution. At this time, as well as becoming universally accepted as a means of communications between people who didn’t speak the same language, maps (and, thus, map-making) now came to be seen as an art-form.

The New World
Christopher Columbus discoveries of the New World (15th Century) brought about the next big change in who the world was seen; thus, map-making. It was during this period that maps of the world as a round or oval object started to appear. The pioneer of this change in map design was a cartographer by the name of Gerardus Mercator (from Flanders, Belgium), who used a cylindrical projection to design his world map. So successful was Mercator’s cylindrical projection methodology of designing a world map, it is still in use today!

Modern-era of map making
The art, development and skills in map making continued unabated during their zenith period of the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth Centuries, as both their civil and military usage became more and more apparent. Consequently, a large number of map-charting projects were commissioned during this period. However, it was not until the Second World War, and shortly thereafter, when aerial photography started, that some of the last vestiges of uncharted map territory came in to the fold of modern maps.

The future of maps
Today it is possible to have Global Positioning System (GPS) in your phone, PDA, and car and computerized cartography is here to stay. However, the old romanticism of New World maps will still cling to us – as evidence by the large number of replica maps still sold today. Which goes to show, the history of cartography is a good way of charting our successes and failures over time to where we are today!