Month: June 2021

Tips for Solo Travellers

30th June 2021 / Rachel

If you are a solo traveller looking to make the most of your stay, our top tips from our road warriors and ultra-travellers will guide you through the best of the epic sights, food, sights and experiences on your quest for adventure.

1. Download Airbnb

Join Airbnb to book a bed in more than 30,000 places around the world for as little as a few dollars a night.

The platform has become the world’s biggest home sharing platform, offering a huge network of stunning spaces to lay your head in from the biggest metropolises to the most remote villages.

Through a booking app, travellers can effortlessly stay in private properties, who are either heading to an airport or are open to guests arriving in their area.

Over the years, the company has partnered with thousands of hosts to create the ultimate experience for solo travellers to explore, while simultaneously sharing in the economic benefits.

Airbnb works to provide its customers with reliable, safe accommodation. For example, it offers two-star reviews for every property, to ensure the experience is a pleasant one for both the guest and the host.

Additionally, a lot of Airbnb hosts go the extra mile to ensure their place is clean and cozy for guests. They do things like sanitizing the space, giving you fresh linens and towels, and sometimes even hiring professionals who offer commercial cleaning services in Grand Rapids or similar specialists in their local area for regular cleaning. They want to make sure you have a comfortable and clean stay.

The key is to give hosts a welcoming and comforting space. You might not know a whole lot about your host, but the chances are they will be the best of friends when you arrive.

Our readers have also told us that Airbnb helps you get to know new places while staying in nice hotels for a fraction of the price. For travellers who love to explore the world as much as we do, it’s a match made in heaven.

2. Get a Free Airline Ticket

One way you can travel for free is to buy a ticket with one of the hundreds of airlines that offer affordable options for domestic travel.

To find the cheapest and best option, we recommend finding a low-cost carrier such as Spirit.

They are consistently ranked as the lowest cost carrier in the US, offering affordable tickets to all 50 states and 12 international destinations.

If you’re looking for domestic travel, buy a ticket for less than $80. Alternatively, if you travel internationally, it is often much cheaper to fly with an airline like Spirit than it is to buy a return airfare with a well-known international carrier like Emirates.

Our readers told us that they were able to fly Spirit to many destinations for a fraction of the cost of an airline with a higher profile.

3. Consider a Cabin on Flight

All airlines offer good value for money, but sometimes it’s worth saving the extra dollars on a budget airline.

No matter what class you choose, you’ll get a comfy bed and soft bedding. It’s a perfect place to get a good night’s sleep while you make your way through the night.

Unfortunately, if you are travelling with young children, you may not have the luxury of a private cabin. However, most budget airlines now offer a great service for young families.

We find that Emirates offers a great cabin for families of all ages and even offering free Wi-Fi onboard, just enough to check out the latest from your favourite casino bonus CA platforms.

How to Keep Your Home Secure While You’re on Holiday

28th June 2021 / Rachel

Woo hoo, you’re going on holiday, how exciting! It’s especially exciting if you haven’t been on holiday for a year or more because of the COVID-19 pandemic keeping everyone at home.

So, you’ve got your bags packed, your boarding passes and passports are in your bag and all you need to do now is set your alarm and make your way to the airport in the morning (why are so many flights always soooooo early?)

Or maybe you’re not flying off to warmer climes and you’re staying in the UK, perhaps in your very own static caravan, such as these ones from Sunrise Holiday Homes. Fear not! This article is also for you. After all, burglars don’t care whether you’re in the Seychelles or Southend and, if your home isn’t secure while you’re on holiday, you may come home to an unpleasant surprise.

Below you’ll find out how to keep your home secure while you’re on holiday, so the only unpleasant thing you come home to is the thought of going back to work on Monday morning.

Don’t tell everyone you’re going away

We get it, you’re excited about going away. Keep your excitement to yourself though and don’t tell everyone on Facebook about your plans. All this does is tell a potential burglar your house is empty. Also, be careful who you tell when you’re out and about. You might trust your neighbour who you bump into in the local shop but you don’t know who’s lurking behind the baked beans and has picked up on your travel plans. Walls have ears and all that.

And while we’re on the subject of social media, don’t constantly update your feed with photos of you and your entire family on the beach or in a bar sipping cocktails. We all love a humblebrag but you’re just advertising your empty house to intruders, so save the holiday snaps for your return.

Get your house cleaned thoroughly before leaving

Ensuring that your house is thoroughly cleaned before you leave for vacation is crucial for maintaining a healthy and safe home environment. A clean house helps prevent the build-up of dust, dirt, and food crumbs that can attract pests such as ants, rodents, and insects. Additionally, thorough cleaning paired with services akin to mold removal in Pittsburgh, PA or your location can mitigate the risk of mold growth, which thrives in damp, cluttered, and dirty areas.

Put simply, by taking the time to get your home cleaned, you reduce the chances of returning to unpleasant surprises. Not only does this protect your home, but it also provides peace of mind, allowing you to enjoy your vacation without worrying about the state of your living space.

Ask your neighbours to keep an eye on things

If you’re friendly with your neighbours, ask them to keep an eye on your house while you’re away. If you’ve got pets, perhaps your neighbours will feed them for you, which will save you spending money putting your cat or dog in a cattery or kennels (and will save your pets from the distress of being taken out of the home and temporarily housed in a strange environment).

Likewise, your neighbours could be invaluable in maintaining your home’s appearance and security. They might be willing to water your plants, open curtains in the morning, and close them at night, creating the illusion of occupancy. To further enhance this effect, consider asking them to coordinate exterior window cleaning in Cypress (if that’s where your home is located or a similar service elsewhere). This can be helpful as clean windows not only keep your house looking pristine but also signal to potential intruders that the property is well-maintained and likely occupied. This dual-purpose approach of upkeep and security can provide peace of mind during your absence.

If you do have a neighbour kind enough to do this for you, don’t forget to bring them back something nice as a thank-you. As an extra-thoughtful gesture, take any dietary requirements they may have into consideration (tee-total, vegan, gluten-free, etc.). Another nice way to show appreciation could be offering to return the favor when they go on vacation or need help with something around their home.

Lock doors and windows

This one probably sounds obvious. After all, you’re unlikely to go away for a length of time without making sure all your doors and windows are locked. If you live in a particularly rough area you might not even go to the local shop without securing your home as tightly as Fort Knox.

But have you taken all the keys out of the locks though? If you, like many people, usually keep your back door key in the back door and all the window keys in the window locks, take the keys out and put them somewhere out of sight. If you have Window Shades, make sure they’re closed for the duration of your vacation. You don’t want anyone peering into your house!

Of course, if you are worried that someone will be able to get into your home with a specific set of keys that they may have had copied without you knowing, you may decide to get in touch with somewhere like the nearest locksmith in Marietta ga to ensure that your residence is as secure as possible by replacing all the locks on your property. If you would like a peace of mind, this is something that you should definitely think about doing.

Smart assistant

Smart assistants such as those from Amazon and Google can be programmed to play music or other sounds at times specified by you. There are even burglar deterrent playlists that replicate the sound of households performing daily activities such as cleaning, talking, laughing, working in the home office and preparing food.

Conclusion

We’re sure you have plenty of common sense and won’t leave your house open to intruders but hopefully these tips will come in handy. Now you know how to protect your home while you’re away, we hope you have a fab holiday! Bring us back a stick of rock, yeah?

How Secure are the Latches on your Pop Top Roof?

15th June 2021 / Rachel

From time to time, you’d see some news report on TV about recreational vans (RV) having to stop on the road and deal with the damage they caused because the pop top roofs on top of their RVs have gone off and dropped on the road.

It doesn’t commonly happen, but it happens often enough. While you may think that it won’t happen to your pop top roof because it still looks sturdy, it’s probably the same thing in the thoughts of those who experienced these incidents before they happened.

If you have a pop top or hybrid camper, you need to start checking the latches that keep it on top of your RV. Most of the time, RVs are equipped with four over-centre latches that secure the pop top roof. However, this type of design comes with some risks that can cause problems, which should be a cause for worry, especially because most Australian RVs use this type of design.

If you want to know how secure the latches on your roof are, the problems you may have to prepare for, and what you can do to prevent them, this article will provide you with what you need.

Why latches can detach during travel

There are two main reasons why latches can detach from the camper during travel. First, it can be due to a wrong installation that results in the latches not being correctly secured into the over centre position. It can also be because the contents of your camper have subsided during travel, leading to the weight distribution being off and causing the latches to detach.

Having latches detaching during travel can be extremely dangerous. Not only will it cause damage to your camper, but it can also be dangerous for other vehicles around you. They can hit it or even run over it, which can lead them to lose control and have an accident.

Furthermore, having them detach can be financially crippling because you have to pay for the repairs, not only for your damages but for other people, too. You would also have to pay for hospital bills if the incident leads to injuries.

The risk of latch failure and corrosion

As written earlier, the design of the over-centre latches can come with a variety of risks when it comes to latching failure and corrosion. The problems that can be caused by these risks include:

The wall thickness of thin pop rivets used as pivot pins in latches is too thin, and the diameter size is also too small. They are also not that strong, which is why they often fail when too much force or weight is put upon them.
The latch can be stiff to operate due to the use of pop rivets, leading to the potential for injury, especially when the latch handle is protruding at a 90-degree angle to the direction of the van.
When the latch becomes damaged, corroded, or rusty, it can result in the latch becoming inoperable. These things can be from different causes, such as too much moisture and tightening the latch too much.

A latch failure or a protruding latch can cause many injuries and damage. When unlucky, it can be detached, and the latch ‘T’ bar can hit someone on the side of the road. Be careful with this, especially when your latch is installed at eye level.

Most latches in RVs are made of weak material to prioritize affordability over durability. The material in these latches can easily be damaged and are prone to corrosion. To prevent these types of problems from happening with your RV, try looking for latches made of stainless steel or other strong material.

Yes, they may be a bit more expensive, but it would keep you and your camper safe and prevent you from having pop top roof-related troubles on the road.

A latch failure can damage the lifting cable mechanism

Most of the damage caused by latch failures to the lifting cable mechanism is due to the pop top being opened when some of the over-centre latches are still attached. Without the lifting table mechanism, the pop top will be rendered unusable.

This is such a simple failure, but it can lead to so much hassle, especially when it happens during the middle of a trip. It’s also not that easy to repair and often needs you to have it professionally repaired, which can cost you at least $300.

Avoid over centre latch problems with pop top caravans

Most pop top caravans in the market come with these problematic risks. Even if you get one upwards of $40,000, pop tops in this price range still use weak material and are easy to damage. It’s not just due to the material used, as the design itself is flawed and prone to damage.

If you want a better, safer, and more secure alternative solution, the Snap-Flat over-centre latch can help you. Designed with improved safety and manufacturing using more durable and long-lasting materials, it can be a good alternative compared to regular pop tops.

It has a design that prevents the latch from detaching and makes attaching and detaching much easier and effective. It prevents accidents caused by a damaged latch and trying to take it off when a latch is still in place.

It’s tough to have a problem with pop top caravan latches, but with proper precautions and priorities, you can be in your caravan safely without worrying about your pop top roof detaching by itself.