WTVS News

Archive for April, 2011

There are still people who travel to foreign countries as part of an organized tour group. By purchasing a package, they trust the tour organizers to take care of all the logistics of planning and all they have to do is show up and enjoy themselves. Since most people travel overseas on their own, they have to take care of all that stuff themselves. And there is a lot to take care of.

Assuming they have chosen their destination country or countries and the time for their travel, and identified the activities and attractions they want to enjoy while there, they can get down to the nitty gritty of planning.

Lodging and transportation are big considerations. They need to research availability of hotels, hostels, and inns as well as public transportation, trains, and car rentals. They should be able to make reservations using the internet.

Documents are the next big problem. Everyone needs a passport, but they may also need work visas or student paperwork. Some countries require health certificates. The best plan is to research this early on and then take steps to procure all the necessary documents.

Other considerations in traveling overseas include reserving tickets to special events like festivals, purchasing visitors insurance , obtaining the proper currency, and learning the financial and social etiquette of the place. The latter means understanding local customs on things like tipping and eating meals as well as any prohibitions on dress.

It’s hard to imagine how tires that are still on the road could affect the environment. It’s usually tire disposal that brings to mind a negative impact. The practice of burning old tires released toxic chemicals into the air and contributes to pollution. Proper recycling can repurpose tires into construction projects and other uses. Few people realize that low tire pressure is a major environmental problem too.

It is estimated that over two billion gallons of gas are wasted each year in Europe alone due to tire pressure. This is because over 90 percent of of the cars on the roads have tires that are under inflated. There are no reliable figures for American drivers, but it is probably in the same neighborhood, but with so many more drivers, that percentage represents an even greater waste of gasoline Properly inflated tires provide consistent air pressure across the tire for longer periods of time. This helps improve the vehicle’s gas mileage. If everyone checked their tire pressure every week and kept them properly inflated, the gas savings on a global level would be astounding.

A newer development is to fill tires with 100 percent nitrogen. The argument is that general tires , which are filled with about 78 percent nitrogen, lose pressure quicker as that 22 percent that is oxygen leaks out. By switching to nitrogen filled tires, pressure will remain more constant and gas mileage will improve and drivers won’t have to fill the tires as often.