December 1, 2017 by Jeremy

7 Tips for Your First Long-Distance Motorcycle Trip

Perhaps you’re young, confident and maybe a little bit rash, and you’ve been dying to take your bike out for a long excursion. So you’ve decided to take an impulsive trip and are looking for some last minute tips. And that’s fine. There’s freedom in picking up your bag and heading out for an adventure just because you feel the call of the road.

Or maybe you’re the responsible type. You’ve been planning this road trip for months, even years. Finally, after waiting for all the pieces to come together, the time to go is finally near. You’ve got your destinations lined up, your hotel rooms reserved, and you’re researching advice online to make sure you haven’t overlooked anything.

Whatever the case, whether you’re planning to travel with your motorcycle stateside or in another country, you’ve come to the right place. The first thing you should know is to expect the unexpected, especially if this is your first time doing a solo motorcycle road trip. There are some things you can only learn the hard way, by facing obstacles head on and overcoming them. That being said, these 10 tips will help you mentally prepare yourself for the challenges ahead.

Your Endurance Will Be Tested 

If you’re not accustomed to riding for more than just a few hours, then you may want to make some practice runs lasting a few hours before embarking on your trip. The road will test your focus, your endurance, and literally be a pain in the rear. The more experience you have riding for longer periods of time, the more pleasant your road trip will turn out.

Windshields Are a Godsend 

Right now you may be thinking that windshields are unstylish and only fit for middle-aged men riding overly outfitted touring bikes, but you’ll change your mind fast once you’re on the freeway for a few hours. Riding against the wind at 65 to 80 miles per hour gets exhausting fast. If you don’t have a windshield already, do yourself a favor and invest in a proper windshield.

Posture Is Key

Unless you’ve had a lot of experience riding long distances, you may not realize how essential posture is to comfortable riding. Getting your seating and riding position right makes the difference between smooth sailing and killing your back and legs. If you want to ride without turning your body into a pretzel, seriously consider getting a backrest and some highway pegs. Also adjust your handlebars for optimal comfort before you hit the road.

Prepare for Some Unpredictable Weather

Riders in the know often joke that on a long road trip you’ll end up hot, cold and wet. Expect to encounter all kinds of weather conditions, whether it be hot sun or cold rain—and prepare yourself accordingly. Pack a few change of clothes and wear well-ventilated, waterproof equipment. However, no matter how many preparations you make, you should steel yourself for at least a little discomfort. After all, you’ll be on a motorcycle, completely exposed to the elements.

Earplugs Are Incredible

According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), noise levels of 100 decibels become damaging to the ear after just 15 minutes of exposure. At a speed of about 74 mph (which is common for freeway riding), wind noise exceeds 100 decibels. The conclusion? Wear earplugs while riding, no matter how uncool it is. You know what’s not cool? Losing your hearing. Also, contrary to popular belief, earplugs don’t block out sound, they help your ears distinguish sounds better. In other words, you’ll be more aware of your surroundings with earplugs, not less. And as any good rider will tell you, awareness is key to safe riding.

Embrace Technology

There’s something romantic to the notion of riding with only the road and your thoughts on your mind for hours on end—and it’s an experience any rider should have at least once. However, you may want to consider using technology for your first trip since it will make your ride a lot more comfortable. A helmet with Bluetooth capabilities, for instance, can facilitate navigation and rider-to-rider communications. If your bike has cruise control, make use of it. It’ll help you maintain a constant speed for long periods of time and consequently discourage cars from dangerously passing you.

Get Plenty of Rest

Riding long distances is a physically and mentally draining experience, and you’ll have to listen to your body if you want to make it through your trip unscathed. Feel thirsty? Pull over and drink some water. Hungry? Pull over and get a snack. Your muscles feeling tight? Pull over and stretch. The last thing you want to do is overdo it, lose concentration and put yourself at risk of a bad motorcycle crash. Remember, every car is a potential killing machine, and you need to be awake, alert and focused on your ride from point A to B to C and so on.

One last and final tip: enjoy yourself. As long as you practice smart and safe riding strategies along with the tips above, you will have the time of your life, guaranteed. Now get out there and create some unforgettable memories! The road awaits.

November 21, 2017 by Jeremy

Are tours the safest way to travel?

We all want to travel and see the world, and some of the places we want to go might not be the safest, especially if we are not careful and don’t know what we are doing. Many countries you go to are wonderful and have wonderful people that love that you are visiting their homeland, but even they will tell you there are places you should not go. Tourists can get kidnapped or disappear, it happens. There is even kidnapping insurance for travelers, usually for executives, but the point being that if you are in the wrong place, people just see you as money, or as a victim. So sometimes the best way to stay safe if you are not sure is to take a tour. You have a tour guide to keep you safe and a lot of other tourists to be with so you are not caught alone.

Touropp.com is a good good place to find good, safe, discounted tours. They are a group of experienced tour operators that came together to try and make a great site with steep discounts for tours around the world. They all have a love for travel and tours and are happy to help you with where you want to travel and advise you on keeping safe. Some simple steps to stay safe are as follows.

1) Stay with the tour group

Stay with the tour group and don’t go wandering off places that you don’t know, especially not down any side streets, and especially if you are a woman traveler. People forget that some locations where some attractions are might not be in the best neighborhood and tourists are preferred prey for many of the lower element. Stay with the group, or in visual of the group, and use common sense.

2) Don’t be enticed away

Don’t be enticed away from the tour. Similar to rule one, but this is if you meet some nice seeming helpful stranger. Often people will try and get you to go somewhere away from the tour, while most people are safe and friendly, it is just not worth the risk. There are many scams around the world. The tea house scam in China is extremely common one for example. Basically, you meet a couple of nice girls that are Chinese students and want to practice their English. They suggest a place you can have tea nearby. If you go with them, you will find that you have to pay the bill later for an astronomical amount, and if you don’t you are in trouble. So, don’t assume anything, and stay with your group.

3) Don’t look like a victim

It’s a bit hard not to look like a tourist, but you can tone it down a bit. Don’t wear that Rolex watch or gold jewelry while you are traveling around with the group, and especially not without the group. You might not think that bit of jewelry is that much of anything, but some locals might see that as a year’s wages and try and take it from you. People are pretty brazen as well; snatch and grabs are quite common. Should someone grab something of yours and makes a run, you shouldn’t chase them as they probably have friends that will take everything else you have when you go after them.

4) Make sure that your family back home has all your information and itinerary

If the tour is a long one, make sure the tour operators also have your emergency contact information. Just in case there are any problems, you can at least know that you have people that can track you down and know where you should be. They can call the authorities or embassy if need be, so you are not stuck out there on your own.

Traveling the world is a fine adventure, and should never be avoided for fear of safety. Use common sense, and take a tour, whether it is a week’s travel tour or just a day’s tour, the guides are locals and know more about what to avoid than you do. Listen to them and enjoy your life. Tours are a great way to visit new places when you travel. They allow you to experience and see more things that you might on your own. A well experienced tour guide can tell you history, culture, and anecdotes of the places while making sure you are safe. Stay safe and travel.

October 5, 2017 by Jeremy

Birmingham’s Popularity is On the Rise: Check Out the 5 Reasons Why

Nothing seems to be able to stop Birmingham on its journey to world domination. The landscape of the city is changing and it is set to be one of the most amazing cities, if not the most amazing in less than a decade. Here’s why we say so:

    One Festival Square to rule them all

Back in 1935, the area around Bullring markets was called Smithfield market and now, there is a huge regeneration project happening in Birmingham Smithfield to give the place an entirely new vibe.

Festival and concert goers will be excited about the designated Festival Square, which is intended to rival the best in Europe. Festival Square is going to be the focal point of the project as Smithfield regains its position in the heart of Birmingham. The Square will look out to a hotel, markets, culture centres, a museum, and leisure opportunities for the family, including an ice rink.

Expected to draw millions of new visitors to the city, the project was launched in March 2017 and is slated to be finished by 2020.

  1. Bye Hollywood, hello Brummiewood!

While there is no beating Hollywood, Birmingham is going to be home to an amazing new film studio complex. Peaky Blinders creator, Steven Knight, is behind it all and he is working with the City Council and developers to build six film studios at the National Exhibition Centre.

We are optimistic that the studios will be finished over the next two years as hoped. Birmingham already serves as a hot location for films, with four blockbusters shot in the city in 2016 alone, including The Long Walk, Ready Player One, The Girl with The Gifts, and Kingsman: The Golden Circle.

  1. The city will have a Grand Hotel again

If you are looking for a replica of London’s Marylebone in Birmingham, you are sure to find it in Colmore Row. With the restoration of the Grand Hotel, the 19th century historic hotel will be given a more modern look. Birmingham is home to some of the classiest boutique hotels you’ll find anywhere, so you can ensure that your stay will definitely be a comfortable one.

  1. Brum will be ready for the Commonwealth Games in 2022

After beating Liverpool as Britain’s candidate city, Birmingham was the only city to submit a bid. While the city had planned to bid for the 2026 games instead, there is no doubt Birmingham will be ready by 2022 as it has experience hosting major sporting events such as the IAAF Diamond League. Plus, the IAAF World Indoor Championships will be hosted in 2018.

  1. The city will have a proper international airport

And to truly take Birmingham to the rest of the world, Birmingham airport would have exponentially expanded the number of cities travellers can fly direct to, including Los Angeles.

Over the next few years, Birmingham can easily compete with London in nearly every facet, so watch out world!

June 9, 2017 by Jeremy

This List Will Help You Pick The Right Travel Insurance

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One of the first things we do when we buy a house or a car is to get it insured. We definitely want it to be secured and we always consider getting other important assets insurance to make sure they are also protected like how we get health insurance for ourselves.

The same goes for traveling, we should never leave without getting travel insurance. It is one of the many ways to make sure that we are safe and secure when we go to a foreign place. Some people would ignore this, mainly because getting a travel insurance is optional unlike getting a house or health insurance. But imagine this for a second: what if you get into an accident abroad and they send you to a hospital? You only have enough to cover the treatment, but not the equipment used to treat you. Well, travel insurance can get you coverage for that!

There is a lot more to travel insurance, advantages that will remove the worry out of traveling. But the most intimidating part of getting any insurance is looking at the plan options and what can be covered. To help you, here is a list of items you should look for when looking at travel insurance plans.

Medical expenses

This should be the first thing you look for when going over the items you can get coverage for. There is a lot to consider when getting medical and evacuation coverage because this will not just cover the expenses but the kinds of medicine the insurance will cover. This will also detail the transportation (meaning, the ambulance or any vehicle that was used for you), the professional fees, and in rare occasions, the transit to a hospital in another country.

You also need to check if you can get coverage for injuries while doing activities like hiking, rafting, or any sport. There are policies that specify the activities that they will cover.

Discuss with your insurance provider the specific circumstances your insurance policy can get you covered.

Valuables

Excluded in the policy are items such as gadgets, jewelry, and IDs; and this is normal, some items actuallydo not get covered unless you pay extra. So when you are going over your list, make sure that all the items that matter to you are covered, then decide if you will extend that coverage to other items. The coverage will usually include items that are lost or damaged.

Destinations

If you are only going to one place, it is easy to get covered for that. But if you are going to multiple destinations, you need to make sure that all of those places are covered. Even the stopovers should get coverage. Just remember this, if you are going to a stay in a place even just for a night, that should be included in the insurance policy.

Lastly, you need to look at the items that will not be covered by the travel insurance. This will guide on what to avoid during your trip. Use this list to help you when you are discussing the travel insurance policy with your provider.

May 27, 2017 by Jeremy

Travel Safety For Women Traveling Alone

Travel Safety For Women Traveling Alone is an important subject

Traveling the world is not only an exciting concept, but one that’s a bit scary as well. This is especially true for women who plan to travel solo rather than with a significant other or a group. Though this concept may sound intimidating, there are tons of women who travel the world alone, both for short periods of time and longer ones. If you’re thinking about taking on this adventure, here are some travel safety tips to help you feel the safest possible before and during your travels.

Tourlina travel app

Travel apps have become a big part of our lives these days with some of them serving an important purpose while others are just for fun and entertainment. This travel app is made exclusively for women and is designed more so for women traveling alone who are hoping to meet other solo traveling women somewhere along their trip. If you’re in an area that you’re a little nervous about, you can log onto your app and look for other female travelers in the same area to meet up with. This app is great for finding like minded women to meet up with for a simple chat or to meet up with so that the two of you (or more) can start the next leg of your journeys together.

Don’t flaunt your valuables

Instead of wearing all of your best jewelry pieces out front and center, it’s best to hide them when traveling anywhere, not just locations that you feel a bit iffy about. A good way to hide your extra cash is to take a not yet used tampon applicator and stuff your rolled up extra bills in there. It’s very unlikely that if your hotel belongings were to get robbed while you’re out and about, that the thief in question would look at the applicator.

Be wary of those ‘too helpful’

If someone is coming off a little bit too strong and insisting that they can take you to your hotel or that you should follow them to their favorite beach, then you’re going to want to politely say no and walk away in the opposite direction. This is because although you’re very likely to meet lots of great people throughout your travel adventures, there are a few not so good ones that you’ll want to avoid. The key here is to follow your instinct. If you feel at all uneasy about the current situation, even if it’s just a small, barely there feeling, then you’ll want to get out of that situation as quickly as you can. Always trust yourself, not others.

Let loved ones know where you are

This is important for in case something were to happen to you, your friends and family back home would be able to contact the appropriate officials. If others are kept aware of where you plan to be and when, then it’s much more likely that you’ll be rescued if something bad were to happen to you.

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