Christmas Crowds

Christmas is only a few days away, and that means a lot of places are going to be extremely busy. Keep reading for our advice when it comes to handling the last couple days of Christmas crowds.

Travel

You likely already have your travel plans in place, but we’ve got some advice to try and make your experience a bit easier. Whether you’re hitting the road or heading to the airport, everywhere is likely to be pretty busy over the next week.

·        Get to the airport early. Millions of people are getting on planes over the next few days, and you don’t want to miss your flight because you get stuck in security. Bring a book or a laptop to entertain yourself while you wait.

·        Bringing gifts? You might be better off wrapping them after arriving at your destination. If a wrapped gift sets off any alarms, TSA is going to open it. It is easier just to wait.

·        Go carry on only if you can. This will save time because you won’t have to wait at baggage claim and there’s no chance of your luggage going missing.

·        If you’re traveling by car, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are expected to be the busiest days on the road, so leave extra time.

·        If you can drive to your destination in the morning versus the afternoon, you will most likely encounter less traffic.

Shopping

If you’ve not finished Christmas shopping yet, it is too late to avoid the crowds. Malls and stores are absolutely packed with people shopping for last minute gifts. There are a few ways to make the experience less overwhelming, though.

·        Try getting out to the store before the weekend. It will likely still be busy, but not nearly as busy as it is during the weekend. Similarly, try going shopping in the early morning. The later it gets the busier it will be.

·        Parking lots will be crowded. If you can, get someone to drop you off and pick you up later to avoid the stress of parking.

·        Expect every store you go to to be packed. If it is, you are less likely to be irritated, and if it isn’t, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

·        Take friends or family with you. Yes, this means more people, but you are more likely to enjoy shopping when surrounded by people you care about.

·        Go shopping with a game plan. Know what you need to get and get it right away. Choose stores you already know to save time.

·        It may still be possible to do some online shopping. Shop your favorite stores online and opt for in store pickup. Check the dates and make sure stores will have the items before Christmas, first!

Surviving Thanksgiving Weekend Crowds

Thanksgiving is only a week away, which means soon airports and roads are going to be clogged with holiday traffic. And the AAA is predicting that a record number of Americans are going to be traveling during for the holiday. That means millions of people will be on the move, and if you’re one of them, it’s time to come up with a plan.

While airports will be busy, the majority of American’s will be driving to their destinations. If you’re one of them it may be too late to avoid the drive, but we can help you avoid many of the crowds.

AAA has released a guideline of the worst times to travel, as well as what cities are expected to have the most traffic, including specific roads. This year Tuesday is looking to be the worst day for travel, particularly around rush hour. Not only will people hit rush hour traffic, they will hit holiday traffic as people get an early start to their weekends. Traffic delays could be up 300% in some cities. Click here for a detailed list. If you can get on the road sooner, do it, otherwise you may be better off waiting until closer to Thanksgiving if you want to avoid traffic.

Longer commutes are important for people traveling via train, plane, or bus as well, as traffic delays can make you late. Give yourself extra time for traffic, and because airports and stations are going to be busier than usual.

And what about heading home? Getting an early morning start on Black Friday is your best bet for avoiding the crowds. By Saturday afternoon roads will again be crowded with people heading home. If you can stay an extra day and head home Monday, you may have less traffic as your reward.

If you’re traveling for Thanksgiving, accept that you are going to run into worse traffic than usual. That is inevitable. Please drive safe, and be kind to the others on the road with you.

Security at Major Events

The shooting in Las Vegas is just the latest in a series of devastating attacks at large events. Whether you are planning for a festival, a concert, or any other type of large event that attracts a lot of people, you need to put a lot of thought into the security of your event. A lot of this has to do with crowd control. With strategic pre-planning you can do your best to limit the risk of violence at your next event.

Before you do anything else, once you start planning your event you have to begin your threat and risk assessment. How do you even begin to do this? First consider common threats, such as petty and minor crime and weather. From there, branch out to consider more severe threats, such as active shooters. Finally you need to consider other threat aspects. Could the event be politically charged? What kind of crowd will be at the event? All these things (and more) are things you must consider when planning an event. Remember that the priority is keeping attendees safe, but you should also consider damage to property while making this assessment.

Once you have finished your risk assessment you can begin planning your security strategy. First you want to establish your perimeter. This shows you what space you will have to work with. If it is an outdoor event, what are the barriers of the event? How do you keep people in or out? What are the risks both inside and outside this perimeter? You can form a perimeter with something as basic as a crowd control barrier or fence; you just have to make sure you have the staff and security around this perimeter to keep it safe.

This brings us to the staff you and bringing on for the event. Work with local police. Get their feedback about the area your event is taking place in, and security threats they believe you may face. You may want to hire private security. You want to give your staff all the information you can. Have them assess the risks as well. Create a chain of command within these security personnel to make things run more smoothly. If possible, hire security staff that has worked with the venue and/or the type of event you are running before.

Providing some sort of cover in the event of a shooting can also be helpful. We aren’t suggesting you put up barriers to hide behind, but one of the reasons the Las Vegas attack was so fatal was because the shooter acted from up high with an open-air target. Keep this in mind when considering a large, open-air event. You also want to prevent cover from a vehicle attack. Unfortunately, criminals driving into groups of people on sidewalks is becoming more common, but this can be prevented with barriers to give your guests coverage.

Outside of crowd control barriers and metal detectors, one of the best and most cost-effective things you can do is train staff and volunteers to recognize suspicious behavior. You can also encourage attendees to report any strange behavior to event security, which puts many more eyes out there. Hopefully this will lead to suspicious individuals being stopped and prevent an attack from happening.

If something does go wrong, you want to have an evacuation plan in place. While you are not likely to tell each attendee this plan, what is important is that all staff and security knows about the plan. You need to have a specific plan in place, and not just a generic evacuation plan. At a seated venue there are clear exits, but at a festival there are not. This is something you have to consider in case of emergency. Make sure all your staff understands your emergency plan and that they know how to execute it if something goes wrong.

No matter what you do to plan, it is impossible to guarantee that nothing will go wrong at your event. That’s why it is important not only to attempt to prevent an attack, but to have a plan in place in case something does go wrong. Prepare the best you can and be ready to handle a situation if violence does break out. 

Evacuation During Hurricane Irma

Evacuating during a hurricane is almost always going to be a messy affair, especially if that hurricane is likely to make landfall in a densely populated area. An evacuation order, even if it comes far ahead of a hurricane making landfall, can still cause chaos. So what is the most efficient way to evacuate this busy, crowded situation?

First off, keep a close eye on the forecast. Even if you haven’t been issued an evacuation order yet, this doesn’t mean you won’t get one later. You should be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice. Prepare an emergency kit before you do anything else. This should hold cash, prescription medication, food, and bottled water. Only after this is completed should you start gathering other possessions, such as valuables or important documents. Bring legal papers, passports, and any other essential documentation with you. If your home floods this stuff could be easily destroyed. If there are valuables you want to save but cannot bring with you, store them in the highest point of your home.

If you have time before evacuating, please move chemicals, electronics, and sharp objects to a higher place. Flood waters can easily drag dangerous objects and chemicals into the water, and this debris can cause a lot of problems. But please, only do this if you have the time to do so before you leave. The same goes for boarding up windows; only do so if you have enough time before evacuating.

Make sure you and your family members have a meeting point. Cell phones may not work or some people may forget their phones or run out of battery power. Have a plan to check in on social media too if possible. Having a meeting place will make evacuation faster and much easier.

The most important tip we can give you is do not wait. In the event of an evacuation, thousands of people will all be trying to get out of the path of the storm. Time is extremely important, and it is never too early to get out. Waiting until the last minute is extremely dangerous. You could end up trapped in your vehicle during the storm, or may lose your chance to evacuate at all. If you are a senior citizen, pregnant, or disabled, you should leave even sooner. Getting around when confined to a wheelchair will be more difficult than normal, so leave as soon as you can.

If you will be evacuating but won’t be able to stay in a hotel or with friends and family, make plans to get to a shelter now. This is particularly true if you do not have access to a vehicle. Do not wait. Get in contact with others in your community or local officials to find a way to get to safety.

Roads are going to be extremely busy, so make sure you get gas beforehand. Do not rely on GPS, but instead follow evacuation routes. You do not have to get out of the state, you simply have to get away from the main areas of danger. While no part of Florida is safe from the storm, trying to drive out of the state may prove to be impossible. What is most important is to get away from the coasts and low-lying areas. Because the path of the storm is not yet fully determined, head north. You cannot evacuate to the Gulf coast. Please do not attempt to leave the state, as this just causes additional traffic problems.

If you have mandatory or voluntary evacuation orders, please do not wait and leave now. It is not worth your life to try and ride out such a dangerous storm. By tomorrow it will likely be too late to evacuate. Emergency services will not be able to respond to calls during the duration of Hurricane Irma. Don’t take the risk; heed evacuation orders as soon as you can.

Surviving The 2017 Solar Eclipse

It seems unlikely that you’ve managed to not hear about the total solar eclipse that will be happening across the USA. If you are planning to travel to see the totality of the eclipse, or even if you already live in the area, you have to be prepared. We’re here to bring you some advice for what might be one of the most crowded events in the past century.

Now something to keep in mind is that this is the first total solar eclipse in the USA since 1979. No matter where you are, if you are going to the totality area it is going to be very busy. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to travel to get into the path of totality.

First, if you’ve not made travel plans yet it is not too late, but know you’ll be paying a premium for any hotels that are left, or that you will have to stay a couple hours away from the path of totality and drive in the day of.

If you managed to get a hotel room within a town in the path, good job! Something to keep in mind though is that the town is going to be overrun. Gas stations and grocery stores may run out of food. Bathroom lines will be very long. Getting to eat at a restaurant will likely be impossible. Our advice? Bring yourself a picnic lunch to eat during the eclipse, along with beverages. Make sure you get gas before you get to town. As for bathrooms, you’re simply going to have to wait in line.

And get ready for traffic. There is going to be an insane amount of traffic. This is going to be true before the eclipse starts, during the eclipse, and after, so be prepared. Give yourself plenty of extra time to get from one place to the other. At least double the time, if not more. And if it is cloudy where you are? Traffic to move locations is going to be even more insane. Keep an eye on the forecast and don’t be afraid to change up your plans if you need to.

Traffic and parking in actual cities will likely be very difficult to find. You may want to head to a small town or somewhere very rural, which will be less busy. If you want a spot to park, get to town early. And maybe linger afterwards, as traffic will be very bad.

And remember that cell phones may not work, so do not rely on them for GPS or communication.

Stay safe, and enjoy!

Underrated Destinations That Allow You To Skip The Crowds

We’ve been covering travel the past couple of months to help you miss the crowds while on vacation. This month we’re going to list some of our favorite underrated travel destinations that you can head to instead of the more popular locations nearby.

Bruges, Belgium: A lot of people making a stop in Belgium will head to the capital, which is not only pricey but busy. The Old Town Square truly is beautiful, but if you’re looking for more beautiful architecture Bruges is the place to go. Central Bruges looks like a classic medieval town. But it’s not just the beauty of the city that will draw you in, it’s the activities. Visit impressive art galleries, beautiful churches, and sample delicious food.

Carcassonne, France: The city of Carcassonne looks like it has been lifted from a movie set. This fortified city looks like a classic medieval castle, surrounded by nearly 2 miles of walls, with dozens of towers, and has a fascinating history. Make sure you don’t only visit the castle, though. The lower town is a small, sleepy place with cute shops and cafes to enjoy.

Krakow, Poland: Krakow is one of the oldest cities in Poland, and is well-known for its medieval core and proximity to Auschwitz. Many people who want to stay in a larger city during their visit to the famous camp stay here, but don’t take time to check out the city itself. Here you can get a feel of medieval times as well as modern times. Don’t miss Old Town if architecture is your thing. In the Southern Part you can explore where the Jewish ghetto was located while it was occupied by Germany. There’s tons here to see!

Upcountry/North Shore Maui, Hawaii: These areas of Maui are far less developed than the more touristy destinations in West and Southern Maui. In these areas you will find large farms, amazing surfing, and much more. This is a large area to cover, so we’ll just give you some top tips. Farther north is Paia, a historic town filled with rustic, locally owned stores and cafes. Beaches in this area have great windsurfing and surfing (but unless you are a pro, don’t try it yourself in winter). Farther south you can take farm tours and find fantastic farm-to-table restaurants. If you’re in Maui, take some time to explore this area and escape the crowds.

Hiroshima, Japan: Many people don’t realize that you are able to visit Hiroshima. It is not a large, radioactive wasteland. The city may have been leveled during WWII, but it has been rebuilt and is now home to over 1 million people. With the destruction of the city almost completely vanished, you can almost forget this city was leveled only about 70 years ago. The Atomic Bomb Dome is one of the only traces of that destruction that is left, simply because it was too difficult to dismantle and rebuild. You can visit the memorial at Ground Zero, but even that is just a small statue on an otherwise normal street. The Children’s Street Monument is a larger monument marking the bombing, and is very sobering. But not everything has to do with the bombing, and there’s plenty of other things to do as well!

Taiwan: Taiwan is still not on a lot of westerner’s radars, but it should be. With amazing food, beautiful national parks, and hot spring resorts, this paradise is a great destination. There’s four main areas to explore so we’ll give a bit of insight into all of them.  Taipei and the surrounding area is the busiest part of Taiwan, so if you want to avoid crowds this isn’t the place for you. If you can handle some crowds spend a couple days here because there’s tons to see. Northern Taiwan is by contrast largely wild. There are beautiful scenic areas, hot springs, and villages all waiting to be explored. Central Taiwan is known for its mountains, but also houses busy cities with great nightlife. And of course, the more tropical, south Taiwan is filled with pineapples and beaches. There’s something for everyone in this country! 

Less Crowded Attractions at Popular Vacation Spots Part Two

The summer months are the most popular times to travel. You may have big dreams to see big locations across Europe, Asia, and America. But you may also find yourself nervous about the huge crowds you will face at these locations. While we certainly wouldn’t advocate that you head to Rome and skip the Coliseum, we’re here to give you some less popular but equally spectacular attractions you can visit when you need a break from the huge crowds.

Rome, Italy

Like we mentioned, don’t skip seeing the various sights of ancient Rome. They are well worth the crowds, but you can still experience some amazing, less busy sights after you’ve checked off those bucket list items. Our first piece of advice is to go to some of Rome’s smaller museums. You will find amazing art, historic artifacts, and beautiful sculptures without the crowds. You can also find many less-visited Roman ruins that are beautiful, but less known. Some examples include Ostia Antica, catacombs, and the Caracalla Baths. With over 1,000 churches in Rome, you can visit plenty of beautiful, smaller churches to escape the tourists. Rome does have some green spaces, so if you need a break head to Rome’s parks for some peace. If you want an alternative neighborhood, San Lorenzo is a hip area where you will find cheap bars, tons of students, and street parties. Trastevere is a charming neighborhood that doesn’t have many sights, but has an old-world feel. Go here to explore with no goal in mind, except to see some beautiful buildings, great restaurants, and unique shops.

Prague, Czech Republic

This beautiful city has become more and more popular in recent years. Luckily there’s still plenty of amazing sites to see that aren’t crowded by tourists. While the Prague Castle is beautiful, a lesser known, equally beautiful option is Vyšehrad, a castle with grounds that are perfect for a picnic. While of course you will want to see Old Town, walk around residential neighborhoods to see beautiful architecture and quiet, lovely streets. Strahov Monastery is absolutely beautiful, and has much less tourism than other areas of Prague. Get away from the crowds and enjoy the serenity of the Botanical Gardens. If you want to enjoy the waterfront in a quiet place, head to the Rašín’s waterfront to watch swans, sail boats, and simply to enjoy the view. Want to explore a beautiful area without the crowds? Head to Zbraslav Chateau, which feels like it’s miles and miles away from Prague.

Berlin, Germany

Berlin has a lot of history, and some main places you are going to want to see. But once you’ve gotten past those, there’s tons of things in Berlin to do that will keep you away from crowds of tourists. Don’t skip a beer garden, but do find one that is in a less tourist-central area. Do head over to Museum Island, which has not only the most visited museums, but small, strange museums you’ll be surprised to see exist. If you want to enjoy a flea market without the crowds, head to the lesser known RAW Flohmarket, where more of the locals shop. Looking for something unique? Tempelhofer Feld is an abandoned airfield that is now used for grill parties, picnics, and even wind surfing. Berlin has a huge underground scene, so if you feel a bit more daring, go looking for it! (But please, be safe).

Bangkok, Thailand

Thailand is an extremely affordable vacation, meaning every year it gets more and more crowded. There’s tons to see in this busy city, and plenty to do off the beaten path! The first thing you can do is simply walk and explore without a destination in mind. You’ll find tons of culture, street food, shops, and markets just by walking around. There’s plenty of unique museums which will be less crowded than the traditional museums. If you’re looking for a quieter beach scene, head to Hat Tri-Triang to avoid some of the bigger, louder crowds.

New Orleans, USA

New Orleans has a reputation as being a big party city, and is filled with tourists at many different times of the year. There’s plenty to see, and plenty of ways to avoid the touristy crowds. See the French Quarter, but then get exploring. The Garden District is a beautiful area filled with parks and gardens to explore. And there’s many other unique neighborhoods to explore outside of the French Quarter. The cemeteries may be morbid, but are fascinating, but be careful as some of them are in not-so-safe neighborhoods. Try heading to Frenchmen Street to get a less touristy street filled with clubs and bars. And of course, like most cities, check out some of the more obscure museums such as the Pharmacy Museum or the Voodoo Museum.