WE ARE quickly heading into the season of travelling either ourselves heading out or friends and relatives arriving from near and far. Whether travelling by car, train, boat or plane, safety and health concerns are often top headlines, and top worries. But, help is at hand or mouse! There are a number of sites that can provide advice, assistance and take the sting out of worrying.

When it comes to flying, why not go right to the top the Civil Aviation Authority. The CAA has a very helpful document at www.caa.co.uk/docs/3/PAS_travelsafely.pdf.

This brochure has comprehensive information for flyers, from how to behave to what you are allowed to take onboard with you. With all the changes to air travel, it is much better to know before you go.

Direct Government, bringing information to your desktop and saving you a trip to Westminster, deals with travel safety at http://www.direct.gov.uk/ TravelAndTransport/ TravelSafety/ . This section has a broad scope, looking at travelling and the environment, walking and cycling safely and going abroad. It demonstrates how the importance of personal safety is spreading its wings away from just the traditional holiday checklist. On a similar vein, check out Cleaner Safer Greener Communities online at http://www.cleanersafer greener.gov.uk/en/1/ tctravellingsafely.html for a best practice' point of view, particularly community safety as it relates to public and private transportation.

Coming up in the top three returns in Google was the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety site at http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/hsprograms/travel_safety.html. Its information is universal, and would suit anyone wanting to put an educational' spin on this topic. It follows a before, during and after the trip format so you can be sure to be secure from start to finish. Interesting that one of the top suggestions is to check the expiry date on your passport!

The British Transport Police provides some handy tips geared to tube travellers at http://www.btp.police.uk/issues/travelsafe.htm. From where to sit and how to look (confident), to what to do in an emergency, this is a good resource if you are new to this form of travel, or not really confident. It also has a link to a Mobile Phone Theft section unfortunately the new purse snatch'. The Mayor of London also gets in on the act on http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/safer_travel/ index.jsp.

The National Consumer Council, www.ncc.org.uk, has endorsed the EU's new website providing advice on the varying mobile phone roaming rates for travellers. Visiting http://europa.eu.int/information_ society/activities/roaming/index_en.htm may really save you a lot of air-time costs whilst in Europe.

An off-the-beaten track travel site called Bug Bog, online at http://www.bugbog.com/index.html, offers a variety of barebones trip tips, including information on what locks are now approved for use in the US under their new regulations. It provided a variety of travel alerts, like being aware in France as thieves are using anaesthetic gas to knock out campers before robbing them. It also had a list of the worst places Brits experienced credit card fraud, according to a recent bank's survey.

The wise traveller packs much more than a suitcase. Travel light on weight, and heavy on information. Let the Web do the work, and enjoy a safer, more secure trip.

What's On our Website...

Follow former Westmorland Gazette employee Toby and his girlfriend, Jen, as they travel around the globe'. This week they posted on their blog from Hong Kong. Check on Toby's Travel blog in our Travel section