Your Travel Companion: Protecting Your Skin on the Go

 

Travel is an invitation to explore, to discover, and to soak in new experiences. But amidst the excitement of ancient ruins or sun-drenched beaches, it's easy to forget one crucial travel companion: your skin. Protecting it from the sun's harsh rays isn't just about preventing a painful sunburn; it's about long-term health, warding off premature aging, and significantly reducing your risk of skin cancer. So, before you jet off, let's talk about building a robust skin protection strategy for your adventures.

Sunscreen is the bedrock of any good sun protection plan. For travel, especially to sunny destinations, look for a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher. "Broad-spectrum" means it protects against both UVA (aging rays) and UVB (burning rays).  Decide if you want mineral or chemical sunscreens. Mineral sunscreens (containing zinc oxide or titanium dioxide) create a physical barrier on your skin and are often preferred for sensitive skin. Chemical sunscreens absorb UV rays. Both are effective, so choose what feels best for you.

Remember, if you'll be swimming or sweating, opt for a water-resistant formula. Remember to reapply every two hours, or more frequently after swimming or heavy sweating.  Look for travel - friendly packaging such as squeeze tubes and sticks if you put them in your carry-on luggage while larger containers go in your check-in bags.  Consider a face-specific sunscreen that's lighter and less likely to cause breakouts.

While sunscreen is vital, it's not a magic shield. Physical barriers offer superior and more consistent protection, and they don't require reapplication.  Look at hats.  A wide-brimmed hat is an absolute must-have. Look for a brim that's at least 3 inches wide all around to adequately shade your face, ears, and neck. Straw hats can be stylish, but ensure they have a tight weave without gaps. For ultimate protection, consider hats labeled with a UPF (Ultraviolet Protection Factor) rating. 

 In addition, a small, portable umbrella can be a fantastic sunshade, especially when exploring cities or open areas with little natural shade. Look for ones marketed for sun protection, often with a silver or dark lining that blocks UV rays. Clothing is also a good shield.  Long sleeves and pants might seem counterintuitive in hot climates, but the right fabrics can actually be cooler and more protective than exposing your skin. is your best indicator of sun protection in clothing. A UPF 30 rating means only 1/30th of UV radiation can penetrate the fabric. UPF 50+ is excellent. This rating is usually found on the garment's tag.

Look for a tight weave by holding the fabric up to the light. If you can see light filtering through easily, it's not offering much protection. Tightly woven fabrics like denim, unbleached cotton, or synthetic blends are generally better. Don't forget darker colors absorb more UV radiation, preventing it from reaching your skin. Lighter colors tend to reflect some UV radiation, but can also allow more to pass through if the weave is loose.

In addition, the type of fabric is important.  Polyester, nylon, and certain technical fabrics are excellent at blocking UV rays. Merino wool also offers good natural UV protection. Avoid thin, bleached cottons or linens as they offer minimal protection unless specifically treated.

Finally, there are things you can do to protect yourself from the sun.  Begin by seeking shade. Whenever possible, duck under an awning, tree, or into a cafe during peak sun hours (generally 10 AM to 4 PM). Don't forget to protect your eyes.  High-quality sunglasses that block 99-100% of both UVA and UVB rays are essential to protect your eyes and the delicate skin around them. Get an app designed to let you check the UV index.   Many weather apps provide the daily UV index. Plan your outdoor activities around it.

By integrating these simple strategies into your travel routine, you can enjoy your adventures to the fullest while keeping your skin healthy and happy. After all, the best souvenirs from a trip are memories, not sunburns.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.

20,000 miles in 12 years

Captain Liz Clark opened the second day of the conference with her keynote speech sharing with us her adventures as she spent 12 years sailing around the Pacific solo.

It was interesting hearing how she grew up in San Diego with a father who loved sailing and would take her out.  At 9 years old, she formed the dream of sailing around on her own.

A couple years later, her family ended up spending 6 months sailing along the western coast of Mexico.  Along the way, she learned to surf.

The time came when her family returned to land so she and her siblings could resume schooling.  Eventually she completed a degree in Environmental Studies but she had trouble finding the right job.  Not long after, she ran into one of her professors who offered her the chance to take his boat out and sail it for him. 

He'd always had the dream to sail free but his wife was more into horses and it was never going to happen so he offered Liz the boat, spent three years getting it fixed up before she took it out.  In the meantime, she needed to learn to fix engines, maintain a sail and other skills she'd need by herself.  Eventually, it was time to shove off.

The first leg of the trip took her down to Mexico and she had friends with her as she learned the ins and outs of the boat.  She found some remote spots to surf and enjoy life.  She told the story of seeing this great place to surf, catching a ride in a local truck to the spot and then getting a ride back with the police at the end of the day.

When she was confident, she called her parents to let them know she was heading off to the South Pacific.  Her mother immediately hopped a plane to be her crew for the trip.  Her mother had no interest in sailing but she wasn't about to let her daughter travel 22 days on her own.  At one point they hit a nasty storm but made it safely to the destination.  After her mother left, she began traveling from one island to another on her own time table.

Eventually, she began putting her adventures on paper and recently published a book called "Swell: Sailing the Pacific in Search of Surf and Self"  She read passages from it to us, sharing parts of her trip in pictures and words.  Along the way, she even acquired a pet cat who loved to be on the boat.  She shared the time she landed on a small island and was met by a woman on a bicycle who took her on a tour around the small island.

She told us again and again that we must follow our own paths and not the paths everyone else wants us to take.  I came away with the feeling that failure is not the end but the beginning.  She was funny and honest. She included the information that once she ran out of funding, she slowed down and took time to enjoy her life.  She earned money through publishing articles and any other way she could.

Based on the passages she read to us, her adventure gave her time to really reflect and find herself in a way she would never have if she stayed in the states.  Have a great day and let me know what you think.

Tomorrow, I'll be sharing photos of a wonderful place in Manoa designed to keep information on Hawaiian plants alive.  Stay tuned for that.

Times Have Changed.

  I really enjoyed my trip back east.  I discovered a couple of new things offered by the airline.  I realize every airline offers different things so I'm speaking only of the one I traveled.

First of all, the newer air planes have plugs so you can either plug in or use a USB plug to power your mobile device or computer for the whole trip.  This is great when you are on a 3 to 5 hour or longer trip.

The second item are free movies.  I downloaded the app to my tablet so I could watch movies while in the air.  The selection isn't huge but there are enough for any long trip.  The movies stream onto your device when you get above or below 10,000 feet.

The movies are not the newest releases which is fine because I don't usually get a chance to go to theaters.  I watched "X men Apocalypse", "Tarzan", and a comedy about neighbors, one group who were spies while the others were being investigated. There are also a few television shows such as National Geographic, a couple food shows and a few HGTV shows.

I love having access to streaming videos while I'm up in the air.  I hate having to pay for the airline issued tablet when I have my own.  If you want the latest releases, you have to pay for the airline devices or bring your own.


The newest offering is the ability to chat with others while you are in transit.  This is just chat so you can't send any pictures but its great if you want to spend time talking to others.

They still sell meals which are kind of expensive but I bring my own food so I don't have to pay for it.  They never really have hot meals I want to eat.  I'd have to buy a snack pack which is ok but I'd rather have a decent meal.

Long story, short, the 8 hours of travel time (in air time) went faster by having access to the movies.  I really enjoyed it.

Have a good day.

Traveling Without Leaving Home

  Have you ever wanted to visit somewhere but didn't have the money?  I have dreams of going to Paris, Tahiti, and so many other places but I don't have the time or the money at this stage of life but it is not stopping me.

There are ways to see the world without leaving your home.  Due to technological advances, it is possible to see the world using something called 360 degree or Virtual Reality aka VR.  For those of you who are unaware of this, it means that someone went out with a special camera or app and recorded the scene around them. 

For instance, I might take my special 360 camera out to the lake.  I choose a spot and then record the scenery that surrounds me as I carefully turn around in a circle.  I now have a 360 video of my favorite spot.  I could keep it or upload it to my video channel.  I know people who do this all the time.

Lets start with the ones that only need your mobile device.  You Tube has a whole channel dedicated to 360 videos.  If you want to see Paris, you do a search for 360 Paris and a few pages of choices appear.

I chose the 360 Guided Tour of the Eiffel Tower.  Its actually a tour with a guide.  Although, it looks like any standard video except you can use your mouse to move around and see everything around where you are standing.   Some of these are set up to use with Google Cardboard which is a set of viewing glasses designed to make the experience even more of a surround experience.

There are tons of 360 videos at You Tube including some from Tahiti, sky diving, and surfing.  Google Cardboard is kind of like going to IMax to view movies in 3 dimensions.  It is designed to use your cell phone. 

If you want more, check out Google Street View which you can use on your computer or via an app on  your mobile device.  Google Street View allows you to choose a place and if someone made a video of it, you can access it.  The app allows you to both view and create 360 videos.

If nothing else, do a web search and enjoy the world out there without leaving home.

When Is Hot Too Hot?

I think it was Friday I heard a blip about something that I had never thought about concerning hot weather.  Its well known that during heat waves more people end up in the hospital with heat related ailments.

Brown outs roll across the countryside because people are using their air conditioning and fans more so the demand for electricity escalates to the point that power plants can barely stay up with the demand.

People often say it is hot enough to cook eggs on the sidewalk during these heat waves.   Public safety often recommends that people stay home or at least hang out somewhere in the neighborhood.l  I usually head over to the mall and sit in Barnes and Nobel for several hours to use their internet and air conditioning.

This past Friday, on the news at the top of the hour, I heard a blurb about an airplane that ended up returning to its origination point because it was too hot to land.  I did know that planes do not fly once it gets below a certain temperature but apparently, they have an upper cut off too.

The temperature at the Phoenix airport was 117 degrees at the time.  The FAA has an upper limit of 120 degrees. Anything above that and planes cannot land.  This has to do with the engines and their operational limits .

In addition, the tarmac often begins softening at too high a temperature which makes it much more difficult for planes to land and take off.  I suspect the plane turned around because they were afraid they were not going to be able to take off again if they landed.  Imagine, the temperature being too hot for planes to land.  Unless the heatwave breaks, it appears more flights will be cancelled in the future.

North Into Daylight

I flew back to Fairbanks the other night.  I left Seattle around 11:45 p.m. where it was completely dark and most people were in bed, dreaming of wonderful things.  I arrived at 2:00 a.m. to a place that was so light, it looked like the middle of the day.

It was strange flying north passing from darkness to daylight.  At one point on the right side of the plane, I saw a reddish band peeking up above the cloud layer.  It was like the sun was trying to rise.  On the left side of the plane, a half moon shone in the dark night making a beautiful sight.

As we progressed north, the sky began lightening until it was day time.  The only reason, I knew the time?  A flight attendant announced the time so everyone could turn their watches one hour earlier.

Fairbanks is far enough north that even with the sun setting, it does not get particularly dark because the sun does not get far enough below the horizon.  The sun sets around 1 a.m. and rises by 3:30 on the longest "day" of the year! which is not enough time for darkness to happen.   It is easy to start doing something outside at 7 p.m. and in no time, its 2 a.m!  I loose track of the passage of time most nights during summer.  I've even gotten calls from friends at 2 a.m. to meet at an all night diner for a quick snack.

My Window Shade

Imagine driving around in the middle of the night as if it were the middle of the day!  Many people have black out curtains or quilted shades fit in the window so the room gets some what dark.  I have a quilted roller curtain on my window to darken the room.  It does not get dark dark but it cuts enough light for me to sleep most nights.

 Honestly, most nights, I sleep a few hours but I usually end up taking a nap in the middle of the day so I get enough sleep.  It funny but even with the blackout curtains, my body knows its light outside.  It knows!

In a few days, the most famous event of summer happens.   Every year, the local minor league team "The Gold Panners" will have a game that starts around 10:30 or 11:00 and ends past midnight.  The field will not be artificially lit because its so light at that time of the night.

Alaskans both enjoy and appreciate the long days of summer.  It is fun to be out doing something in the middle of the night that is so light its as if its the middle of the day. 

Ways To Travel

 If you are ever in Waikiki, there are tons of places that rent all sorts of transportation from cars to motorcycles to bicycles.  The other day, I went over to get breakfast and found this really neat motorized vehicle parked in front of the restaurant. 

It looks like a motorized tricycle with a small body over the three wheel chassis.  I have no idea what the top speed is but I can say with full certainty that if it rains, the people are going to get wet.

My mother described it as cute.  Personally, I call it a possible accordion because if it got hit by anything bigger, it will crumble.   My father laughed when he caught site of it.

For going out to see, people enjoy going out on the ocean, the outrigger is a good choice.  It is traditional and gives you a workout, especially if you go out at high tide. 

The other weekend it was really crowded out on the ocean with the surfers, the outriggers, the catamarans, and the swimmers.  The only thing missing were all the paragliders.

These outriggers are parked on the beach in front of the Royal Hawaiian Village.

Getting Ready

  For the next two weeks or so, I'll be traveling so you are going to get a travel blog interspersed among my regular entries.  I leave this evening around 5 PM and fly down to Washington State.  I'll take lots of pictures to share, and comment on things as I head off.  Thursday of next week I'll be flying off to Hawaii for one week due to attending and presenting at an educational conference.  The week after I fly back to Washington state just in time to see two of my nephews graduate from high school.  There are about 18 years difference in age between my oldest (the first grand child) and the youngest ones.

The following week, I'll be flying home to Alaska for a few weeks.  I warn you right now, I love walking around town, any town, because I find all sorts of wonderful things you never see when you are in a car or on the bus.  I'll have my parents with me so they like to take the bus but I can always start a bit early and meet them somewhere. 

I still have to pack, plant a few things, and figure out which electronic devices are coming with me and make sure I have everything I need.  My neighbor is one of those ladies who is always packed one to two weeks ahead of any trip she takes.  Me?  I wait till the evening before I head out but I've got a list I've been making so that I get it all packed. 

I enjoy traveling but most of my traveling is done because I'm on my way to or from a conference that I'm attending or presenting at. I seldom go somewhere just because I want to.  Much of that is because I'm limited on the time I can get off from work to travel.  Next August I'm going to try to head off to Finland for a short visit to attend a conference.  It will be about the same time I start teaching but I hope to get the time off.

Later in the summer, I'm hitting Portland which has some great farmer's markets and Los Angeles - which is always full of traffic and extremely urban but I'm staying right next to a shopping mall so I can pick up a couple things.  The mall with the target is a couple blocks away and I'm always trying to wander through the neighborhood rather than walking on the noisy streets and I get kind of turned around......LOL.

I usually have a couple other things lined up but they did not fit in this summer so maybe next summer.  Tonight I'm hoping to down load the pictures from my camera so I can talk about this year's prom.  They used plastic garbage bags and those long plastic table cloths to create a really awesome room.  I'll explain more tomorrow or Sunday.  It all depends.

What If?

  Every so often, I think about how neat it would be to have something I see in the movies that might make life easier.  Today is one of those days.

I woke up to a blizzard blowing snow across the landscape so I could not see much.  I saw the building where I worked so I popped over for a short time but wished I had a way to pop there and back without getting wet and cold.

When I got home, I watched the latest Star Trek video and voila, the way appeared.  What if we had transporters in real life so we could live anywhere we wanted and just transported to our job every day.  If we needed to meet with a client, you could cross the world in a split second, meet, and head home to sleep in your own bed.

Transporter pads could be placed around like transit centers located in towns.  You pop over there, pay for the trip, get zapped to your destination,  complete your business and head home.  All for the cost of a round trip ticket.  Maybe these could operate like buses with a per trip ticket, monthly pass, or even a yearly pass.  You wouldn't have to worry about weather interrupting or delaying your trip.

It sounds like Utopia, doesn't it?  Going anywhere anytime, but what if there were side effects we hadn't thought about.  Since theoretically, your body is broken down to an atomic level, moved around and then reassembled on the other end, how many times could this happen before mutations start occurring?

Would the mutations be minor at first and increase later or?  How often would the machines be cleaned so people's patterns disappear?  What happens if your atomic stream is interfered with by atmospheric occurrences such as lightening?  Would you have a scan on file somewhere so if the transporter malfunctioned, you could be reassembled in totality?  How often would you need to update your scan?

Could you at some point when you are old and gray, take a trip and use a pattern of yourself from the age of 25?  Would you actually be young again or would your body be old with a new cover on it?  Could you take a trip if you were ill with cancer and use a scan from when you were healthy to reassemble a cured you?

Would you still be you after being taken apart and reassembled on a regular basis?  Such a way of travel opens so many questions and possibilities.  As long as we believe it could be, there is always a chance someone will figure out how to build one.  The future has yet to be written.

Water.

  I am currently in transit to a week stay in Hawaii.  I'm presenting at a conference there and I am spending a couple days on each side of the conference to just relax and enjoy myself.  I also have to finish one presentation and rework the other one.  I just need time to do it.

The hotel I"m staying at only has internet in the lobby but they have some great furniture I can sit in and just work.  I arrive tomorrow just after dinner time.  I am going to walk down to the beach, even if its dark outside.  I want to put my feet in the Pacific Ocean just because. I also want to get up early on Sunday to watch the sunrise over the ocean, then pick up some hot breakfast from the little Korean hole-in-the-wall and sit down till later on. I might even pop over to Ala Moana Shopping Center to catch a hula show.  I will spend time working on my presentations and I want to sit on the beach and watch the sunset.

I will spend Sunday and Monday finishing the presentations.  Tuesday and Wednesday is the conference and then I'll relax Thursday and Friday before I head back to work. I already know that it will be hard to go back to work after being in Hawaii.  Every time I visit, I loose track of time and hate leaving.  Maybe I'll move there in a couple of years, who knows. 

Did I pack a camera?  Yes.  I plan to take some photos to add to my current collection.  Pictures I can look at when there is a cold snowy blizzard raging outside and I can't see anything past my porch.  Photos to warm me when I'm cold.  Photos to just have to enjoy.