• Hotel business cards: You’ll most likely be spending time in a hotel, at least at first till you can find a more permanent place. Grab a business card from the front desk so if you ever get lost, you’ll have the name and address of the hotel in the local language.

• The six-month passport rule: The expiration date on your passport is deceiving. In the U.S., you can use your passport up to the date listed inside the cover. However, many other countries have been known to deny travelers entry if the passport expires in under six months. That’s because they want to ensure you have a valid passport to get back to the United States in case of travel snafus and unexpected issues. You should always renew your passport nine months before the actual expiration date.

• Credit cards: The best exchange rates are usually within your credit card. That being said, many credit cards will add foreign transaction fees of up to three percent. Do your research on credit cards that don’t have this fee before heading on your trip.

• Fraud alerts. Let your credit card company’s fraud department know the country you’ll be visiting and when. This will prevent them from thinking your card was stolen.

• Credit card chips: In the U.S., credit cards use magnetic strips on the back of the card or chips on the front. In Europe, cards have a chip embedded in them and this is largely the way transactions are conducted, along with a PIN. If your cards don’t already have this technology, seek out ones that do or upgrade your existing card.

• Medicine: Always carry an eye mask and earplugs in your medicine bag, along with pain relievers, antacids, prescriptions, contact lenses and solution, etc. You may not come across a 24-hour pharmacy overseas like you see on every other block in the U.S. Fill your prescriptions before you go.

• Travel alerts: Check the State Department’s travel warnings and alerts, and always print out the address and contact information of the local embassy.

• Charges and Adapters: When going overseas it’s crucial to have the right adapter for your devices. An USB universal power adapter can make your life easier, because you won’t have to figure out power outlets, wattage, and will allow you to charge multiples devices simultaneously. When it comes to charges it’s advisable to pack more than one to be on the safe side, according to our friends at One Bag Travel.

• Data roaming: To avoid international data roaming, go to settings and ensure it is disabled. Sign up for an international calling and data plan if you’ll be abroad for a while.

• Language learning: This one you have to prepare for before you go. Sign up for language lessons with BRIC Learning Systems to connect with tutors in their native countries. You’ll also find this invaluable when learning all about the culture!

Since boarding a plane to Europe when she was 17, Gershowitz has visited over 90 countries and “gained friends and lovers and made a radical career change,” according to her website.

In this week’s Travel Smart, FOX43’s Trenice Bishop spoke to Gershowitz about how to find the “hidden secrets” of travel destinations. She said that travel is all about being open to new things and new experiences. 

Her number one travel tip is simply to talk to people. 

“Be friendly, smile at people, ask them questions, show that you’re interested,” she said.

Second, she said to plan a trip around something you love.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s sports, arts, or if it’s food,” Gershowitz said. “But whatever it is, go and do that and talk to the people who are around you because you’ll mostly find locals and they know the really great places to go, and what to do, and the kinds of places to see.”

Third, she said to pick up a paper and look for local events.

“Look for the festivals, rather than the places,” she said. “That’s where the people will be. They’ll tell you whether the places in the guidebooks are worth going to.”

Finally, she said to enjoy the journey and expect the unexpected. 

Karen Gershowitz is the author of Travel Mania – Stories of Wanderlust, a vivid story of how one woman found her strength, power, and passion.

I’ve been a traveler my whole life — and was lucky enough to have a family that prioritized experiencing new destinations throughout my childhood. Now, it’s my nephew’s turn. At two years old, with seven countries down, he’s on his way to becoming a citizen of the world.

While traveling with a child at any age may seem like a daunting prospect, experts claim that it can significantly boost development. They say travel can expand a kid’s world, making them more empathetic toward cultural differences and helping them adapt to changing situations. It can even shape their linguistic development as babies.

“They’re going to start learning the tools for developing meaningful relationships, especially across differences, from an early age,” Dr. Robin Hancock, a global education specialist with Bank Street College, told Travel + Leisure. “Travel has the potential to create a new narrative that teaches children about the similarities with others [and] lays a strong foundation, especially in the early years…We have the potential to raise a generation that knows how to live and coexist with each other.”

I’ve watched my nephew try beans for the first time at La Guarida in Havana, picking up and considering each individual one, almost as if testing it. I’ve seen him stick his feet in the Dead Sea (and then quickly pull them back out again), as well as try gelato under the shadow of the Duomo in Florence.

He may not remember these adventures, but they will impact his development, according to Hancock. The most rapid brain development occurs in the first five years of a child’s life, and especially in the first three, she said. Surrounding kids from birth to about three years old with people who are different than them “normalizes” that experience.

“Travel and educating children about their roles as citizens of the world when they’re young ensures they will retain that message into their adult years,” she said. “When somebody begins a habit or a tradition… early in life, that becomes the foundation through which they view the world for the rest of their life.”

Traveling with young children – even as young as six months old — can also help them with linguistic development, said Erika Levy, an associate professor in communication sciences and disorders at Teachers College at Columbia University.

“We know that in terms of language, babies perceive sounds differently from adults. As they get older… they lose the ability to distinguish many of the other speech sounds,” said Levy. “If we surround them with speech sounds from all around the world… then we are keeping those categories going, which helps later on in life with their language.”

And when they return home from a trip, their experiences can actually help them in school, according to Hancock.

“It makes them more open to try new things [and] less cautious of people and scenarios that are not familiar to them,” she said. “It will inevitably make children more open and remove bias.”

Here are a few tips on how to maximize your child’s experience while traveling.

Take a stroll in a local neighborhood.

While it’s great to see the major attractions in a destination, walking around a local neighborhood can be one of the most impactful moments for children, said Hancock. A child’s brain tends to make connections based on what is familiar to them. “If you’re in Venice, spend time on the Grand Canal, and if you’re in Paris, spend time by the Eiffel Tower, but the pieces that really resonate with children are the experiences they can relate to,” she said. “It’s going to be meaningful for your child if you just find a quiet neighborhood and go forwalk…Inevitably, you’re going to see people sweeping out their front yard and local vendors. And that’s much more meaningful — you’re going to get a better slice of what everyday life is like and your child will, too.”

Create a tradition while on vacation.

Traditions can help kids connect to a trip. For example, as children, my sister and I collected soda bottles in every country we visited. “Traditions are meaningful for kids,” said Hancock. “Anything that you can relate back to the child’s world is going to be a meaningful experience to them.”

Have your kids play with other children.

Grouping kids with other children around their age will help their development, even if they don’t speak the same language, according to Levy. “Have them meet other children — they will play, learn, and find ways to communicate,” she said. “And they’ll learn that not everybody speaks English.”

Turn your trip into a game.

Asking children to point out things that are new to them, Levy recommended “Have them show you three things they’ve never seen before at home.” She said, “You can do a treasure hunt for them.”

Prepare your children in advance.

Preparing children for what they’re about to experience can go a long way, according to Levy. For example, tell them in advance about jet lag, or if they’re nervous traveling, bring a special toy on the plane. But ultimately, you shouldn’t be too worried: Levy said that children tend to be “more adaptable than we are in new situations.”

“Imagine if the politicians that are in power right now had this climate change education when they were in school. That can impact all their decisions they make right now taking into account the whole problem.“

“You try not to be emotionally attached but you can’t really help it. Those are people’s houses, people’s livelihood, that’s all they have. But then we have to hustle and keep going the next day.”

In order to calculate the deadliest areas in the U.S. – Mexico Border, scientists and researchers used a biophysical model of human dehydration. According to the report made by this model, it was found that most of the deaths were caused primarily by severe dehydration. After organizing the dataset in the regions with the casualties, severe dehydration that leads to death, water loss, organ failure, disorientation and physiological challenges in animal species were linked together for the report.

“We provide the first empirical evidence that the physiological stresses experienced by humans attempting to cross the Sonoran Desert into the U.S. are sufficient to cause severe dehydration and associated conditions that can lead to death. A disproportionately large percentage of migrant deaths occur in areas where the predicted rates of water loss are highest,” says Ryan Long, an associate professor of wildlife sciences at the University of Idaho. Long also underlines the importance of access to drinking water supplies for preventing the risks at the highest rates of water loss during migration across the borders in the region.

Models developed for fighting against climate change and water scarcity unfortunately show us that these type of border crossings will only become more dangerous over time, increasing the already large number of people who do not make it across. Measures must be taken immediately to mitigate this crisis.

During the summer of 2021, cities across the United States (‘US’) have seen record breaking temperatures to an extent that scientists say would have been “virtually impossible” to reach without anthropogenic climate change. Cities are especially prone to such extreme heat because of particular characteristics which cause people within urban areas— particularly low-income residents — to bear an undue burden of the effects of climate change.

What is the Urban Heat Island Effect?

Heat islands are urban areas that experience higher temperatures than their surrounding areas for a variety of reasons. For one, cities contain more man-made structures, such as buildings, roads, and dark roofs, which absorb and re-emit the sun’s heat more than natural land does. Additionally, more vehicles, more air conditioning units, and more industrial facilities all contribute to the heat island effect felt in cities across the world.

The city of Philadelphia is a paradigmatic heat island. Since 1970, Philadelphia’s average summer temperature has increased by three degrees Fahrenheit (-16 °C), leading to more extreme heat events. In the past fourteen years alone, heat-related events have caused nearly 150 deaths in Philadelphia. The magnitude of such tragedy is only expected to grow larger. Just this past summer, Philadelphia declared a Heat Health Emergency, which only occurs from May through June when temperatures are expected to reach 101°F (38 °C) or higher for two consecutive days, or 98°F (37 °C ) or higher for three or more consecutive days. This designation puts services like the city’s heatline into effect and bars any residential utility shutoffs.

The Disproportionate Impacts

Philadelphia is a quintessential heat island not only because the city has become hotter overall, but also because within the city — as in so many others — low-income neighborhoods and communities of color face disproportionate impacts of the increasing temperatures.

Philadelphia’s Hunting Park neighborhood, one of the city’s most impoverished areas, is illustrative. A recent report from the Philadelphia City Planning Commission showed that more than 75% of land cover in Hunting Park was comprised of buildings, roads, and paved surfaces. By contrast, tree canopy — which helps reduce heat — covers only 9% of the neighborhood. As a result, the neighborhood tends to be significantly warmer than the average city temperature: average surface temperature data shows that Hunting Park can be as much as 22°F (-6 °C) warmer than other neighborhoods.

These differences in landscape between Hunting Park and the rest of the city are largely a consequence of redlining, the systematic denial of financial services to residents of particular areas usually based on race. Redlining largely influenced historic housing policies in the US that led to the residential segregation that still exists today. Research shows that surface temperatures in formerly redlined neighborhoods in urban areas across the country tend to be up to 36°F (2 °C) warmer than non-redlined areas. While these trends are most pronounced in Southeast and Western cities in the US, the Philadelphia Heat Vulnerability Index shows that they remain consistent in Philadelphia as well.

Effective Solutions

Fortunately, action can still be taken at a more regional level to combat the effects of the urban heat island. Two of the most straightforward solutions are to increase the number of white roofs and to increase tree cover. Data from the Center for Clean Air Policy shows that white or light-colored roofs can reflect up to 80% of the sun’s rays in comparison to the 70% heat absorption of black roofs, in turn allowing homes to stay at lower temperatures.

Adding more tree canopy would also go a long way. Trees tend to absorb anywhere from 70 to 90% of sunlight in summer, and 20 to 90% of sunlight in winter, leading to significantly reduced temperatures in Hunting Park and other neighborhoods that are rapidly warming.

Although both solutions would require substantial investment, the benefits outweigh the costs. Indeed, data shows that more trees provide stormwater benefits and increase property values. More importantly, investment in reducing the impacts of the urban heat island effect and climate change more generally represents a small piece of a large effort owed to underserved communities. As climate migration continues to drive people to seek refuge in cities, it is becoming increasingly important to ensure that cities are prepared to provide these types of resources to current and future residents.

This is event is geared towards visitors of all ages but if you happen to be traveling with a tot, here are some tips from a local mom on how best to prepare for and execute your adventure.

Seattle Southside mom, Meilee, bundled up her four year old and hit the road and this is what she learned:

The drive is easy freeway driving for approx. 90 minutes each way (from Seattle Southside). For lightest traffic plan on arriving at the fields early in the day on the weekends or travel during non-rush hours mid-week.
Stop at the Tulip Festival Administration office 311 W. Kincaid St. Mount Vernon, WA 98273 for free maps, advice on where to start/stop your excursion and special event info.
With maps and “Tulip Route” signage the fields are easy to find.
Wear practical shoes. There aren’t sidewalks in the fields; be prepared for dusty to muddy conditions. My daughter wore her pink polka dot rain boots for fashion and the practicality purposes.
Walking paths are made out of firmly packed gravel or dirt. Check weather forecasts to get an idea on stroller friendly conditions.
There are multiple tulip farms to see and each is immense. For families with young children I recommend pacing yourself and expect to visit one farm maybe two. We spent two hours at one field, had dinner then drove back. It was a long five hour outing for a four year old but days later she’s still talking about the “bee-you-tee-ful flowers” and I’m still admiring a collection of charming photos.
The RoozenGaarde field has food vendors. (fair food cuisine and prices) There’s a grassy area with a few tables and room to have a picnic.
Bring cash. Some vendors accept cash and plastic – others take cash only.
There are plenty of facilities (porta-potties) at the farms. For families with babies or young toddlers, bring a blanket in the diaper bag because I didn’t see any changing areas.
No pets allowed in the tulip fields. Leave Fluffy or Fido at home.
*Bonus tip – make sure your camera has plenty of battery life you’ll have a “bazillion” photo opportunities.