Smart Traveller

If you’re a fan of F1, you may be considering travelling to see some of the races in the 2010 season.  Smart Traveller is going to be featuring a series of posts taking a look at the destinations hosting the races in the 2010 Formula 1  World Championship Race Calendar.

The schedule for the 2010 Formula 1 World Championship is:

• Bahrain Grand Prix (12 - 14 March 2010)
• Australian Grand Prix (26 - 28 March 2010)
• Malaysian Grand Prix (2 - 4 April 2010)
• Chinese Grand Prix (16 - 18 April 2010)
• Spanish Grand Prix (7 - 9 May 2010)
• Monaco Grand Prix (13 - 16 May 2010)
• Turkish Grand Prix (28 - 30 May 2010)
• Canadian Grand Prix (11 - 13 June 2010)
• Grand Prix of Europe (25 - 27 June 2010)
• British Grand Prix (9 - 11 July 2010)
• German Grand Prix (23 - 25 July 2010)
• Hungarian Grand Prix (30 July - 1 August 2010)
• Belgian Grand Prix (27 - 29 August 2010)
• Italian Grand Prix (10 - 12 September 2010)
• Singapore Grand Prix (24 - 26 September 2010)
• Japanese Grand Prix (8 - 10 October 2010)
• Korean Grand Prix (22 - 24 October 2010)
• Brazilian Grand Prix (5 - 7 November 2010)
• Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (12 - 14 November 2010).

In the next post in this series, we’ll be taking a look at Bahrain, the venue for the first Grand Prix of the 2010 season.

Here’s a quick round up of some of the best travel-related blog-posts posted this month:

• Karen Bryan at Europe a la Carte has collated some ideas about things to see and do in Manchester as part of her excellent UK Tips and Tweets series.
• Sheila at Family Travel Guide has put together some great tips for planning a road trip in the USA.
• Darren Cronian provides information to help you to spot fake travel websites at Travel Rants.
• Erica Johansson at Travel Blissful recommends 7 foods to taste whilst you are in Japan.
• Nancy D. Brown at What a Trip has put together a list of the best things to see and do in Chicago.

Whether you’re heading overseas or staying in the UK for your summer holiday, make sure that you stay safe in the sun. Although for many of us, relaxing on the beach is the perfect way to take a break, not taking sun safety precautions can lead to painful sunburn, heat exhaustion, dehydration and also increase our chances of getting skin cancer.

However, these health problems can be easily avoided if you follow sun safety advice, so here are our top five tips for staying safe in the sun.

1. Don’t spend all your time on the beach. It may be tempting to head straight for the beach on the first day of your holiday, but if you do, don’t spend too long there. Experts believe that you do less damage to your skin if you gradually increase the amount of time that you spend in the sun than you do if you suddenly spend hours sunbathing. It’s also important to stay out of the sun between 11 a.m and 3 p.m, as the sun’s rays are strongest at this time of day. You should also make sure that you take regular breaks by leaving the beach and moving into the shade.

2. Dress appropriately. When you’re out and about in the sun, make sure that you cover up, and wear a hat and sunglasses. If you are spending time at the beach, take some suitable beachwear with you, so that you can wear it over your swimwear when you aren’t in the water.

3. Apply sun cream regularly. It’s important to choose the right sun screen and use it correctly. You need protection from two types of ultraviolet radiation waves emitted by the sun - UVB rays and UVA rays. UVB rays cause skin to burn, and to prevent this, look for a sun screen cream with a Sun Protection Factor (or SPF) of 15 or above. UVA rays cause deeper damage and can age skin prematurely - to protect yourself from the effects of UVA rays, use sun screen which has a star rating of four or five stars.

Apply your sun cream at least 30 minutes before going out into the sun and reapply it every two or three hours. Use a water resistant sun cream and make sure that you reapply it after you have been swimming.

4. Drink plenty. Dehydration can have serious consequences, so when the weather is warm, make sure that you drink plenty of water. Try to avoid drinking alcohol in hot weather as this will dehydrate you.

5. Don’t just think about the sun when you are on the beach. Like sand, snow and water reflect UV rays, so even if you aren’t spending your holiday lying on a beach, you will need to think about sun safety. You can also get sunburnt when the weather is cloudy, so don’t get caught out.