These summer travel tips are not too hard to follow. But they do require one to pay extra special attention to their surroundings at times. Just to make sure that everyone stays safe.

I'm rambling. So I'll get right in to the three biggest summer travel tips that I think you should be well aware of when travelling to Arizona or vacationing here, as part of one of your southwest vacations.

Here they are (in no particular order )...

1. The first of these summer travel tips focuses on something that is a pretty rare commodity here in Arizona.

Water. And more specifically - drinking water.

Drink it. LOTS of it. When you're here.

You see, you may not feel it but when you come to Arizona in the summer months your body is losing a lot more water than it's taking in. You see, you won't feel this because as you may have heard before Arizona may get hot, but "it's a dry heat".

That's true.

But when it's a dry heat one does not feel themselves sweat. And if you have too little water in your body to begin with you aren't going to sweat no matter how humid it gets.

So... drink lots of water when you're here. Buy those small water bottles and carry one with you everywhere you go. Day and night. Force yourself to drink (the water, silly ) even when you don't feel thirsty.

You must consume lots of water if you're going to be in Arizona for any length of time. You need to keep your body hydrated. Especially if you're not used to the heat or you are travelling here to Arizona from some colder state. Or country.

Now, why is this so critical? Perhaps even seeming like rather like a nuisance?

Because you don't want to have happen to you what happened to me the first summer I lived here.

You see, I moved here from cold Canada. More specifically, real cold Alberta. So I didn't know anything about keeping myself hydrated, outside of eating snow when lost in a blizzard.

Essentially, I just moved here and went about my daily activities and didn't pay any attention to keeping myself full of water.

So, after being here about two months I ended up in the hospital with a nasty and good-sized kidney stone. The pain from that experience was (I was told) the equivalent of a man giving birth (how anyone figured they could equate the two events, I don't know).

But I wouldn't doubt that statement.

It hurt. Bad.

Now, just to tell you - I never had a kidney stone before, or since. So this definitely wasn't something I'm predisposed to having.

So, again, drink water when you travel to Arizona or vacation Arizona. LOTS of it.

Stay away from the pain of having your body tell you you didn't stay hydrated enough. It's a real bummer, or should I say 'punch in the kidneys', to find out the hard way.

Moving on...

2. This second of these summer travel tips protects you in a different way. You'll stay protected from the sun if you follow the guidance offered here.

You see, Arizona is one of the most sunny places in the United States. Yes, even more than Florida.

And the sun here is hot, especially in the summer. So it doesn't take much to get sunburned or even sun scorched when travelling here.

You see, I know that you will travel here most likely to do a lot of outdoor stuff with the family.

Suntanning.

Pool stuff.

Boating.

Hiking.

Shopping.

Well, when doing this summer travel stuff it doesn't take much to get a bad sunburn that you'll remember for a looong time.

Why? Because the sun is so hot here in the summer and directly overhead and intense. You can end up getting a bad sunburn in less than an hour of exposing your skin. That is, if you're not tanned and are visiting here from a place that doesn't get a lot of sun exposure.

Oh, and don't forget that if it happens to be cloudy when you travel here - you can still get burned. Bad.

Ask my wife.

Several years ago we went to a local beach and spent the entire day hanging out outside because it was cloudy and we figured it was okay to do this with the sun hiding behind the clouds. Boy, were we wrong.

And, holy-moley, did she get a bad all-body sunburn. Yeesh. I think it raised her body temperature a couple of degrees, it was that bad. She was hurting. Big time.

So, what can you do about this? I suggest you stay covered up with light, loose fitting clothes.

I know, I know...

Getting the rugrats to wear clothes in the pool is like convincing a pig to use a napkin when it eats. I just ain't gonna happen.

So, since that is the case I suggest that you use a good sunscreen in lieu of wearing clothes. But use one that doesn't contain all those chemicals that both protect and soak into the body. Not good.

I hate the idea of my kids, and myself, 'wearing' chemicals in order to stay protected from the sun. It doesn't make sense.

So, I finally found myself an all-natural sunscreen that our family has been using for the last couple of years. It really helps. And it doesn't contain any chemicals. None.

Finally, the kids can go out in the sun and I can have peace of mind knowing that I don't have to worry about contributing to the ill-effects of the sun on their still unblemished skin.

3. This third of these summer travel tips also focuses on water. But this water you won't be drinking.

You'll be playing in it. Or your kids will be playing in it.

It's pool water. Or more specifically, swimming pool water.

Now, why is tip one of these summer travel tips? Because most people come to places like Arizona to vacation and have fun in the local pools. The ones at the hotel or the ones at the local resorts. Or even the ones at their local friend's house.

But, regardless of where the pool is, they all share one thing in common that can turn out deadly to Arizona visitors. That not-so-nice fact is the fact that Arizona suffers from more child pool drownings than any other state in the United States.

And that's not a ranking that most Arizonans are proud of. So that is why I put it here. To save you from any grief while visiting here or vacationing here.

So, what can you do about this? You can stay aware of your surroundings and where the kids are at ALL times when around water. Especially swimming pools.

Again, ESPECIALLY swimming pools.

You see, it's local law that swimming pools have a five foot high steel fence around them with special self-closing locking gates. But not every residence has installed them yet. Especially the homes where no kids live at.

Like Great Uncle Bill's and Great Aunt May's house.

Or your perpetual bachelor cousin Joey's place.

These are the places to worry about when bringing the kids to them. And these are the places where you need to watch your kids like a hawk. At all times. Even when they're indoors.

I can't emphasize this enough. It would be a real tragedy to have you come vacation here and then have some mishap happen to your little ones.

Don't let it. Please.

Enough said? Good.

So, I hope these summer travel tips will help you have a more enjoyable visit or vacation here in Arizona.

I know you travel here to have fun and 'get away from it all'. That's the way it should be.

And that is why I offer these summer travel tips that you won't hear about from your local travel agent. You know, the kind of summer travel tips you needn't learn about the hard way but instead can know about without having to personally experience them. Or get hurt going through.

So, now you know about these summer travel tips that mostly only the locals know about. And you can now plan to use them during your trip here to Arizona.

I hope these summer travel tips prove helpful. Good luck.

Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com - Learn About Life From Another Perspective

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