Spring cleaning your garage?

What about your car? Is it ready for the stress of your summer trips?

Optimize your car for the summer road

We clean our garage, our driveways, prepare our lawns for summer but what about our cars? The cars that we rely upon to get us through the heat and stress of a summer road trip. Here are some things to check out and keep in mind.

Under the hood. Take a look at your hoses and belts. Inspect them for wear, cracks, chips or that just-plain-old look. Give a squeeze on the hoses as they should firm but with give. If they are too hard or too soft, replace them. Push on the belts. There should about a half inch movement on them. More or less and they may need to be replaced or adjusted.

Check your fluids. Both level and quality. Check the antifreeze-coolant level, oil and washer fluid. Most other fluids don't need to be refilled. If you see that any of those are low, it is a signal of other problems and should be seen by a mechanic. In fact, an oil change is recommended before any long trips. You may not need it now, but what about halfway through your trip in a strange city? Better to get it changed by the local service that you know and can go back to in the future.

It's a good idea to keep a small stock of fluids in your vehicle on the road. Antifreeze/coolant, oil, maybe even brake fluid and power steering fluid. The containers are small and the price is cheap if it keeps you from being stranded. If you have the room, a gas can is a good idea as well. You may need either the gas inside it or the container for that long walk to the service station you passed while trying to get to the next one down the road.

Check your air conditioning early in the summer. It's best to make sure that it cools your car quickly now rather than on the hottest day of the year when you're many miles from home.

Spare tires are not designed for highway driving, either the speed or more than 50 miles. They are meant to get you to the next service station. Therefore, we recommend you buying a regular tire for your spare. Preferably the same as your other four tires, but a decent used tire will suffice as well.

We want you to have a summer vacation, not a nightmare, and to arrive at your next hotel or stay ready to enjoy every minute of it.

Traveling this season?

Here are a few tips and things to look out for while away from home.

Traveling for the holidays can be easier. Here are a few tips to help avoid a few of the headaches and roadblocks along the way to see friends and family.

Heading to the Airport

Hopefully you booked early, got a good rate and are traveling with some flexibility. If not, you'll be like most of us. You may have already checked in and printed out your boarding passes. Many airline websites let you do this at home. If not, try to find a kiosk at the airport to check in and avoid the lines. If you don't need to speak with airline personnel, don't sweat the lines. Try to use public transportation or get a ride to the airport. Parking lots tend to fill up quickly around the holiday travel season. To reduce the airport shuttle fare, see if you can leave your car closer to the airport, with a friend or even at your workplace.

The Transportation Security Administration provides expected wait times (http://waittime.tsa.dhs.gov) for the security checkpoints at various airports. This does not include time for parking and airline check-in. The TSA also has an accepted lock list for your luggage. If you do not use one of these locks, you run the risk of your bag or lock being cut open by screeners. This is also the place where a sense of humor or temper has to be kept buried inside you. Any inappropriate jokes or statements are taken seriously and subject to both civil and criminal penalties, and could cause you to miss your flight.

Every morning, airports around the country start fresh with planes on the ground. The earlier your flight, the more likely it will be on time. Other airports and storms haven't had a chance to create havoc with your holiday. And if you are on the west coast, try to go even earlier. Remember that eastern airports have a head start on messing up your schedule.

Carrying with You

Plastic compression or space bags really do work. They compress your clothes down and let you carry more (and maybe unnecessary) items with you, as long as you don't leave a stray piece of metal or zipper hanging out to puncture it. Try to wear several layers of clothes once in the airport so you can take off or add something to be comfortable. Jonathan Stocker of AllStays (/) recommends carrying a calling card to avoid high priced pay phone and hotel charges. "Hotel and airport phone rates vary wildly so a calling card is the best bet. Cell phones don't always work when you want them to on the road. If crossing country borders, we recommend carrying a color photocopy of your passport and credit card phone numbers in your money belt or tucked away in your luggage, somewhere apart from your original. It helps during troubles or if yours is lost. It's also good to print out any emails and confirmations of reservations of both flights and hotels. If over the phone, with us or any travel service, write down the date, time and name of the customer service person."

Screening

To make the screening process a bit smoother this holiday travel season, you may want to empty your pockets, take off your jewelry, your belt and your shoes and put everything into your carry-on as you head into or stand in line. You may also carry a ziplock bag that you can fill ahead of time and drop into the smaller basket at the metal detector. This is handy for keys, change, or anything you want to have immediate access to on the other side of security. Laptops and video cameras have to be removed from cases and placed in plastic bins as well. If you are selected for further screening or pat-downs, you have the right to request a private area. This may not please the screener personnel but it is your right.

Gifts

You may want to check into shipping your packages ahead of time. It's often easier and safer to mail them ahead of time than it is to carry them on or risk loss and damage in cargo. You may also want to look at large merchant websites that have branches in other countries. You could order gifts direct from an international version of Amazon.com within your destination country and save on some shipping charges. If you do carry them, bring all gifts unwrapped to an airport. It is rather sad seeing a beautifully wrapped package opened at the airport, unless you intended to give it to the screener inspecting it. You may wish to use holiday bags or boxes to help hide a gift but still have it be accessible.

Before and during a flight

Drink water early in the day of your holiday travel flight. This gets you well hydrated ahead of time. Keep drinking fluids throughout your travels or as much as convenient. This helps to keep your mucous membranes from cracking which opens you up to more germs. Turn off the air vents or direct them away from you. This is recycled air and you don't need it and it’s germs blowing directly on you. Most airlines have cut back or eliminated pillows and blankets. This is just as well since you don't know where they've been before you got them. Use your own travel pillow and clothes. Carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer with you and use it often. Ideally, use it after touching any public surface or money and before touching your food, your face or rubbing your eyes.

Rental Cars

Rental companies assume about 20% in no-shows. So they overbook. Try to get to the counter as soon as possible. Have a family member get your luggage while you go to the counter. Get there ahead of other travelers or you may wind up without a car on a holiday's eve.

Hotels

Book early and bring your printed confirmation with you. Just in case. "Hotels should always honor reservations, but if a mistake occurs, it could affect an entire holiday. Bring your proof of reservation or pre-payment with you," say Jonathan (/). Whatever travel website you used, mark down their service phone number along with the number of the hotel so you can call them to help sort it out. Being prepared for anything helps for a smooth holiday." Look for bargains at hotels in business areas, suite hotels and extended stays. Holiday travelers often overlook these classes of hotels and they may offer a great deal with business clients staying home this time of year.

AllStays.com, online since 2000 and based in Arizona (US), lists all kinds of lodging, from primitive campgrounds and RV Parks to luxury and haunted hotels and spa resorts. AllStays also links directly to official websites to make sure you have the real scoop on the latest and most accurate information.

I help run this travel website and even I dread air travel these days. Once was a time when I was excited about flying. I loved going to the airport knowing I was going to see new places and people. I used to even like to go early and watch other people get on flights to other fantastic destinations that I could only dream about. People were happy.

Now I think about taking off shoes, standing in lines and obeying stupid rules that make no sense at all. A person can't try to be funny or frank with anyone because they may label you a troublemaker. We all have to be serious and grim. We have to act like scared children going into the principals office. We need to behave like a politician and show no personality at all. You can however, pay for lots of alcohol on a plane and make the flight miserable for everyone else. The airline is making money so it's okay.

No peanuts! The rights of the many succumb to the rights of the few. If you have an allergy, it is not your responsibility to avoid it or carry your medicine. Just make everyone else responsible for your safety and become outraged if someone else wants to eat something that may have once been close to a peanut.

Years after 9/11, we are not any more safe. we just have less freedom and more annoyances. Now the airlines have an excuse not to let you sell your ticket or give it to someone else. The airports have an excuse to make you throw something out of your luggage even though they'll sell you a replacement on the other side of security.

No profiling allowed. If you look like a bad guy, you'll get waved on through without question. If you look like a school teacher, an 80 year old lady or a cute young girl, you'll get examined like an apple in a strawberry patch. I've seen more young girls in bikini tops and short shorts get patted down than Arab looking guys in overcoats. The girl couldn't hide a safety pin in her clothes while the guy could be carrying a injection molded bazooka. Make your skin darker and wear a trench coat to get right through.

Cargo is still not screened and crooked baggage handlers outnumber the bad guys. I've said for years, if you have an elaborate plan to breach security, you just go get a job at an airport and bring your stuff right in the back door. Just like a spy, one can be a good employee for many months, even years before doing what they think has to be done. Giving up freedom for fake security is shameful and we're becoming veterans at it.