With many students going on vacations and long trips over spring break next week traveling safely becomes a high priority for many people, especially as many trips this time of year tend to be over-seas and involve long flights.

With Hudson Valley students taveling during Spring Break there are a few tips the United States Transportation Security Administration (TSA), has issued regarding safety, and saving time getting through the security check points at most airports.

• • Have your Boarding pass and photo ID ready, boarding passes can be obtained at the airline's ticket counter.
• • Keep all personal electronic devices in a bag or case that can be set aside at the metal detectors.
• • Avoid wearing any clothing with metal in it, ie: jeans with rivets, jackets with zippers, and so on.
• • Pack jackets, coats and other heavy clothing in main baggage and not with carry on luggage.
• • Wear shoes that slide on and off, or shoes that can be removed easily; as removal of shoes is required at all TSA check points.
• • De-clutter your carry on luggage as much as possible; this makes it easy to search.

The U.S. Department of State, which helps regulate foreign affairs and relations with other countries, has a few tips for traveling safely.

• • Do not wear jewelry that looks expensive or would mark you as a foreigner
• • Pack as lightly as possible so as to be able to move easily and have less to worry about.
• • If you wear glasses, pack an extra pair and keep them in a safe place at all times.
• • Leave your social security card, library card, or other federal identification cards that are unnecessary safely at home
• • Look up information on the country you plan on visiting in the CIA fact book before leaving; this information is available for free online.
• • Know the phone number and address for the US Embassy in the country of destination
• Beware of pickpockets who may try to distract you and take your money or more importantly your identification.

According to the State Department's website; "When you leave the United States, you are subject to the laws of the country you are visiting." this is very important to keep in mind since you may not know the laws of the locality you are visiting.

One of the new developments with travel abroad that many people may not be aware of is passports now contain Radio Frequency Identification tags or RiFid, these devices broadcast information on a low radio frequency such as your passport number, address and nationality. The reason this is done is so that at checkpoints it is easier to move through because as all authorities have to do is to scan your passport and they will then have all the information stored in their databases.

The problem comes when people who are not authority figures get equipment that can read these RiFid tags to figure out who you are. This can be prevented by keeping your passport in a Faraday cage, there are wallets that can be bought that have this technology built into them, a Faraday cage prevents radio waves from entering or escaping, the same technology is used in microwaves. This will keep your information safe and secure, all of these are steps that can be taken to keep yourself and others safe when you travel, not only domestically but also abroad.