Tom Douglas

Travel Has Its Ups And Downs

Let's face it. Travel can be hard work. Whether it's for business or pleasure, living out of a suitcase for any length of time requires some judicious planning and a willingness to do without many of the little pleasures of everyday life.

Then there's the necessity of meeting transportation schedules, living temporarily in unfamiliar surroundings and, in the case of international travel, having to deal with exchange rates and with people who don't always speak your language.

Not to mention the expense. Horror stories abound of $15 cups of coffee and hotel rooms with a daily rate that in some countries would be enough for a down payment on a house! On top of these 'legitimate' attacks on your wallet, you face the risk of running into hucksters, petty thieves and worse if you don't have your wits about you at all times.

Yet travel can also be fascinating, glamorous and very rewarding. If it weren't, those travel agencies on every second street corner in the land would long ago have been converted into fast-food outlets or shoe stores, and business meetings would have been totally replaced by teleconferencing.

Whether you're about to embark on your first trip since you visited grandmother's house or you're a veteran traveler who's been to Helsinki and back, there's a new experience out there just waiting to happen. How you handle that experience may well determine the success or failure of the entire venture.

Well-traveled individuals have learned through trial and error that the better prepared you are for a holiday or business trip, the more enjoyable it turns out. Advance planning can cut costs and logistical headaches, leaving the mind clear to handle the many unforeseen challenges ahead that make travel such an adventure.

The purpose of this site is to allow the traveler to enjoy all the delights of visiting new places and meeting new people while cutting costs wherever feasible, avoiding trouble and keeping the hassles to a minimum.

Getting In Shape For The Walking Olympics

Napoleon once remarked that an army travels on its stomach. Maybe so, but vacationers travel on shoe leather. Even if your idea of a holiday is lying on a beach somewhere, there's still a fair amount of walking involved, from parking lot to airline terminal to boarding gate and beyond.

Sightseeing can pile on miles of wear-and-tear, and stair-climbing is a way of life in certain countries where no one seems to have heard of elevators or escalators. Here are some points to ponder:

If you have any doubts about your body's ability to withstand the rigors of the trip you'd like to take, have a check-up and discuss the matter with your doctor and/or physiotherapist.

Make sure you have two pairs of comfortable walking shoes that you can wear alternatively during your trip.

Equally important is loose-fitting, comfortable clothing.

Work with your travel agent on your itinerary so that you know how much walking you'll have to do.

Step up your exercise program in order to be as fit as possible for your holiday.

In the days and weeks before your trip, walk as often as you can. Leave the car at home and walk to the post office or the corner store. Walk up flights of stairs rather than taking an elevator or escalator.

Practice carrying your luggage. It might make you pack less.

You don't want to start your trip exhausted, so don't leave a mountain of work until the last minute. And give yourself plenty of time to do the packing and other last-minute chores.

Try to wind down the week or so before your trip so you're relaxed and rested.

TRAVEL ALERT -

Be sensible about your travel plans. If your doctor – or your own body –advises that a certain would-be destination is a risk to your health, scratch it off your list. We lost a good friend several years ago because he ignored his doctor's warnings that the high altitude and dirty air of Mexico City would put a strain on his already-weakened heart.

Planning For (D)eparture Day

Where NOT To Go

In these days of terrorist attacks, kidnappings, civil uprisings, outbreaks of contagious diseases, and governments hostile to your country, planning where not to go can be as important as deciding where you'd like to visit.

Keep abreast of the current world situation through the news media. Write or call the office of your elected representative for advice if you aren't certain whether a particular country is safe.

And remember that the best rule of thumb about including a country on your itinerary is: If in doubt, leave it out.

Read All About It

Newspaper Travel Sections

- Local, national and international travel stories are as close as your front porch or your neighborhood newsstand.

However, since newspapers rely on advertising from the travel industry to sustain their travel sections, they tend to feature positive stories within these pages. When was the last time you read about embittered locals at a Caribbean resort in the travel section of your weekend newspaper?

Yet the Travel Section often features a Question and Answer column, short, informative items about new developments or bargain fares, and interesting, if superlative-filled, articles about intriguing places.

The advertisements themselves give you an idea of what's available and at what price – although some sneaky advertisers list a price that sounds fantastic until you read the small print and find that it's based on a one-way fare and you have to book the return as well. Another gimmick is to post a price that looks terrific but actually represents a monthly payment for a trip taken on credit. Many seasoned travelers avoid using these advertisers, figuring that if they get cute in their ads they probably have other surprises in store.

It's best to use newspaper travel sections as a guideline to possible destinations, but check other sources as well before making up your mind.

Travel Magazine

- Once again, their source of income is travel advertising so you rarely, if ever, see a negative story here. s

And because of the astronomical cost today of printing glossy periodicals, travel magazines are usually forced to go for high-ticket advertisers, and thus feature stories on exotic (a.k.a. expensive) destinations that only the well-heeled can afford.

And even if you've got the bucks, do you really want to spend your vacation visiting a Buddhist monastery in Kathmandu? The articles can be fun to read but, once again, you won't get a warts-and-all report from them.

Promotional Literature

- Whether you pick up a glossy brochure from your favorite travel agency, at a travel show, or by writing a tourist board, you can bet your entire holiday budget that once again you're going to be reading nothing but superlatives.

These publications provide practical information about hotel and car rental rates as well as places to see and things to do, but don't be taken in by their seductive descriptions.

Guidebooks

- Because they contain little if any advertising, travel publications produced by Berlitz, Frommers, Fieldings and their many competitors tend to give the straight goods on each destination they cover.

However, since they rely on the selling price to sustain them, they can cost as much as a good dinner or a night's lodging on your travels. Set aside a few hours to pore over as many of them as possible at your local library before deciding which, if any, is the one you absolutely have to have on your travels.

Quite often, a few judicious notes or a photocopy of the pertinent pages (where not prohibited by law) will suffice, especially since these books are usually big and bulky and can take up a lot of space in your luggage. Furthermore, since these travel compendiums are usually published annually, you can often pick up last year's edition from a remainder table or second-hand store. Destination prices will be out-dated but the rest of the information should still be valid.

Library

- No matter how small the library in your community, it can be a wealth of information when you're planning a trip for business or for pleasure.

Many libraries stock foreign newspapers and international editions of English-language newspapers (such as the International Herald Tribune) as well as travel magazines, travel guides, and the travel sections of regional and national newspapers.

They might also provide travel DVDs and videos and perhaps a computerized index of material available of countries you're thinking of visiting. Librarians themselves are often experienced travelers and can provide a wide range of unbiased information about various destinations.

And since many libraries allow you to take out a book for two weeks or more, if your trip is short enough that you’ll be home before the due date, you might want to take the borrowed book along with you. But don’t leave it in the lavatory at the airport or you’ll end up having to pay for its replacement!

Websites

- If you are computer-literate, you might want to browse the Internet for travel information. In fact, modern technology is such that these days you can book your own trip, write your own tickets and do everything else short of pulling an Alice Through The Looking Glass by stepping into your monitor screen for a trip to a far-off land. However, many first-time travelers still prefer to gather information from a variety of sources and then let the travel professional do the hard part by making all the bookings.

The Professionals And The Amateurs

Travel Agents

- A travel industry executive once described travel agents as the only salespeople he'd ever run across who work like mad to REDUCE their commission. Strange, but true. So competitive is the travel business that agents will spend a considerable amount of time on the telephone or computer trying to find their clients the cheapest flight or package vacation available – and receive a reduced commission for their efforts.

This has been carried to its ludicrous extreme by the proliferation of sell-off agencies whose income is derived through high volume and low mark-up. Before they'll give you any information, many of them require your credit card number – a warning signal that profit, not customer satisfaction, is their primary goal.

That's why a good travel agent – one who is widely traveled and works to give you the best and not necessarily the cheapest bang for your buck – is worth his or her weight in tourist brochures.

But you have an obligation to this truly professional travel agent. Don't use up his or her valuable time and then take what you've learned to the sell-off king down the street. Otherwise, the only people left in business will be the cut-rate agents who usually couldn't care less about your personal comfort or enjoyment. And once they're the only game in town, you can guess they'll raise their stakes and you'll end up paying even more than you would have by sticking with the reputable agent in the first place!

Travel Shows

- Just like that home where the buffalo roam, you'll never hear a discouraging word at a travel show. Everything is glitzy and happy and full of fun.

Go there for the hula demonstrations, ethnic food samples and a chance to win a trip for two to Bora Bora, but don't go expecting to get the real lowdown on a destination.

You'll come home with give-away shopping bags crammed with travel brochures that you'll throw away in a couple of weeks, but you'll probably end up more confused than ever about where to spend your hard-earned vacation dollars. And even worse, you’ll be inundated for years by come-on telephone calls and emails from travel companies and everyone they sold their sucker list to – a list you so casually signed onto when you filled out that form for a chance to win a free trip.

The Tourist Board

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Once again, you're not likely to get a 'warts and all' description of your proposed destination here. These offices are set up by the host country so they aren't likely to bad-mouth any attraction or accommodation you ask about. And the service varies depending on how happy the manager and staff are about being posted to your particular city. We have run across instances where the staff was hired locally at minimum wage and knew less about their employer country than we did. Use these outlets as a good starting point for learning generalities about the country (they usually have racks filled with brochures that help support the printing industry back home), but you'll still need to do some independent investigation to really learn about the place.

The Never-Fail "Word Of Mouth" Approach

- You risk being invited over to watch their latest batch of vacation slides or DVDs, but one tried-and-true source of travel information is a friend, neighbor or relative who has been to one or more of the places you're thinking of visiting.

Unless they can't stand you, and have been waiting for an opportunity to make your life miserable, you can usually rely on people you know to give you a balanced report on a destination.

However, take everything they say with the proverbial grain of salt – the highs seem even higher and the lows infinitely lower when one is reminiscing about a holiday — but this is a source of travel information too many people overlook. And who knows – the slides or videotapes could give you a few valuable tips. And their guacamole dip might even be edible!

TRAVEL ALERT

- Don't risk spoiling your vacation or even ending up in jail by falling for certain come-ons that sound like a good idea but are either against the rules or downright illegal.

The first one is the airline tickets that people advertise under Articles For Sale in your local newspaper. Most of these come from well-meaning people – would-be travelers who have found that their schedule won't allow them to travel after all and they've bought a non-refundable ticket. They try to recoup at least part of their loss by selling the ticket or tickets to another person.

But it's against the rules to pretend you're someone else and use their ticket. The greatest risk is on an international flight where you'll probably be tripped up when you have to show your passport before boarding. But spot checks are done on domestic flights and you could end up with a ruined vacation or business trip by being denied boarding. And, you'll be out of pocket for whatever you paid for the ticket.

Another highly dangerous practice is to accept an airline ticket and spending money from someone you don't know or know little about in exchange for delivering a package to another country. The chances are overwhelming that the package contains drugs or some other contraband that the sender is too smart to try to take through a foreign customs checkpoint himself. They even have a name for you – the mule – which is just another name for ass.

Be especially wary of someone who, while you're away from home and vulnerable, comes on to you romantically, captures your heart and then asks you to do this tiny little favor by delivering a suitcase to a friend or a present to a relative back in your home country.

On the other hand, reputable courier services will provide adventuresome travelers with an airline ticket to a foreign destination as an accepted way of delivering a package that has to get there on the next flight. The drawback here is that the courier is buying the ticket in order to gain access to the baggage allowance and this means you'll end up in London or Paris or wherever with only the clothes you're wearing and whatever you can cram into a carry-on since you won't be able to check any luggage.

What’ll It Be: Cruise, Resort, Guided Tour Or Go-It-Alone?

If you're a professional person whose annual convention is in some five-star retreat or aboard the S.S. Hedonist, then your planning has already been done for you.

This post is for those people who have worked hard all year – or all their lives – and want to make sure (or as sure as they can) that their upcoming holiday will make all those sacrifices worthwhile. There are travel professionals who can help fine tune the details, but most people like to have an idea of what they're looking for before going to the experts.

There are positive and negative aspects to virtually every aspect of holiday travel. Let's play the Good News/Bad News game in selecting how you'd like to spend your next vacation.

Cruises

For a completely pampered holiday, it's hard to beat a cruise. Everyone from the purser to the deck steward is ready to cater to your every whim. However, there are travelers who begin to get cabin fever after the first couple of days with nothing to do but lie in a deck chair or line up for the midnight buffet.

One thing a cruise has over a resort is that if the locals at one port of call are unfriendly or downright hostile, your entire holiday isn't ruined – for the simple reason that you'll be moving on in a few hours. But the reverse is true as well — if you really like a place, you'll just have a chance to whet your appetite when it's time to move on.

Cruise ship chefs take great pride in serving culinary delights that rival the best restaurants in Europe. The down side here, other than the pounds you'll put on, is that unless you're traveling with your own entourage you can't always dictate who your tablemates will be in the dining room. This means you can get stuck with a terminal bore or chronic complainer (or, horror of horrors, a whole table full) for the entire voyage. But take heart. Many cruise lines are becoming aware of this fact of onboard life and are offering open seating at some or all meals.

There are so many shipping companies in the cruise business these days that prices have become very competitive and many bargains exist. This means, however, that favorite ports of call are becoming as overcrowded as a discount superstore's parking lot during a summer sale. And the ships themselves are beginning to resemble floating cities as the cruise lines order bigger and bigger vessels to cram as many passengers aboard as possible.

It's great to unpack on your first day aboard and not have to worry about repacking until you're ready to disembark. But travel brochures are famous for making tiny, cramped cabins look like a suite at the Ritz. On one cruise we had to convert a narrow sofa into a single bed by removing the cushions at night. The other bed swung down out of the wall on pulleys! And the shower stall was so tiny that you had to take a deep breath and hold it before attempting to turn around.

Resorts

There are resorts and then there are RESORTS! In this latter category are the Club Med and Jack Tar Village locations where everything is paid for in advance and all the tough decisions are made for you. But one traveler who emerged just short of going stir crazy from one of these regimented retreats suggested they were like a Devil's Island penal colony with extra privileges.

The less structured resort hotels give you the latitude to make day trips to other towns or cities and to eat at the restaurant of your choice each evening. However, a common complaint about any vacation where you pay in advance for accommodation in one spot is that if the place isn't to your liking, you're stuck with it for the entire length of your stay.

Guided Tour

There is something to be said for relaxing and leaving the driving to a professional while an experienced guide points out the sights worth seeing and handles all the hassles of check-in at each hotel stop. But these regimented, 15-countries-in-fourteen-days tours can leave you wrung out and are referred to in the business as the If-It's-Tuesday-This-Must-Be-Belgium package.

Tour packagers operate on volume and can get a far better rate on charter flights and hotels than you could ever hope for in making your own arrangements. Then again, there are fly-by-night operators whose brochures promise you everything but whose air carrier breaks down more often than a reconditioned taxicab and whose hotels are in the industrialized section of town and an expensive cab ride away from any sightseeing. Your travel agent knows who’s reputable and who’s not and that’s one reason you avail yourself of the services offered.

Reputable tour operators use modern, well-equipped motor coaches for the land portion of their packages. These come with such conveniences as an on-board restroom, DVD or video player, coffee maker, refrigerator and comfortable, armchair-type seating. And then there's the cost-cutter who uses kidney-jarring vehicles resembling the buses they use in prison movies to transport convicts from the pen to the boulder-breaking quarry.

On a guided tour, you'll be with your fellow holidaymakers for a week or more. This is a great way to make life-long friends who share similar interests. But you could also end up saddled with the passenger from hell – a person who yaks endlessly about a recent gall bladder operation, has a carry-on crammed with pictures of the grandchildren, or finds fault with every aspect of the trip.

Go-It-Alone

"On The Road Again" – that Willie Nelson ditty conjures up a life of freedom, of being able to go where you want when you want. Whether you're planning to pack the family station wagon for a camping trip to North Booneyville or you've purchased an open return airline ticket to Shangri-La, there's a certain appeal to being the captain of your own soul.

The romance quickly disappears, however, when you find yourself in a strange town at night and all the motels and hotels are fully booked. Or the menu reads like hieroglyphics and the surly waiter speaks only Walloon. Or the shopkeeper doesn't take travelers checks and the banks and foreign exchange outlets are closed for a religious holiday you've never even heard of. At times like those, it’s a nice feeling to be able to turn to your tour guide and holler help!

TRAVEL ALERT

- If you do decide to travel on your own with the wind at your back and not a care in the world, don't be a complete ninny about it. Travel only to countries that are safe to visit without an official tour guide, make sure you check in with your country’s Embassies from time to time in the places you're visiting, leave a detailed itinerary with someone back home – and stick to it – or if you intend to stop and go as fate allows, then make sure you call or write often so that someone has a fair idea of your whereabouts at all times.

And if you insist on the free spirit approach to travel, pack a little cynicism into your knapsack along with your spare socks. Don't be too trusting of strangers, don't get yourself caught halfway up a mountain pass in the middle of the night during monsoon season without any idea where you're going to sleep and don't accept an invitation from a Hannibal Lector look-alike to visit some remote spot you've never heard of.

If we sound like your prissy Aunt Dorcas, that's fine. Traveling to far away places with strange-sounding names can be a wonderful experience if you use your noodle for more than a place to put your hat - as Aunt Dorcas used to say.

So Should You Stay Home And Watch Foreign Movies?

The answer to this question is contained in an earlier post. Do as much research as possible on your own, then head to a travel agent who comes highly recommended by a friend who has done a fair amount of globe-trotting.

If all your friends are stay-at-homes who've never used a travel agent, or even when an agent comes highly recommended, there are a number of things to look for to determine whether the one you've selected is someone you want to deal with.

Rating Travel Agents

Are their window displays and brochure racks current and well presented? Are their desks neat or cluttered? A disorganized agent is not the kind of person you want to entrust with the intricacies of your vacation.

When you enter the agency, are you greeted properly? Some agents treat you as though you're interrupting their busy schedule or leave you staring at the wall posters while they chat away on the telephone without suggesting you have a seat or that you help yourself to a brochure from the rack.

If they're busy with a client or if they're on the telephone, do they pause long enough to tell you they'll be with you shortly – and live up to their promise?

Do they constantly interrupt your session with them to answer the telephone or are they courteous enough to ask another agent to handle their calls? Unless you have their undivided attention, you aren't going to get the kind of advice you need and deserve.

Does the office seem understaffed and chaotic? Travel agents work on low margin and a few minor interruptions are to be expected, but if you feel like you're trying to talk to a stock broker during a frenzied buy-and-sell session, politely excuse yourself and seek out an agent who has more time for you.

Does the agent seem knowledgeable about the destination you're discussing? It isn't possible for them to have personally traveled to every holiday spot on earth, but a savvy agent will know where to find the answer to your question. If they make obvious errors, run – don’t walk – out the door. One agent of our experience actually argued that there was no such place when we kept insisting we wanted to go to Caen in Northern France and he kept trying to book us into Cannes on the French Riviera!

Do they treat you just as graciously when you want a short-haul train or bus ticket as they do when you're in the market for a two or three week foreign holiday? The smart agent knows that a paltry commission on one sale often leads to a hefty fee the next time you travel.

Do they seem genuinely interested in your well being or are you just another sale to them? One agent we dealt with (ONCE!) handled the whole transaction while describing a recent trip of her own, in great detail, to the agent at the next desk.

If they hit a roadblock in trying to get you the proper information (and sometimes this is legit – like being put on hold for an hour or so by a wholesaler whose computer has crashed) do they give up or try to find suitable alternatives?

Do they try to get you the cheapest trip possible or do they attempt to talk you into something more expensive? This was a trick question because it often pays big dividends in comfort and convenience to fork over a little more money – and an agent with your interests at heart will tell you so. Of course, there's nothing shabby about an agent trying to save your a few bucks here and there either!

Do they go that extra step to make your trip as enjoyable as possible and to make you feel you're more than just a dollar sign to them? Thoughtful agents will do things like typing up your itinerary, sending you a welcome home postcard, alerting you (without pressuring you) about bargains that have come up that you might be interested in or asking you about your trip the next time you go to their office –and showing interest when you tell them about it.

To paraphrase the lyrics of that beautiful song from "South Pacific", once you've found a suitable travel agent, never let go. In fact, courtesy is a two-way street. Remember to thank them when they've done something special for you – and it wouldn't hurt to bring them back a little gift from your vacation or to send them a postcard that they can use as a testimonial with other clients.

Another thing about travel agents: Bear in mind that their service is free since they receive commissions from the tour wholesaler, air carrier, car rental agency and hotels they book for you. They need you in order to earn this fee just as much as you need them. You should expect, and get, top quality service. If you don't, go elsewhere.

There is a growing tendency for travel agents to tack on a service charge when they’ve booked a flight or vacation package for you. Their rationale is that their commissions, like everything else in these lean and mean times, is shrinking and they have to pass along some of their costs to the client. Not all agents do this and it’s your decision as to whether this extra cost pays off in additional service or whether it would be best to find someone who will do the job for you without asking for a fee.

TRAVEL ALERT

- There are scam artists out there who call you at home or who leave enticing coupons to fill out at your local dry cleaners or corner store. They will promise you a trip beyond your wildest dreams, either free or at a fraction of the going rate. These are fly-by-nighters who are trying to lure you into attending a timeshare hard-sell session. Hang up if they call and avoid those tempting coupons like the plague! Not only is there no such thing as a free lunch – the travel wholesaler who really wants to give you a free or below-cost trip hasn’t been born yet.

Where Will You Rest Your Weary Head?

If we haven’t by now scared you off entirely from taking a vacation of any sort (and we’ve been exaggerating the negatives to test your resolve), then by now you've probably chosen the type of holiday you want to take, or a variation thereof.

If you've selected a cruise, resort or guided tour, your accommodation will be automatically taken care of – once you and your budget have come to terms with what class of trip you can afford to take. On a cruise, cabins range from cubbyholes that you can barely turn around in to opulent staterooms with outdoor verandahs. Resorts run the gamut from musty northwoods cabins to villas in Monaco. Guided tours offer everything from donkey rides through the mountains to champagne and caviar picnics in a Rolls Royce caravan across Europe.

But if you've decided to go it alone by opting for a vacation that's tailor-made to your lifestyle, then you and your travel agent have your work cut out for you. There are a hundred and one details to look after before you lock your front door and set off on your adventure.

In this post, we'll focus on one of the aspects of an unstructured holiday that can fill it with magic moments or turn it into a fiasco – the selection of the right accommodations.

Depending on your tastes – and your bank account – there is a wide range of places to stay that you can choose from. Let's take a few moments to explore each category.

Hotels

One man's hotel is another man's hovel. When traveling in a foreign country, you'll find that there are no-star walkups where the bath, if you're brave enough to use it, is down a dimly-lit hallway. At the other end of the spectrum are Old World suites right out of "Roman Holiday". And in between there's everything from Vacation Delight modern (you might as well be in Traverse City) to refurbished turn-of-the-century suites that add a great deal of charm to your travels.

Many countries use a rating system, but like everything else, your idea of five-star and their idea of five-star might be galaxies apart. However, the rating system does give you a benchmark to work with. Quite often, the only way to learn what to look for is to be burned a couple of times. In travel, the old proverb aptly applies: "Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment"!

We've devoted another whole post to waiting until you've reached your destination to find a hotel. Let's round this section off by discussing the pre-selection of your hotel before you go.

Seasoned travelers keep a record of the name, telephone number, postal and email address and fax number of hotels they like – with a few other notations such as price, in-room amenities and any other reminders of why the place is special to them. It's a simple matter, then, to call, email or fax for reservations the next time they're going to be in the area. And if you don't write down the details at the time, you'll be surprised at how quickly your memory can start playing tricks on you. Let's see now, was that Hotel Luxor in Rome that had the en suite Jacuzzi or was it the Hotel Roma in Luxor...

Experienced travelers also feel confident about directly contacting hotels listed in the various guidebooks so they can arrive at their travel agent's office with a pretty fair idea of where they want to stay. They've learned how to decipher those little symbols at the end of each entry telling you such things as whether animals are allowed, if there's a television in the room and what credit cards are accepted. If you've done your homework, it will mean that your travel agent can concentrate on other ways to make your trip more enjoyable instead of having to start from scratch by finding out what sort of hotel you want and whether any are available.

If you're new at the game, your trusty travel agent is once again the person to turn to. He or she is – or should be – an expert at getting you the exact kind of accommodation that suits your tastes and your budget.

As with most things in life, there's an up side and a down side to booking hotels in advance. It's great to know that if your plane is delayed or your car has a flat, the hotel room at your next destination has been guaranteed. However, even your travel agent can't anticipate (unless we're talking sheer genius here) that the hotel is under renovation or the staff is about to walk out or the breakfast rolls are like boulders. Once you've guaranteed, you're stuck with it – at least for one night.

Another disadvantage is that many hotels these days, especially in high season, insist on being paid in advance. Your travel agent gives you a voucher that you hand to the desk clerk upon check-in. If the digs aren't up to your standards, you'll find it easier to pull the teeth of a non-sedated tiger than to get back the money you've already paid for your stay.

So what’s the answer? We’ve found it best to book the first night only when you’re using a hotel for the first time. That way, if the cockroaches are as big as circus ponies, you only have to endure them for one night – or lose only one night’s deposit when you switch to something better. The one exception here is during a festival or other popular event when to book only one night is to end up sleeping in the street for the rest of your stay. But do everything possible to learn all you can about your accommodations ahead of time so that the chances of nasty surprises are kept to a minimum.

Apartments

As hotel and restaurant prices continue to climb, many travelers are turning to apartments as a place to stay on business or holiday. Your travel agent can advise you if this is something you should consider.

Apartments are usually centrally located and well appointed. You can prepare everything from morning coffee to a five-course banquet in most of them.

One negative side to apartment rentals is that there's usually a minimum stay requirement of three days, a week or even a month. If you don't like the place – or if you're called home unexpectedly – you still have to pay the minimum.

Another thing to bear in mind is that there are relatively few bargains when renting an apartment. If the price sounds unbelievable, there's something wrong with the place. However, dollar for dollar, you can often come out ahead staying in one of these establishments for a few days as opposed to paying hotel rates and restaurant tabs. Once again, you have to make the decision, with a little help from your friendly travel agent.

Pensions

It's spelled like your old man's retirement fund, but in most countries of the world "Pension" is pronounced "Pawn-see-own", or something close enough to be understood.

They differ in appearance and amenities from city to city and country to country, but what they resemble most is an old-fashioned boarding house providing a room and up to three meals a day to the traveler.

There are several advantages over a hotel or apartment. They're economical, they give you a chance to sample the lifestyle and food of the locals and they afford an opportunity to meet kindred spirits from around the world in fairly informal surroundings.

The disadvantages are that the rooms and meals are pretty basic, you'll likely have to share the bathroom and toilet (in many foreign countries these facilities are in separate rooms) and, at the risk of sounding snobbish, the clientele (because of the relatively inexpensive lodging) would never be mistaken for guests at the Ritz.

Bed & Breakfast (B&B)

The kid brother to a "pension", B&B accommodation is quite often a spare bedroom in someone's home. However, this type of lodging is now being used to describe everything from a small hotel offering breakfast to a collection of flats with a common eating area where the first meal of the day comes as part of the tariff.

Should you end up in a private home, it can be like spending the weekend with a long-lost friend if you're lucky. However, if you get someone who's in it strictly for the money, you can be made to feel like a barely tolerated guest and the list of "Do's and Don'ts" (mostly "Don'ts") will read like the regulations posted at boot camp.

Once again, the advantages over a regular hotel or apartment are that the price is right and you get to eat what the locals eat. What makes them better than a "pension", in our opinion anyway, is that they're usually homier, without great hordes of people coming and going at all hours.

But since in many cases you're a sort of glorified houseguest, there's always the nagging feeling that you have to be on your best behavior. It doesn’t seem right to sit around swilling beer in your underwear and you feel awkward rinsing out a few things in the bathroom sink since it's THEIR bathroom!

Tent Grounds

In Europe especially, and more and more in other areas of the world including North America, tenting is considered a perfectly respectable way to travel.

Lightweight tents and sleeping bags, easily-stored cooking utensils and an endless supply of tent grounds throughout Europe and many other jurisdictions make this a comfortable and inexpensive way to get around.

The tent grounds range from farmers' fields with a rudimentary shower, wash basin and portable toilet to opulent commercial areas with well-appointed outbuildings, television viewing area, a cafeteria and a well-stocked store where you can buy groceries and camping supplies.

A tent ground is a great melting pot. People drive up in Rolls Royces and pitch their multi-roomed canvas homes-away-from-home next to the pup tent erected by a couple of backpackers. A down side to this is that the backpackers might be packing a guitar and a desire to sing every folksong ever written well into the night.

Some commercial establishments will actually rent you the tent and all the gear that goes with it. Once in a long while you might hit the jackpot and find a campground where they'll rent you a small house trailer at a reasonable rate – how reasonable depending on the season.

You might want to check on the security at any particular campground before deciding to stay there. It's easy for a petty thief to wander in at will in some cases and walk away with any valuables you're careless enough to leave unattended. There have also been horror stories, perhaps apocryphal, about professional bandits inserting a large hypodermic needle through the wall of a tent and incapacitating the sleeping inhabitants with a knockout gas before stealing their belongings.

One traveler in Italy set up his tent and drove into Naples to do some sightseeing. When he returned to his campsite, thieves had stolen everything – including the tent!

Youth Hostels

This is actually a misnomer since many Youth Hostels around the world will accept people of any age. There are countries, however, where people over 25 are not allowed to use these facilities and others where older people are wait-listed until all the young people have been looked after.

If you're over 25, it's best to check the Youth Hostel guide that's usually given to you when you take out a membership to see whether the places you wish to visit have hostels that will accommodate you.

Older travelers might also wish to investigate the Elderhostel movement that is springing up all over the place now that age is no longer an automatic barrier, physically and psychologically, to exploring the world.

The down side to Youth Hostels (you knew there had to be a down side) is that the accommodations usually resemble summer camp at Lake Bullfrog. Couples may have to sleep in separate dorms. Wake-up comes early since the operators expect their young charges to be out exploring the countryside all day, and you usually have to do chores to compensate for staying in such cheap digs.

Youth Hostels provide a wonderful meeting place for adventuresome young people of all ages and from all around the world – a sort of United Nations internship.

TRAVEL ALERT

- Most international airports around the world are equipped with an electronic display board (or other devices of varying sophistication) that lists reputable hotels in the area. Airports and train stations quite often will have a "Travelers Aid" counter where you can go for assistance and information. If you arrive without reservations, these boards or counters are your best bet for obtaining clean and safe accommodations.

The more adventurous traveler will swear that many an interesting bargain can be had by putting your trust in a taxi driver or an individual who sidles up to your at your point of arrival and offers to take you to a fabulous and fabulously inexpensive hotel. However, we have no idea what percentage of these adventurous travelers actually live to tell the tale.

I Get Around...

How you get from Point A to Point B to Point C on your trip is just as important as where you stay when you get there. Even if you've booked a cruise or guided tour, there might come a time when you have to select some sort of additional transportation to visit a must-see site or an entertainment spot ashore on your own.

In a later post, we'll discuss the ins and outs of choosing "on-the-spot" transportation. For the moment, we'll look at a few of the major options available to you, many of which have to be purchased before you leave home. Once again, your travel agent can advise you as to the best options available.

Train

With a few exceptions -- such as Canada, Third World countries and, to some extent the United States – travel by train is the preferred method of transportation for many seasoned travelers. European trains, in particular, have turned rail transit into a very pleasant experience and there are dozens of combinations of train packages available.

Canada in recent years seems to have gone out of its way to kill its passenger rail business, except between major centers. Many smaller communities have no service at all and even getting from one larger center to another means infrequent trains at inconvenient hours. Except for a VIA train ride from one major city to another or an excursion to Moosonee aboard Ontario Northland or to the Agawa Canyon via Algoma Central Railway, you're better off taking an intercity bus – which isn’t all that pleasant at times.

The U.S. also seems to be trying to discourage rail traffic in favor of air. Train coaches are often cramped and crowded and it costs you an arm and a leg to purchase less-than-appetizing snacks from the dining car. Some airlines offer bargains that rival train fares so even price isn't a great incentive to ride the American rails anymore.

Third world countries rely heavily on train travel to get passengers from one destination to another, causing a great deal of uncomfortable and often dangerous travel. And these passengers are often accompanied by web-footed, feathered or four-legged friends, making the trip memorable if decidedly unpleasant

The European train system is remarkably efficient and bargain fares abound for tourists – if you purchase the proper package before leaving home. Best-known is the Railpass, which offers unlimited, first-class train travel of varying durations to a large number of participating countries.

Bonuses with the Railpass include free passage on selected international ferry crossings as well as certain lake and river steamers and bus services. But a word of caution – where it used to be considered safe and rather chic to save the price of a night's lodging by taking an overnight train and sleeping stretched out in the first-class compartment, a number of robberies, muggings, and even murders have made this a foolhardy venture. If you have to travel overnight, it's best to pay the extra for a sleeping berth.

Space won't permit a complete list or even the details of all the Railpass variations available, but to give you an idea, there are such offerings as: the Benelux Tourrail Pass, BritRail Passes, BritFrance Railpasses, BritGerman Railpasses, BritIreland Passes, European East Passes, Scanrail Passes, German, Bulgarian, Czech, Hungarian and Portuguese Flexipasses --the list goes on and on.

There are special rail/drive passes (we got a terrific bargain from Britrail on a recent trip to England and Scotland) and even passes that include certain short-hop air routes at a reduced price for Railpass holders. See your travel agent for more details.

Two other advantages of European train travel are that the main terminus in most cities is right downtown where the action is, and the buffet/restaurants in most train stations serve great food at reasonable prices, sometimes late into the night or early in the morning when other eating establishments are shut tight.

Rental Cars

The preferred method of transit for travelers in North America, it can be risky and often dangerous to try to get around by automobile in Third World countries, not to mention expensive. Service stations can be few and far between, are often staffed by ill-trained and ill-equipped mechanics and when it comes time to settle the bill, the total looks more like that country's national debt.

Car rental agencies abound all over Europe – and there are even great deals to be had in leasing a car from a manufacturer and then selling it back at the end of your trip. But many seasoned travelers shy away from the self-drive option, for a number of reasons.

In the first place, driving can be extremely hazardous to your health in many European countries. Anyone who has attempted to negotiate a British roundabout while trying to decide which side of the road to stay on, or who has had trouble remembering France's "priority on the right" rule will probably swear by train travel.

In addition, the game of "Chicken" seems to be a national sport in countries such as Italy, Spain and Portugal where drivers take chances that a professional racecar driver wouldn't even contemplate.

Anywhere you drive these days, rental cars become a liability when you park them because they are a magnet for break-in artists. In the state of Florida and in some Latin American countries, rental cars become targets of crash artists who ram the car from behind and rob the driver (or worse) when he or she gets out to investigate. There are even professional "victims" who walk into the path of slower-moving rental cars hoping the tourist will give them hush money rather than go through the hassle of making out an accident report.

Other than the flexibility of coming and going at will or getting to otherwise unreachable spots, self-driving has little to recommend it in foreign countries where you don't know all the rules or the driving habits of the locals. It can turn a potentially pleasurable vacation into an exhausting, frustrating experience.

If you still wish to rent a car on your vacation, beware of the bait-and-switch operators. They will tell you that the category of car stated on the voucher from your travel agent isn't available and insist you have to take a car of a higher category –at a higher fee, of course. Or they will pressure you into choosing a bigger and thus more expensive vehicle by describing the car you've arranged for as a death trap or, at the very least, an uncomfortable bucket of bolts.

Inter-City Buses

This mode of transportation used to be considered the poor man's way of traveling – and still is in many Third World countries. Even in North America, the image still lingers of bus depots in run-down areas and dirty, smelly, crowded vehicles that were little more than torture chambers on wheels.

However, innovations in bus design have improved the industry's image to an extent where bus companies are moving their depots to tonier areas and discouraging the riffraff from riding on their vehicles. On-board washrooms, roomier seats, piped-in music, movies and travelogues, and even cabin attendants serving snacks and drinks are not uncommon these days on long-distance routes.

Your travel agent will be able to tell you whether it's possible to book certain bus packages in advance or if it's feasible to wait to purchase tickets for your itinerary once you've arrived in the country you plan to explore.

Air Travel

City or country hopping by air can be expensive wherever you travel. However, certain airlines offer inexpensive excursion rates, especially at off-peak hours or during their slow season. Check with the individual airline or your travel agent.

TRAVEL ALERT -

No matter what means of travel you choose, there are rules of the road, rail and air that might differ from those back home. You can’t expect to be an instant expert, but try to learn as much as possible about the transportation rules and regulations in whatever country you plan to visit. It will pay dividends in terms of time and expense saved, not to mention grief avoided.

Seasoned travelers will visit or write the tourist offices of the countries on their itinerary for guidebooks and brochures on what to expect in their travels. They also seek out others who have visited the same countries and ask them their opinions and for tips on what to watch out for. And, of course, good old Google has websites galore that can help you plan your trip.

Don't Leave Home Without Them

We're not just talking about travelers checks here. There are a number of items the novice traveler might not think about until it's too late. And all the preparations in the world won't help if you forget to bring certain items with you. Use the following as a "To Do" list and then a last-minute checklist before leaving home.

Tickets/Travel Documents

Your travel agent, cruise line or charter company will deliver your airline, ship, train or bus tickets to you well in advance of your departure, tucked into a ticket wallet and usually with a typed itinerary or computer print-out attached.

The people making out the tickets are only human so go over the documents soon after they arrive to make sure there aren't any errors or omissions. If there are, contact the issuer at once.

If you're picking up a rental car or checking into pre-booked lodging upon arrival at your destination, vouchers for these services should be included in your package.

If something is missing, don't panic. Perhaps your trip includes the services of a tour guide and he or she might be holding your vouchers. Once again, check with whoever you dealt with in planning your trip to put your mind at ease.

Keep all your important documents in one carry-on piece of baggage. Do NOT lock them away in luggage you intend to check.

Driver’s License

Even if you aren't planning to drive on your vacation, it's wise to take along your driver's license as back-up identification. And, who knows, you might change your mind or an emergency might arise where you'll wish you'd brought the document along. It doesn't take up much space.

Some people go to the bother of obtaining an International Drivers License, but many countries now accept your personal license as sufficient documentation. Once again, a competent travel agent should be able to advise you.

Credit Cards

If you're a shopaholic, you might want to limit temptation by taking only a few credit cards with you. It also makes it easier to check whether you've lost one – or left it at a shop or restaurant.

If your travel or household insurance doesn't cover lost or stolen cards, you'd be wise to take out special coverage.

Keep a duplicate record of your credit card numbers – one to carry with you and one to leave with a friend or relative at home.

Don't discard your credit card receipts – even torn-up ones –on your trip. Keep them until you get home. Fraud artists have discovered how handy it is to carry a roll of transparent tape and piece together your torn-up receipt to get the number from it. Also, hanging on to your receipts is a good way to keep track of how much you spent for budgeting or customs purposes.

Passport

Make sure your passport is current. In fact, some countries require a minimum time limit left on your passport before they'll allow you into the country. And, knowing this, many passenger carriers won’t even let you board with a soon-to-be stale dated passport.

Keep a copy of your passport number – or better still a photocopy of the pertinent pages – in a separate place from the document in case it's lost or stolen. It makes getting a replacement that much simpler if you present the authorities with a duplicate. As with credit cards, a copy left at home with friends or relatives can be faxed to you if you lose the original and the copy you’re carrying as well. (Trust us – it happens!)

Passports are literally worth their weight in gold in some countries. Keep them secure at all times and be particularly wary of pickpockets.

If your passport is lost or stolen, contact your country's nearest consulate or embassy. Don't panic! With the rare exception, the people who staff these government offices are caring people who realize that it’s part of their job to calm down and help a frantic tourist. But if you get a rude or indifferent bureaucrat, grit your teeth and be polite. It never pays to give lip to policemen, customs agents or government officials who hold your well being in their hands. Wait and complain when you get home, making sure that you know the individual’s name and title. Keep notes on the incident for future reference.

As with other travel documents, don't lock your passport away in luggage you intend to check at the airport. If that particular piece of baggage goes astray or is rifled by crooked airport employees – which happens more often than you might think – you’ll be embarrassed and delayed at your destination point of entry – and perhaps even prohibited from entering the country.

Don't be disappointed if the immigration officer in the country you're visiting doesn't stamp your passport. Many countries no longer carry out this ritual. Some, however, will do so if you ask them nicely; others can't be bothered and let you know by ignoring your request. Buy souvenirs instead!

Visas

Few countries relying on tourism for a substantial portion of their income require visas these days. Check with the local embassy or ask your travel agent.

Some countries will insist on a visa as a retaliatory measure against travelers from a country with which they're involved in a trade war or some other dispute. At one point, Canadians were refused entry into Spain unless they went through the tedious process of getting a visa – because of a fishing dispute between the two counties. If possible, just avoid that country. Once their tourist industry starts squawking, they usually rescind the visa requirement.

Some countries require a visa for an extended stay. Depending on the advice of their local representative or your travel agent, you can either arrange for this in advance or find out where you go to have it done in that country as the expiry date approaches – often you just have to go to the local police station.

Travelers Checks

We'll have more to say about these in another post. But if Karl Malden and his imitators have convinced you that you're a total lunkhead to leave home without them, then make sure you record a double set of their serial numbers. Keep one set with you in some place separate from the checks and another with a friend you can contact if you lose both the checks and your copy of the list.

Immunization Shots

Unless your doctor or travel agent recommends it, it isn't necessary to go through the pain and inconvenience of shots – except if you're going to a country where they are required by law.

To be on the safe side, some experienced travelers are now getting an inoculation against Hepatitis B and C since these diseases are easy to contract in countries where sanitation conditions are sub-par. This is an excellent example of the better-safe-that-sorry rule but, once again, check with your physician.

Sometimes your own immigration department will insist you have certain shots before they'll allow you back into your own country after visiting a high-risk destination. Check it out if in doubt.

If you're heading to a country with a lot of vegetation that's in season, and you suffer from hay fever or similar allergies, you might want to get yourself immunized and/or take along the proper medication. Just make sure that it’s easily identified as allergy medicine in case a suspicious customs agent decides you’re guilty until proven innocent and treats you like Cocaine Charlie.

Take a record of your shots with you in case your host country (or your own upon your return) wants proof that you've actually had them.

Registration of Valuables

If you're traveling with cameras, a laptop and/or other equipment that has a serial number, or if you intend to take your diamond tiara or other precious gems along on the trip, you'll avoid a hassle and a possible customs duty on the items if you register them at the nearest customs office before you go. You'll receive proof of registration that you show to your customs inspector upon your return if he or she suspects you purchased the goods while away.

Trip Insurance

Unless you like to gamble, don't play Travelers Roulette by refusing to buy trip insurance. You never know when illness or an accident can prevent you from going on that vacation of a lifetime. Make sure the insurance not only covers you if you have to cancel before you depart, but also pays for the cost of getting you home if you have to interrupt your trip because of a family or business emergency.

Your travel agent can sell you this coverage – in fact will be delighted to because of the high commission involved.

Most trip insurance also covers loss of baggage and valuables –but check to make sure.

Carry the name and telephone number of the insuring company with you in case you have to contact them en route.

Medical Insurance

Some trip insurance policies and certain credit cards provide medical insurance coverage but it's wise to check this out. Your government or private health insurance might not cover the entire cost of medical assistance while you're away. The time to find out is before an emergency occurs.

For the added peace of mind, it's better to be over-insured than under-insured on your trip.

Make sure you bring proof of your medical insurance with you. Many clinics and hospitals in foreign countries will insist on seeing it before providing treatment.

Always be prepared for the unlikely eventuality that a foreign medical establishment will insist on payment in cash before providing treatment. Have enough room on your credit card or have someone available at home who can wire you the money if necessary.

Extra Medicine

If it isn't inconvenient to carry, it's a good idea to consider taking extra medicine along with you on your trip. Some places on your itinerary might not be able to accommodate you if you run out of or lose your medication while away.

The same goes for extra spectacles or contact lenses. It's no fun visiting the Eiffel Tower and not being able to get an eyeful (sorry about that!) because you've lost your glasses or contact lenses and aren't able to replace them.

Prescriptions/Medical Information

Your doctor or pharmacist should be able to tell you whether the country you'll be visiting will honor a pre-prepared prescription. If not, take along sufficient extra medicine and a description of whatever medication you're taking.

Doctor’s Name, Address And Telephone Number

Have your doctor's name, address and telephone number handy in case a foreign practitioner has to get details of your medical history.

Foreign Currency

It's a good idea to have a small amount ($20 or so) of the local currency with you when you arrive in a foreign country. Sometimes you have to make a purchase before you can get to a bank or currency exchange outlet.

In fact, if your mode of travel includes a short stopover in another country before reaching your destination, it’s a good idea to have a small amount of that currency on hand as well. On one of our first trips abroad, we were ready to kill for a cup of coffee in the Milan airport as we waited an hour for a connecting flight to London – without any euros on hand and no exchange wickets open at that ungodly hour of the morning.

Foreign taxi drivers, depending on their mood, will either flatly refuse to accept you as a fare if you have nothing but your own currency on hand. Or they’ll welcome you warmly, realizing that a hapless victim has just landed in their lap and that you aren’t in any position to protest the exorbitant exchange rate they’re about to demand.

Telephone Cards

To save the hassle and expense of going through the local hotel switchboard or pay phone operator in a foreign country, your home telephone company can usually provide you with a wallet card containing a list of telephone numbers. Select the local number listed for your host country, dial it and you'll be connected to an operator back home.

These home-based operators will probably ask you for a calling card number or ask if you wish to make a collect call. Be prepared for either eventuality.

Today’s savvy traveler will make a beeline for a small convenience store or tobacco shop when they arrive in a new country. These establishments will sell you a telephone card that you can use to call home. Not only is this convenient, but since you pay for them on the spot, you won’t have any nasty surprises when you get back home and receive your next telephone bill. Calls charged to your home phone can be heartbreakingly expensive – as can those made directly from your hotel where the management slaps on surcharges that will shock you at check-out time.

It’s a good idea to check out the local pay phones shortly after your arrival. There may be some in the hotel lobby, but it’s smart to scout out a couple located within walking distance of the hotel. With so many people owning cell phones now, there are fewer and fewer pay phones in some foreign centers – and their scarcity means that more people will be standing there waiting for you to finish your call so they can have their turn.

And speaking of cell phones, many of today’s models allow you to call from overseas. Check with your provider – and don’t forget to find out what it will cost to make such calls. Once again, you don’t want to come home to staggeringly high phone bills.

Address Book

You'll want to send letters or postcards – or you might have to contact somebody back home in an emergency. It's easy to forget your address book when packing, so make a special note to take it along.

Some people (far more organized than the rest of us) will actually write out on pre-gummed labels the names and addresses of people they intend to send postcards to. Felix Unger of The Odd Couple might do it, but we’re not sure Miss Manners would approve since it seems too impersonal and premeditated. However, to each his own!

Phrase Book

You might want to tuck a phrase book of foreign expressions in your luggage. They can come in handy when you run across a situation where nobody in the area speaks English (it still happens, no matter what you've been told).

There are books on the market that list the most common words in a dozen or more languages. The words are in alphabetical order in English so they're easy to turn to – and the better books have a phonetic pronunciation beside each one. Some hand-held computer devices also offer a translation feature that includes the main language groups.

By the way, you don't have to bother looking up the expression for: "Do you speak English?" in the local language even though most books include it. Simply ask the party you're addressing in English if they speak it. If they do, they'll respond. If they don't, you'll know right away. A shrug of the shoulders means the same thing in any language.

TRAVEL ALERT -

To save yourself the hassle of rummaging through every piece of luggage to find those reading glasses or phrase book you packed safely away, make a list of the items you’ve taken with you and where you’ve packed them. And carry the list on your person!

It’s also a good idea to do a dry run with that list just before you close up your house or apartment and start your great adventure. Check off each item as you take inventory of the contents of each of the pieces of luggage you’re taking with you. That way you’ll avoid arriving in a foreign locale in need of your address book only to remember that you left it on the telephone table back home when you called the taxi to take you to the airport.

The Portable Drugstore

Many foreign countries don't stock patent medicines, vitamins and other everyday commodities that we're used to picking up at any supermarket or pharmacy. If they do have them, they're often prohibitively expensive or require a doctor's prescription. Furthermore, they might be known by a different name that you aren’t familiar with.

To avoid such situations as doing without your favorite stomach powder after a delicious but fiery meal or partaking in The Great Debate with a Swahili-speaking druggist in order to obtain a bottle of headache tablets, it's best to take a small emergency kit with you.

Here's a sampling of what you might want to take along. If you give it a bit of forethought, you'll probably be able to add specialized items to the list. And remember, this is just a list of suggestions. You might not want to encumber yourself with every item set out here.

Checklist

__ Tums, Rolaids, Zantac, Pepto-Bismol, Alka Seltzer, Bromo or Eno Fruit Salts

__ Cough drops, cough syrup, nasal spray, eye drops, ear drops

__ Small packets of paper tissues, cotton swabs, cotton batting

__ Aspirin or acetaminophen

__ Antiseptic lotion or ointment

__ Antihistamine

__ Gauze bandages, adhesive tape, elastic bandages, Band-Aids

__ Hot water bottle and/or ice pack

__ MedicAlert bracelet if you require one

__ Artificial sweetener tablets or drops

__ Vitamins and herbal extracts

__ Foot care products for blisters, corns and the like

__ Insect repellent and insect bite medicine

__ Petroleum jelly, Vicks Vaporub

__ Thermometer

__ Birth control products/Prophylactics

__ Sunscreen and sunburn relief lotion

__ Razor blades, shaving cream, shaving lotion

__ Small scissors and/or nail clippers

__ Sewing Kit

__ Cosmetics

__ Extra nylons and/or panty hose

__ Travel size packets of shampoo, soap and detergent

__ Hair spray or cream

__ Deodorant

__ Toothpicks, dental floss, toothpaste, extra toothbrushes

__ Mouthwash and breath mints

TRAVEL ALERT -

If at all possible, learn the names of those items vital to your health and comfort in the language of the country or countries you’ll be visiting and jot them down in a notebook you’ll be carrying with you. That way, if you lose any of these items on your travels, you can replace them at a local pharmacy or clinic without the added problem of trying to describe them to someone who might not understand the English word or phrase.

For instance, we were once in need of time-release Vitamin C tablets and the closest we could get was the chewable variety. The pharmacist understood our "swallowing" pantomime, but he didn’t understand the expression "time-release" and we didn’t know how to say it in his language.

The best thing to do before your trip begins is to find someone who speaks the languages of the area you’ll be visiting and get as many items translated as you can think of. This isn’t a "must-do" exercise, but it can be fun and can save you some headaches – or cure them – on your trip.

And unless you’ve been living in a cave in Pakistan, you know better than to pack any sharp objects such as scissors, nail files or pocketknives in your hand luggage following the 9/11 panic. Sadistic security guards at the airport love to find these items and hold them up for the world to see, treating you like Carlos the Jackal for having them in your carry-on luggage.

Don't Be A Packhorse

This might sound like a strange post heading after we loaded you down with suggested items for your medical kit on the previous post. However, it won't take you very many trips to realize that you usually cart around far too much stuff.

Rather than learn the hard way, why not take a few tips from people who have made the same mistakes that you'll make if you don't give some thought ahead of time to cutting down on what you take with you.

Formal Wear

Unless you've been summoned to a Command Performance before one of the titled heads of Europe, leave your tux or your ball gown at home. A dark suit or cocktail dress is considered "de rigueur" these days, even on formal nights aboard ship.

Having said that, it IS a wonderful feeling to get all dressed up at least once – especially on a cruise. If you're packing light otherwise, nobody will blame you if you give yourself the formal experience just once in your travels. Or you can rent formal wear on most cruise ships. Check with your travel agent.

A word of caution. One couple of our acquaintance, to save carting the togs around on the land portion of their trip, thought they’d do the smart thing and mail home their formal wear after a transatlantic voyage from New York to Le Havre aboard a Cunard liner. Not only did they find French postal regulations almost impossible to decipher, they ended up being charged customs duty for allegedly importing used clothing when a relative went to retrieve the package at the local post office back home.

Shoes

These can add considerable weight to a suitcase that you might have to heft from one point to another during your trip. At the very most, wear one pair of casual shoes and pack a second pair plus one pair of dress shoes. These days, many lines of casual shoes look formal enough to pass all but the most rigorous inspections. And you can always buy a cheap pair of sandals at your destination if the need arises.

Underclothing

Today's drip-dry briefs and lingerie are a godsend for the long-distance traveler. They can be rinsed out in a hotel sink and be ready to wear again the next morning. It's no longer necessary to bring a change for each day and thus have to lug a laundry bag along with you.

Casual Wear

While denims are very serviceable, they take up a lot of space in a suitcase and are frowned upon in certain places. There are lightweight, wrinkle-free garments on the market that do just as well and look a lot dressier.

Unless being squeaky clean is one of your fetishes, you'll be surprised at how many days' wear you can get out of a pair of slacks or a sweater while traveling. And most modern-day countries have coin-operated laundries that are pretty easy to master.

You might want to pick up some local fashions on your travels so allow room for these when you're deciding what to take – or, better still, what NOT to take.

If you co-ordinate your wardrobe, you can add an extra day or two of wear to a garment and still look and feel as though you have on a brand new outfit.

A small container of spot remover and a packet of pre-moistened towelletes can extend the life of a garment if you spill spaghetti sauce or salsa on it. And if all else fails, the old standby, club soda, or its equivalent is available in most countries.

Rain Gear

While it's a good idea to be prepared for inclement weather, a lightweight poncho tucked into a small packet serves just as well as a sou'wester and golf umbrella – and takes up far less space.

Rather than packing for a monsoon, many travelers decide they'll explore indoor sites such as museums and art galleries on rainy days.

Galoshes and even toe rubbers take up a lot of room. It isn't exactly glamorous, but some seasoned travelers pack a couple of small plastic bags and some elastic bands for makeshift foot coverings during a rain shower.

The native merchants love a downpour and immediately wheel out a rack of cheap umbrellas that they sell at, well, rainy day prices. You might want to pack one of those small, telescoping umbrellas that you can pick up for a few dollars at a bargain outlet before leaving home.

Sweaters And Coats

Unless you're heading up an Antarctic expedition, avoid the temptation to load yourself down with heavy sweaters and winter coats. If you plan your wardrobe correctly, you can layer on clothing when it gets chilly and gradually peel off each layer as the day heats up.

Hats

With the depletion of the ozone layer, health professionals are advising the wearing of hats even on overcast days. Also, there are still traditionally minded countries that haven't embraced the Western World's political correctness and insist women wear a head covering in a church, synagogue or mosque.

If you're heading to a country with a tropical climate, you might want to wait until you get there to purchase a colorful hand-woven number.

Rather than taking up a lot of space in your luggage by packing elaborate headgear, look into the possibility of buying a crushable straw hat. These days they come in all shapes and sizes.

However, unless you're dining at a truck stop, it's still considered polite in most countries to remove your headgear in a restaurant or snack bar.

Electrical Equipment

Many modern hotels around the world provide hair dryers and even pants pressers in the room. Your travel agent can advise you if the places you're booking in advance have these.

A number of foreign countries operate on a different voltage system that will ruin your equipment unless it converts or you carry an adapter. Check in advance.

Think twice before loading yourself down. Do you really need that portable radio, DVD or tape player? Why not listen to the local sounds on your trip instead of being wired up like a crew member of a space shuttle?

If you require a laptop computer to send home reports, be prepared to prove it's what you say it is when passing through security at some airports. If you're on a tight schedule and don't want to be slowed down by such inspections, perhaps it's better to take hand-written notes and input them when you get home -- or find an Internet café at each destination.

There are special travel shops or travel sections in your local department store where you can purchase small, fold-up versions of electrical appliances that are easy to carry and have built- in converters to adapt to foreign voltage.

You can also purchase a set of foreign wall plugs that fit together in a small case. Many a smug traveler has switched over the appliance to the correct current only to be foiled by a wall outlet that literally challenges you to put a square peg in a round hole!

TRAVEL ALERT -

While today’s savvy travelers pack light, that doesn’t give them license to dress like a slob or to wear clothing that offends people in the countries they visit. If you wouldn’t visit a restaurant in your home town looking like something that just wandered out of a hobo jungle, you should be even more considerate of your fellow diners in your host country. And there are many places in the world where going topless (be you male or female) or wearing short shorts is not only rude but downright offensive. A little consideration goes a long way.