Before you set out on your next trip, be sure to read the tips and advice written here in this article. Whether you are leaving for a weekend getaway or an extended vacation, they are sure to help keep you organized and prepared for whatever adventures your upcoming travels may bring you.
Make sure that your cell phone plan is on a national calling set up before you leave town. If you are normally on a regional or local plan, switching to a national plan, even just for the short time you will be gone, can keep you from getting charged for roaming or long distance.
A GPS navigation system is absolutely vital for any long-distance car trip. If your car did not come with a factory navigation system, you should seriously consider buying one before hitting the open road. GPS helps you find alternative routes when closures, traffic or accidents close the road ahead. GPS can even keep you out of danger if you encounter emergency conditions.
If you are traveling to an area where the tap water tastes strange to you, try using the hotel ice machines to get your water. The ice machines make use of water filters, so the quality is better but you don’t have to cover the expense of bottled water. This can be used for your coffee maker in the room as well as other drinks.
To help you avoid paying excess airline baggage fees on your return trip, when you are more likely to have souvenirs to bring home, pack old clothing and shoes that you might want to give away. Then, when you are packing to come home, you can leave or donate the old clothing and shoes to make room in your luggage if necessary.
It can be beneficial when traveling to put together a large group of friends and family to travel with. In a large group, one will be less vunerable to criminals targeting lone tourists who look like ‘easy pickings.’ You will also have the added bonus of sharing your trip with the ones you are close to.
One decision you need to make when taking a trip is whether to buy travel insurance at all. If you are flying to New York and the ticket only costs $150, it’s not really worth paying another $50 to cover that trip in case of cancellation. However, if you are taking the trip of your dreams to a faraway place, it might be well worth the incremental expense on a $4,000 vacation to know that your money won’t be lost in the event of a cancellation.
If you are traveling road-trip style and you have a smart phone, try downloading apps such as GasBuddy so you can look up what gas stations have the cheaper prices before you get into town. Spending 10-11 cents more per gallon can add up to quite a lot of extra cash that you could be spending elsewhere.
Some hotels have video games in them for you to use. If you’re traveling with kids, ask the front desk to disconnect these. Most of the time as soon as they’re turned on they’ll bill you for playing them. So if you take a shower you may not notice your kids have been playing them until you get your bill at checkout.
When traveling by air with small children, pack a couple of toys that they have never seen before in your carry on baggage. Traveling can be stressful and difficult for a very young child. A couple of new toys can provide a much needed distraction. It also helps to prevent that over tired, or over anxious, crankiness that children sometimes experience.
Research the type of travel insurance you are considering before making the investment. Make sure that it covers things like, baggage loss or delay and emergency medical expenses, so you can recover some of the cost of your trip if your vacation plans are cut short or cancelled due to these things happening.
While traveling, when you are in a crowd of people, you do not want your valuables to be noticed by others. Take a re-usable coffee cup with a lid, place your valuables inside of the coffee cup and “sip” on your coffee from time to time. This way your valuables are stored in such a manner, that most people will assume this is your beverage. Keep the coffee cup in your hands at all times.
Use large plastic bags and old socks to sue for safely placing your shoes inside your bag. By laying your shoes into your bag directly, they can generally cause your bag to smell or to get dirty from whatever is on their soles. Place your shoes inside of some old socks and then inside some plastic bags to prevent this.
Find entertainment and attraction’s websites before you leave for your trip. In many cases you will get a better price on the admission and it will eliminate standing in long lines to buy your tickets when you are there. It will also assure that the event will not be sold out when you get there.
Making use of social media sites like Facebook or Twitter can help you get personalized recommendations while you are on the road. Update your status to ask questions about whatever location you are currently visiting. Ask for restaurant recommendations, advice about the local customs or help navigating the city. You’ll be amazed at how much help you are given.
A great travel tip if you’re looking to go on a cruise is to make sure you book the right room for you. Rooms in the middle of the ship tend to be the quietest. If you don’t want to climb a lot of stairs you should get your room near the main deck.
While traveling to new places and even old familiar places is fun and exciting, we can all use a few good ideas to keep the trip on track. If you use the tips give to you here, you should have no worries for wherever you are headed to next.
