 | QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE Travel Documents Immunization Passports In Your Wallet Medications, Glasses, Contacts Luggage Cash At Home Day Before You Go Departure Day Smart Packing Less is ?More Better? Color Coordinate You Are Your Porter Insider Advice Just-in-Case Adventure Travel Packing Best Times To Travel |
| Travel Documents Find out the entry requirements (passports, visas) for all countries you are visiting by going to the U.S. Department of State website, www.travel.state.gov/travel. Immunization Make sure you have necessary vaccinations to travel abroad by going to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, www.cdc.gov/travel. Passports Make two photocopies of the first two pages of your passport. Leave one copy at home in a safe (but accessible) place. Take one copy on your trip, but do not carry it in the same bag or pouch as your passport. Take two passport-sized photos with you. This is invaluable if your passport is lost or stolen. In Your Wallet Photocopy the credit cards you are taking with you (take only one or two), ATM card, your health insurance card, and driver?s license, airline ticket, itinerary, emergency contact phone numbers. Take this info with you and store it in your carry-on bag (again, not with your passport or the actual cards). Get an international phone calling card or find out your cell phone?s range. Medications, Glasses, Contacts Check your medications to make sure you have enough for your trip; plan to carry them in their prescription bottles, not pill case or plastic bottles. Take an extra pair of glasses and ample contact solution. Luggage Buy bright baggage tags or tie a piece of bright ribbon to your suitcases. This will make it easier for you to find your bags on a carousel and makes it less likely someone will pick up your suitcase by mistake. Put a copy of your itinerary and your home contact information inside each of your suitcases. If they?re lost or stolen, this will help the airlines forward or return your bags to you. Cash Get travelers checks and a small supply of foreign currency (more if you?re arriving on the weekend). At Home
Day Before You Go
Departure Day
Smart Packing The first rule of savvy packing is: less is more. The second rule is: color coordinate. The third rule: don?t take any more bags than you can carry on your own. To pack light and tight, consider these tips. Less is ?More Better? You can be on the road for two months or two weeks with the same amount of stuff. You just have to do laundry. Dress for the weather you expect to encounter, the formality and the customs of the places you?ll visit. Casual dress ? neat jeans, chinos, flat shoes, knit shirts ? will take you almost anywhere. However, shorts in big cities are usually not appropriate. The only people who are going to see you in the same outfit over and over are you and your traveling companion, so do not attempt to pack a different outfit for every possible occasion. Instead, take clothes that do double and triple duty. For women, the ubiquitous black slacks and top can dress up or down with a scarf or piece of jewelry (remember though, you are not taking your best jewels on the road). For men, a blazer or sweater (flat knit, not bulky) and a button down shirt can get you into just about any fine restaurant. Pack a tie if you?re planning on formal dining. Shoes are the biggest bugaboo because they take up so much space. Limit yourself to two pairs of broken-in shoes. Never, never, never take a brand new pair of shoes on a trip. Toiletries and makeup can also take up more room than necessary. Buy travel size shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, shaving cream, hand lotion, hair spray, etc. For long trips, take double quantities and once you?ve used them up, you can throw the empties away. Make sure your toiletry case is leak proof and that none of the bottles are filled all the way to the top (pressurized airplanes cause some chemicals to expand). Ladies, pair down your makeup bag. Look for cosmetics that do double-duty and all-in-one compacts that have blush, eye shadow and concealer in one handy case. Sample-sized cosmetics are great, too. Color Coordinate Several days before your departure, lay your clothing choices out on the bed. Do you see a rainbow of colors, a flower garden of hues, all the shades of a sunset? Then you?re overdoing it. Start with slacks and skirts. They should be dark neutrals. Pick knit tops that interchange with the bottoms. Hopefully you have some layering opportunities that will give you different looks and insulation if it gets chilly. Knits travel well, wrinkle less and pack tight. Avoid taking clothing that needs to be ironed. Who needs to travel with the chores you normally do at home? Plus, many inns and hotels overseas don?t supply irons and ironing boards. You can usually steam packing wrinkles out of your clothes if you hang them in the bathroom during your shower. While you have the final selection laid out on your bed, think underwear. Take no more than a week?s worth. If you?ll be on the road longer, plan to wash your undies in the sink or send them out with your laundry. Ladies (gentlemen do not seem to have this need), do a mental run-through of your wardrobe and make sure you have the right bras and panties for all of your travel outfits. Sleepwear should be minimal, lightweight and appropriate for the climate you expect. One pair, OK, two, should do it. Actually, this is the perfect time to consider sleeping naked. You?ll find great travel clothes (including quick-dry underwear) and travel supplies through these mail order companies: Magellan?s (www.magellans.com, 800-962-4943), The Territory Ahead (www.territoryahead.com, 800-882-4323), and Ex Officio (www.exofficio.com, 800-644-7303). You Are Your Porter One carry-on bag (in which you will pack an extra set of clothes, just in case) and one medium-sized suitcase should do it. You think not? We?re here to tell you it?s possible to spend three months in Europe with the contents of one 22-inch bag and a carry-on. And look quite stylish in the process. There are ways to maximize the space in your suitcase and your carry-on. Some people like to roll clothes, others buy compression bags that flatten a pair of jeans to the size of a file folder. Stuff your shoes all the way to the toes with socks and underwear. Utilize all the outside compartments of your suitcase. Don?t roll your belt, snake it along the inside walls of your suitcase. Put heavy things along the side adjacent to the bag?s hinges. Fill spaces between clothes with tightly rolled pajamas. Insider Advice Savvy travelers and road warriors have certain items they won?t leave home without. None of these things take up much space in your suitcase, and they all add to your comfort, safety and peace of mind.
Just-in-Case You?re in Tuscany, it?s 2 a.m. That cold that was coming on has hit full force and you can?t breathe. Or dreaded diarrhea has struck, or a screaming headache, or bug bites, or?you get the idea. It?s time for Just-In- Case, an emergency supply of first aid products you have tucked in your suitcase.We hear you groaning ? oh no, one more oversized thing to stuff in my luggage. One more thing, yes. Oversized, no. Here?s how to wheedle down emergency supplies and pack them efficiently. Buy a zip-top, Velcro or zipper envelope-style vinyl or cloth case (4 x 5 inches or so). Pencil cases, makeup bags, document envelopes, plastic kitchen bags all work. Pack it with the tiniest versions of the following items. When it?s 2 a.m. and you feel dreadful, you?ll be glad you did.
Adventure Travel Packing If you?ll be adding outdoor adventure to your itinerary, pay attention to your outfitter?s packing list. They know the terrain, weather and client needs and offer great packing suggestions. In addition, here are some of the things we wouldn?t sea kayak, white water raft, hike, climb or camp without.
back to top The Best of Times, The Worst of Times Tips for avoiding busy airports, crowded flights and delays Let?s say you have five vacation days, and you?re logged out from a Monday through a Friday. You want to maximize every minute of your time off so you book your departure flight for the Friday before your actual holiday, right after you finish work. You schedule your return flight for the Sunday afternoon right before you must go back to work. That gives you the whole weekend plus the week plus the last Saturday to enjoy your vacation. Great plan, right? Not on your stressed-out, desperately-seeking-relaxation life. You aren?t the first person to think this way, which means a whole bunch of folks are planning on a Friday exit and a Sunday return. Holiday destinations are especially heavily impacted by this thinking. Peak travel days equal longer, slower moving security lines at the airport, flights that are packed to the gills, throngs of tired people milling around the baggage carousel and the general mayhem of crowded airports. There?s a better way, and sometimes it involves shifting just a day or two. Savvy travelers with lots of flexibility plan their trips to avoid peak travel days, months, even hours. An additional advantage of flying off-peak is that you can usually save money on airfare and hotels. Keep these tips in mind: Best and Worst Months to Fly February, March, September, October and November (except Thanksgiving) are the best months to fly. The worst months are January, June, July and December. Think about summer vacation, spring holidays and Christmas break. If you have children?s school schedules to work around, consider taking them out of classes for vacation. We know that idea is blasphemy in some circles, but we?re convinced our little darlings can make up whatever assignments they might miss. If your child is in elementary school, contact their teacher and find out what will be covered while you?re gone. Get an assignment list and make sure to pack the correct textbook(s). If you don?t want to lug a three-pound science book on vacation, consider photocopying the assigned chapter. Ask your child?s teacher if they can do a written or oral report on your destination. Whether you?re going to Oahu or Oklahoma City, there?s history, geography, culture and art galore to write about. Besides, your kids will have a broader, more enjoyable trip if they know a little about the place they?re visiting. The workload for middle and high school students can be a little heavier and the planning a little trickier, but with advance communication with their teachers, it?s possible for older kids to do assignments ahead of time or while they?re on the road. The key is communication. As long as teachers know you are concerned about your son or daughter?s academic standing and progress, they?ll usually work with you and your teen. An offer by the student to do an extra credit report on an aspect of their vacation destination often satisfies their teachers? concern about missing class time. Best Flights for On-Time Arrival Early morning departures are almost always on time. Aside from the fact that we all like our flights to be depart on schedule, on-time arrival becomes a big deal when connecting flights are involved. There?s nothing worse than sitting in Boise waiting for your airplane to get off the ground and realizing with each minute of delay that you are getting closer and closer to missing your connecting flight in Denver, which means you might miss a whole day of vacation at Disneyworld. Best and Worst Days for On-Time Arrival The days when a traveler is most likely to arrive on time are Mondays, Tuesdays and Saturdays. The days they are least likely to arrive on time are Thursdays and Fridays. To be honest, we don?t know why, other than that Friday pandemonium. Hurricane Season in the Atlantic, Caribbean, and the Source: Safe Harbor Institute staff and Consumer Reports Travel Letter. |