Travel Tips I have learned (Part 5)

Posted by sbarrymore

on March 21, 2009M at 10:50 am

Here we go with more travel tips (Part 5)

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21. Put your suitcase on a diet-Whenever possible, I only travel with carry-on luggage. If you do have to check luggage it is a good idea to buy a luggage scale and weigh your luggage at home. This is especially important with all the new, increased over-weight charges. It is a lot easier to try to re-balance your suitcases in your living room than trying to do it in the airport with 50 people standing behind you in line and looking into your suitcase. Pack the luggage scale in your suitcase so you can weigh your luggage on your return trip after you have purchased all those extra souvenirs. You can buy these luggage scales at Kambers or The Travelers Pack in Oklahoma City.

Some people use a system where they pack their suitcase then go back and pull out one-half of everything. I’ve never been on a trip yet where I thought, “gee, I wish I had packed more stuff!” How many pairs of shoes do you need, really?

22. Map it out first-Before I leave on a trip, I always like to have a map of the countries and cities that I am going to visit. Suggest you study the maps before you leave so when you get there you will already have an idea of distances, transportation systems, etc. You can hit the ground running when you arrive at your destination. Great place to buy maps in Oklahoma City is at the Travelers Pack. If they don’t have them in stock, they will order them for you. Give them a little advance notice.

23. Tour books-Everyone has their favorites. I prefer the Lonely Planet series of books. They seem to be complete and packed with info. I also like the Fodor’s travel books as well. A trick I recently learned from other travelers was to buy the tour books and then razor out and carry with you only the pages that pertain to the places you plan to visit. A couple of things happen when you do this: #1: you don’t have to pack a thick book that will add to the weight, #2: you don’t look so much like a tourist sitting in a café reading a big, thick, tour book. Most of the books are out of date the following year anyway, so no need to worry about destroying a good travel book.

24. Protect the liquids or suffer the consequences-some liquids don’t survive well under pressure on an airplane. Suggest you double bag your liquids in your suitcase. Ever had suntan lotion explode on your clothes? I have!

25. Toiletries-Often times it is just easier to buy your toiletries when you get to your destination. Why haul a big 99 cent can of shaving cream around when you can buy it there?

Stay tuned for some additional travel tips from other travelers-

What’s your favorite travel tip to share?

I am sure that many other people have additional ideas as well. It would be helpful if you would add your comments and suggestions here so other people may benefit from them. You can also e-mail me at ssb11@prodigy.net

See all my other travel blogs on NewsOk.com:

Colombia:

http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/colombia/

Mexico:

http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/mexico/

Caribbean island of Barbuda:

http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/barbuda/

San Juan with a 5 hour layover:

http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/san-juan-puerto-rico/

Fly around the U.S. for the day:

http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/day-trip/

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