Email your docs – International travel tip

Missing documentation is among the the most challenging issues an international traveler can face. So, take a moment and email yourself the following:

  1. a scanned copy of your passport
  2. a scanned copy of your birth certificate
  3. a detail copy of your itinerary
  4. your airline reservations
  5. your hotel confirmations

While traveling, if you need any of the documents, you just need to get to your email client, and you can reproduce them easily.

Swap seats – Traveling with kids tip

If traveling with another adult and children, change seats from time to time.

Swapping seats gives the grown-up a new perspective … and makes the child feel important for sitting in the seats normally reserved for “Mom” or “Dad.”

Finally, it also gives everyone a chance to have different conversations and makes the trip more fun.

Check your car – Road trip tip

Taking a road trip is universally synonymous with adventure, relaxation, and new experience. While others might mention plotting out your trip, picking good stopping points, and making sure to have a rest and change drivers as often as you should, I won’t. Instead I’ll stress the one and only thing that you should never ever start a road trip without: a thorough mechanical check of your vehicle.

It you run out of sunscreen, you buy more. If you run out of money, you get some wired to you.

But if your car breaks while far from home… you’re stuck.

Hide valuables in the curtains – Hotel tip

Put small items in a plastic bag and use a safety pin to attach it to the backside of the curtains — as high as you can reach — between the drapes and the sheer. Then: open your curtains, pulling the drapes into a bunch. It’s not foolproof, but it should offer some comfort while you’re out enjoying the beach.

When you just can’t “take it with you,” you have to get creative! Hotel thieves usually want to get in and out as quickly as possible. So the more difficult the search, the better your chances of keeping your valuables.

Obviously, this method won’t work if you’re trying to hide a laptop, if your hotel only has sheer curtains, or if your room has no windows.

Choose a themed cruise – Cruise tip

Large and small cruise companies alike have come to realize that creating opportunities for like-minded individuals to come together on a cruise is a really good thing. Thus, the “themed cruise” was born.

The sky’s the limit when it comes to themed cruises; if you can imagine it, it probably already exists. Movie fans can dress like their favorite characters; Harley Davidson aficionados can bring their bikes; scrapbookers have cruises of their own; and golfers have a range (no pun intended) of cruises to choose from, as well.

In the world of theme cruises, the most popular seem to be music-themed cruises. And, in the classification of music, the theme cruises offered are inclusive of all genres ranging from country and western, to classical — even hard rock!

Remember: if one of your traveling group happens to love only classic rock and roll, they will be miserable on a ship full of several thousand crazy jazz aficionados. So be sure all members of your group are “on board” with the chosen theme.