Take a convertible – Road trip tip

by Gadling Staff on

Thelma and Louise, Bonneville, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas are all classic road trip movies. What do they all have in common? The car they traveled in was a convertible.

For maximum fun during a road trip, take a convertible! If you don’t own one, look into renting one for your next road trip. There’s no better way to see everything with the top down.

Experience all the sights, sounds and even smells that a great trip has to offer. Wear a hat and use plenty of sunscreen, but most importantly, keep that convertible top open!

Use two-way radios – Cruise tip

by Gadling Staff on

Most cruise ships today are multi-deck mini-cities carrying as many as 5,000 passengers. And, unless you’re traveling alone, you may find yourself separated from your traveling party at some point during your cruise. How to reconnect… or stay connected in the first place?

Give each member of your group a two-way radio, all programmed to the same frequency to help keep you organized and in touch. These handy radio sets, priced from about $40, offer features like rechargeable batteries and programmable ring tones.

Remember: your cell phone may not work on a cruise ship, and even if it does, the roaming charges may be crushing.

Label your items – Souvenir tip

by Gadling Staff on

If you obtain a souvenir that does not have the city, state, country, and date already inscribed, make sure you write/paint/label this information in an innocuous place on your souvenir.

I failed to do this in the early years, and now after a lifetime of travel I have a beautiful collection of vases, decorative boxes, etc., but I can’t tell you what trip or what country many of them came from!

Eat better – Airplane tip

by Gadling Staff on

If you want to eat a better meal on your next long-haul flight, request a vegetarian (or kosher) meal when you book your tickets.

In addition to being fresher, the vegetarian and kosher meals on airlines — which are often the same — are often tastier than their meat-based meals. In addition, on U.S.-based flights, the meals often are less mixed together, making them easier to dissect/remove parts that don’t appeal to you.

Turn spare change into jewelry – Souvenir tip

by Gadling Staff on

As a poor student in the 60’s, I was lucky to pull together the money for a trip to France, but didn’t have a single sou left to buy souvenirs. What I did instead was to carefully scour my change and collect one French coin of every denomination minted that year.

After I got home and got a little money together, I found a jeweler who made my centimes and francs into a beautiful charm bracelet. It represents the time and place of a life-changing trip, and decades later, I still wear my all-time favorite souvenir.