Let's KO!

Be certain to have enough blank pages in your passport. Someone I know had a terrible time getting per- mission to board a flight from Zambia to South Africa because she didn't have the two blank passport pages required to enter South Africa. Thank goodness my husband had read about the requirement. Before the trip, we sent our passports to the center in Charleston and had extra pages added at no charge.

The couple of hangers provided on cruise ships aren't enough for weeklong trips. So I save wire hangers from the dry cleaner and slip a few into our suitcases while packing. I then leave them behind for the next passenger.

When parking in a crowded garage, don't settle for the first space available on a lower level. It's probably a half-day hike from the elevator. Instead, drive to the upper levels, where you can usually park right next to the elevator. This tip was very useful in Las Vegas, especially when checking in and out of hotels with our luggage.

I try to avoid checking any luggage, but the airlines are getting stricter every day about the size and weight of carry-ons. So when I pack, I put any important stuff in a plastic bag and place it in a front pocket. If I'm told to check my carry-on when I get to the gate, I can just pull out the smaller bag and board.

Don't settle for the first answer to your travel question. If you need flight information, it's a good idea to phone the airline more than once and ask the same question. Recently, I wanted to see if I could fly standby on an earlier flight the same day. The first time I called, I was told that the earlier flight was booked. The second time, however, an agent said there were in fact seats available, and I could certainly fly standby. In the end, not only was I able to get on the flight, but I was upgraded to first class.

When not taking pictures, keep your memory card away from your camera. It's a simple method to ensure that any photographs you've shot will be safe even if your camera is stolen. My husband and I learned this lesson the hard way when we lost 250 shots of Kauai.

Put toys within kids' reach on road trips. Hang a shoe organizer on the back of the passenger seat so children can keep stuffed animals, books, and games organized in the pockets. Having everything close at hand may help prevent meltdowns along the way.

An extra contact lens case holds enough toiletries for a short trip. Squeeze a few dabs of toothpaste into one side and perhaps some facial cleanser or moisturizer in the other side. Just the right amount of each will fit for your overnights or weekends away.

Disposable-camera lenses scratch just like any other lens would. Place a small piece of painter's tape (or another kind that won't stick too much) over the lens to protect it from contact with other items in your purse or backpack during travel.

To find a reasonably priced villa or apartment to rent, try going directly to the owner through a site such as abritel.fr. (Click on the British flag for English.) I arranged to spend two weeks in an apartment in Brittany and one week in an apartment in the Loire Valley, all for a total of $800.

Pack a couple of mountaineering carabiners. Clip one through the handle or strap of your bag and secure it to something solid wherever you may be (to a bench in the park or in a train station, to the railing of an overhead compartment on a bus, etc.).The carabiner adds a bit of security, especially if you're snoozing.

Get the right maps. For road trips on the Continent, European maps are much more helpful when it comes to reading road signs. They'll say Napoli instead of Naples, Firenze rather than Florence. I could spend all day waiting for a road sign for Munich and miss the exit for Munchen.

For the most comprehensive information regarding travel by train or by ship, check out seat61.com. I've found that the site has all sorts of helpful advice for Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

Using your frequent-flier miles, you might be able to visit two cities on one ticket. For example, my wife and I always trade in our Delta miles when we visit our daughters in Dallas and San Francisco. Because we have to fly through Dallas to get to San Francisco on Delta, we can stop over in Dallas for as long as we want before continuing on to San Francisco—and we use only one frequent-flier ticket each.

When I travel with friends, we decide ahead of time who's going to bring what. If we're sharing a suite or have adjoining rooms, we don't need multiple hair dryers and umpteen bottles of shampoo. With the weight limits on baggage, we'll need the extra space in our suitcases for souvenirs!

Don't be afraid to go to a foreign pharmacy. I forgot to pack my prescription medication on a recent trip to France. When my problem acted up, I went to a local pharmacy. (Look for the green cross.) The pharmacist provided my medication without a prescription and at a fraction of what it would have cost in the United States. In fact, one could benefit by stocking up abroad on medications that would normally be acquired at home at a much higher price.

Every summer, we drive out West from Pennsylvania with our two kids. To avoid that infamous road trip question ("Are we there yet?"), I give each child a map with our route highlighted on it. Along the way, they can match up the town names with road signs we pass, and that way, they always know exactly where we are and how much farther we have to go until we'll get there.

Before you go to sleep, check to see if a previous hotel guest left the alarm clock on. I've been awakened before 7 a.m. twice in the last couple of months by alarms I did not set. (Make sure the clock shows the right time, too!)

If you're packing a lunch to eat later in the day, freeze a 16-ounce water bottle and pack it, along with yogurt, cottage cheese, a ham sandwich, or whatever in a light- weight, insulated bag. Your snacks will remain cold, and you can drink the water.

If you make a hotel reservation online and then cancel online, print out and save the cancellation confirmation for at least two billing cycles past your trip. After our vacation, I found a "no-show" charge on my credit card for a room that I'd canceled well in advance. Without the confirmation, I had no way to contest the bill.

If your children are old enough to dress themselves, consider this packing tip: Put each outfit (including socks and underwear) into a Ziploc bag and pack one bag for each day you'll be on vacation. It will save both time and aggravation, and may even prevent items from getting left behind.

Tired of catching colds while traveling? Take along a travel-size package of Clorox wipes. Disinfect the tray table and armrests on the airplane, and the telephone and TV remote in your hotel room.

When we come home at night, my wife and I each take a dollar from our wallets and put them in a special spot. We deposit what we've collected into a travel account at our bank every few months, so at the end of a year, we have $730 toward our next vacation—not counting interest.

When you change your clocks back or forward, be sure to check the expiration date on all your frequent-flier miles. This way they're checked twice a year. We overlooked one of the many accounts in our household and lost a free ticket when the miles expired.

I used a well-known travel site to price tickets for a trip to Las Vegas. The flight I wanted was available, but I decided to wait to see if prices would come down. That flight stopped being listed after a week, and the next best flight kept getting more expensive. About five weeks later, I checked prices from a different PC. Whaddya know? The original flight was available, for $50 less than that next-best flight. That same evening I checked again from my PC. The flight I wanted was not available,so I deleted the cookies for the site and tried again. Voilà! The flight I wanted at the price I wanted. Moral of the story: Clean up your cookies—it could save you money!

We've noticed that when booking a flight for our family under one reservation, some airlines will only credit the 1,500 bonus miles (500 for booking online, 500 each way for printing boarding passes) to the person whose name the reservation is under. This is regardless of whether the other family members have mileage accounts. To avoid this, make a separate reservation for each of your family members and then pick seats together.

I always pack a Petzl Tikka Plus headlamp. It's small, weighs next to nothing, and is perfect for reading in bed at night without disturbing my husband. They're sold online and at outdoor-gear stores for about $33.

Put an address label on your one-time-use camera. At a Final Four game in Indianapolis, we exchanged identical Kodak Fun Savers with another traveler so that we could take souvenir photos of each other with our respective cameras. But afterward, we couldn't tell whose camera was whose. Luckily, I remembered how many exposures remained on mine, so we got ours back. Next time, I'll just label it.

I always try to work out before heading to the airport. It usually gets me tuckered out enough that I can relax and sleep on the plane. If I don't have time for pre-travel exercise, I take a brisk walk through the terminal before boarding or find a quiet spot in an empty gate for a little yoga.

It helps to have a calculator if you plan to do a lot of shopping in foreign markets. When you find something you like, hand the seller the calculator and ask him to enter his best price. It's easy to convert the response into dollars so you know what you're spending. If necessary, the calculator can be used to haggle, especially if you don't speak the language.