Trip Coach: June 6, 2006

Most cruise lines offer certain drinks for free--juice, lemonade, iced tea, coffee, milk, tea-but you'll have to pay for soda. If you're a caffeine addict, pack a bottle or two. Unlike on a plane, you won't have to worry about paying for the added weight.

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.

Many tourist information offices provide discounted same-day booking services for local lodgings. My husband and I discovered this when we accidentally left a midweek gap in our travel plans between my husband's conference hotel and our B&B in Charleston. Instead of adding another night at either location, we stayed at one of the more elegant inns (normally over $200) for $70, courtesy of the Charleston Convention and Visitors Bureau.

A bike tour will offer a good introduction to a place, and you'll cover much more ground than if you were on foot. In Buenos Aires, for example, Lan & Kramer Bike Tours (biketours.com.ar) has a few guided itineraries that are fun for all ages and abilities.

I unpacked a pair of black slacks recently to find them covered with white fuzz. I didn't have a lint brush handy, so I used the luggage sticker from my bag--the gummy side took the lint right off.

Finding the bathroom in the middle of the night in a strange hotel room or cruise-ship cabin can be a challenge. Leaving the bathroom light on seems wasteful and makes the room too bright for sleeping. My husband and I used to travel with a night-light, but we couldn't always find a convenient place to plug it in. We've recently discovered a better solution: plastic light sticks. They come in several glow-in-the- dark colors and are activated by bending the tube into a circle and connecting the ends. Each evening, we hook one of the loops over the bathroom-door handle, where it provides a gentle glow through the night.

Carry the exact change for public transportation. In Venice, we were annoyed when a vaporetto (water taxi) ticket-taker refused to give us our change. Later, we discovered that if you don't have the exact fare, ticket agents make no promises about giving change.

Attach a few carabiners--the kind of clips rock climbers use--to the top of your wheeled suitcase. Purses, cameras, and shopping bags can be clipped to your suitcase, giving your hands and shoulders a rest while you're walking around the airport.

It's easy to lose track of time in a windowless interior cabin. Before going to sleep, tune into the ship's bridge-camera channel for real-time videos of the front (or bow) of the boat. The screen will act like a virtual porthole, and you'll rise and shine with the sunrise.

When I'm planning a trip, I almost always call the hotel concierge before I arrive, and if my hotel doesn't have one, I call a hotel that does. Recently, I asked for advice on what to see since I only had four days in a new city. I told the concierge what I thought I should try to do, and she said I had too many things packed into four days. She gave me a list of hot spots to visit and places to avoid, and even recommended a florist to call on for fresh flowers. With her help, my trip was far more enjoyable than it would have been otherwise.

A beach ball can replace many expensive in-flight gadgets. Depending on how much you inflate it, the ball can function as a very comfortable footrest, a back support, or a lap pillow to support your book.

Driving around Italy last summer, my husband and I found that even the most detailed maps left us scratching our heads in confusion. Desperate and lost, we decided to follow a tour bus. Guess what? It got us exactly where we wanted to go.

Carry a Polaroid camera when traveling to developing countries. In Cambodia, several village children gathered around us, posed enthusiastically for pictures, and were fascinated by their images in our digital camera. We wanted to send them the pictures, but they were unable to tell us their address. Polaroids would have solved the problem!

Ziploc now makes extra-large bags with handles. They're nearly two feet by two feet, and although Ziploc advertises them as being good for storage, they're also useful for traveling. Bring one on long shopping excursions and then use it as an extra carry-on for souvenirs on the way home.

I reverse the batteries in my portable CD player before packing it in my suitcase or backpack, in case it's accidentally turned on when my bag is jostled. I came up with the idea after arriving at my destination to find that the brand-new batteries I'd put into my Walkman were dead.

Our bags have been stolen twice from inside locked rental cars. Now we travel with a bicycle cable and lock. If we absolutely have to leave our suitcases in the car, I hook them together by the handles and attach the whole thing to the frame of a seat or a secure item in the trunk. Even if thieves manage to get into our car, the cable will make it very difficult for them to make off with the luggage.

On a trip to Molokai, the plane we were on was small, and luggage was crammed in every which way. At baggage claim, we noticed that someone had packed a bottle of Pine-Sol, and it had broken and leaked everywhere. Now we line our suitcases with garbage bags to protect our clothes—just in case. (It's also smart in case your bag gets left on the tarmac in a downpour.)

I always bring a small flashlight to hotels in case there's a blackout. The building may not be equipped with emergency lighting, and, if necessary, my flashlight will help me quickly locate the nearest exit.

When my husband and I travel with our children, our luggage is weighed down by diapers, formula, and other necessities. To save space and hassle, we now ship ahead most of those items to our hotel. We also came across a Web site called babiestravellite.com, where we can order supplies and have them shipped anywhere in the world.

On my first trip to Cancun, I noticed that my hotel room had a damp, musty odor. The next time I went, I brought two plug-in air fresheners: one for the bedroom and one for the bathroom. This helped tremendously. It was a pleasure to walk in and have a fresh-smelling room. Just make sure you have an adapter, if you need one.

Ask your flight attendants for dining, lodging, shopping, and sightseeing advice. Most crews have up to the minute information gleaned from layovers, which they're more than happy to share with passengers. You can count on flight attendants to seek out budget treasures. I know—I've been married to one for more than 21 years!

Instead of packing a complete shaving kit, my husband fills his wide-mouth Nalgene water bottle with items such as razors, spare contact lenses, eyeglasses, toothbrush, and so on. This turned out to be particularly useful on our trip to Costa Rica, where we also took the bottle on our day hikes to volcanoes and the jungle.

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.

I was heading to the hotel ice machine when I noticed that our ice bucket was looking very tired and missing its disposable plastic liner. My solution: the shower cap that we never use anyway. In fact, it actually worked better than the liner bag because the elastic band held it in place around the top of the bucket.

To feed a family of four in a very expensive tropical location like Anguilla or Bermuda (or most other Caribbean locations, for that matter), check to see if your hotel has phone books and look up the local pizza place. Nine times out of ten the pizza purveyors will deliver for free. You'll end up spending no more than $20 on pizza, bread sticks, and soda.

Just before a trip to Spain, I emailed myself a list of addresses of the friends and family I might want to email while away. At a cybercafe, I was able to simply cut and paste the list into the address line of a new message.

Before you head to the airport, make a list of all the items in your checked luggage that would be prohibited in your carry-on. If an item (such as a knife for a picnic) makes its way into your purse or daypack during your travels, it should be accounted for when repacking and put into the checked piece to avoid hassles at airport security.

Save major bucks by going onto eBay and purchasing coupons and gift certificates that others don't want or can't use for lodging, transportation, food, and admissions. I've found great discounts for airline and Amtrak tickets; car rentals; entrance to amusement parks such as SeaWorld, Disney, or Universal Studios; as well as overnights at many hotels. For example, I bought a $30 savings coupon at SeaWorld for only $1. Simply search for your destination and then type in "coupon" or "gift certificate."

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.

When you're shopping for alcohol on any Caribbean island, ask if there's a Kmart nearby. Often the dis- counter is a short distance from the docks where the cruise ships tie up and has an extensive selection at prices lower than the liquor stores on the main drag. While you're there, pick up that extra roll of film or the sunscreen you forgot.