Florida Keys

Put your perfume and cologne bottles inside pairs of rolled-up socks to keep them cushioned during your journey.

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.

Tell me I'm not alone: Almost every time I park my car at the airport, I have trouble finding it when I return. (I even reported my car stolen once after searching for hours, only to discover I was in the wrong lot!) I now use my cell phone to leave myself a message as to where I've parked my car.

If your travels take you to U.S. cities large enough to have museums, zoos, and/or botanical gardens, consider buying a membership in your home city's counterpart. Many have reciprocal privileges with institutions elsewhere. A membership at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo, for example, lets you see the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and zoos in Los Angeles, Des Moines, and Jackson, Mississippi, at no charge.

We were told by an airport security official to tape a business card onto the cover of our laptop. Turns out he has an average of six laptop computers left behind each day! There are so many more procedures now--removing shoes, removing coats--that people forget when they send their laptop through in a separate bin. The official added that it's very difficult to return them because most laptops have passwords that keep the owners' personal information hidden.

If you have to save receipts while traveling, purchase a plastic coupon holder to help you keep track of them (it'll also protect them). Label each section of the coupon holder by category (hotel, rental car, gas, food, etc.) or by day of the week. The coupon holders are compact and easily fit into a laptop case, purse, or travel bag.

With two of our last three car rentals, the local branch wanted documentation beyond the standard insurance card issued by our insurance company. In San Juan, we were delayed a half hour while the agent made phone calls to verify that our liability insurance was good in Puerto Rico. In Miami, if we hadn't provided proof that our insurance covered rental cars, we would've been charged a daily collision insurance fee. Fortunately, we knew ahead of time and took a copy of the pertinent section of our policy. Our credit card included car rental insurance, but proof of that coverage was also required.

If your vacation spot is a major port of call for cruise ships, plan excursions for the days that the ships aren't docked. Tours will be less crowded, and you'll get to see and do a lot more.

Don't put your magnetic sunglass clip-ons in the same pocket as your mass transit fare cards or hotel key cards. I managed to erase both my subway pass and my hotel key on a recent trip.

If you wait to buy a discount-granting Entertainment Book until around six months before it expires (expiration is usually scheduled for November), you can often buy a $20 to $47 book for as little as $10, plus $5 shipping. Online access to the coupons is sold for $7 a month. These are great for vacations out of town.

Shout Wipes take up very little space in your purse or backpack and are invaluable for treating stains. While traveling on an airplane, I gave one to a most grateful Italian after he spilled wine on his tie. Our friendship extended through customs, and we're now e-mail pals. Great stuff!

Just before I go through airport security, to save time and to avoid leaving something important behind, I collect all loose items--change, money clip, belt buckle, pens--in a large Ziploc bag. I send the bag through the X-ray machine with the rest of my luggage. After picking it up at the other end, I put the things back in place and either toss the bag or keep it for the return trip.

At a theme park, tie a brightly colored scarf to the handle of your stroller before you enter a ride. When you return, you'll be able to quickly pick out your stroller from a sea of look-alikes.

Try getting a discount on your hotel room by offering to pay in cash. A hotel reservationist suggested this approach when I phoned to reserve at a hotel in London. I asked if the hotel could grant a discount based on my AARP or AAA membership, as many hotels do in the United States. Her response was that the only discount she was able to offer was 10 percent if I paid in cash.

Destinationcoupons.com supplies free discount coupons for cities all over the United States and the world. Print them out on your home computer and save on hotels, shows, rental cars, restaurants, and many other activities.

When buying bottled water, look at the bottle cap to see if the seal is still intact. While visiting the Acropolis on a very hot day this summer, I caught a young boy refilling empty water bottles from a tap and recapping them. He was then selling the bottles to thirsty tourists.

If you know you'll be cooking while on vacation, bring along small amounts of the spices you need for your favorite recipes. You'll save by not buying large containers of spices.

Booking condos last minute can yield incredible bargains, and there's a way to maximize savings while minimizing the risk that you won't find a room at all. ("Last minute" generally means a month or less before your stay; seven-day deals usually start on a Saturday.) Buy your plane ticket and book a refundable hotel room you can use in case you can't find that bargain condo. Then, a month or so before your trip, start looking at last-minute sites—lastminutetravel.com, site59.com, etc. If you find a deal, simply get a refund on the hotel room and pay the cancellation fee, if there happens to be one. Using this technique, I found a great beachfront, one-bedroom condo on Maui—and I saved about $300.

Going to a place where you don't speak the language? Take along a picture booklet filled with examples of common food items (chicken, cow, rice, bottled water, coffee, wine, etc.) and use it to find dishes you like—you only have to point to the picture of what you want. We did this during a recent trip to Asia and always had wonderful meals.

If you visit a country where you don't speak the language, pick up a book of your hotel's matches or one of its business cards; they usually have the hotel's name and address printed on them. Then when you're out sightseeing and want to return to your hotel, show the matchbook or card to the cabdriver if he doesn't speak English.

Travel soap dishes--the colorful plastic ones that have hinged lids--stop small, fragile items from getting damaged or lost in your bags. I can easily label and use them again and again and again.

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.

My husband packs Q-tips in a plastic cassette case. It's small and snaps shut, keeping the cotton swabs clean and dry.

When I go on a trip that requires me to accessorize a number of outfits, I buy little Ziploc bags and place the appropriate jewelry/panty hose/scarf inside. Then I punch a hole just big enough to slide the bag over the outfit's hanger. This way, my panty hose stay snag-free and my jewelry never gets misplaced.

I switch from street shoes to flannel-lined moccasins at the airport. It saves time at the security checkpoint, and I'm comfortable during the flight. Once I land, I switch back to my street shoes.

Before leaving for a vacation, I print out all our reservations and directions, and I create a contact sheet for emergencies. Then I gather all the papers together, punch some holes, and place them in a folder that has a middle section for three–holed papers. The side pockets hold brochures, business cards, ticket stubs, receipts, and maps that we collect along the way and want to bring home for our scrapbook.

Internet phone services like Vonage can be programmed to send transcribed voice mails to your email in-box. That way, you can check your home answering machine quickly at an Internet cafe without paying insane roaming fees on your cell. The transcriptions won't always be perfect, but you'll get the gist.

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.

When renting a car, photograph any damage the car may have before leaving the rental agency; a digital camera records the date and time of each picture. On a recent trip to Argentina, I rented a car with extensive paint damage. When I returned the car, the agency attempted to blame me for the scratches. I showed them my photographs, and they rescinded their accusations.

If you plan to travel to a less-developed country, pack an extra suitcase with hand-me-downs of all sizes. Housekeepers and other resort workers make so little money that the clothes are greatly appreciated. On your way home, you can use that empty suitcase for souvenirs.