Confessions Of... A Time-Share Salesperson

Pack a glue stick for journaling. Rather than bringing home an envelope full of ticket stubs and mementos, you can glue them into your journal as you're traveling. You'll have a better chance of remembering what the ticket was for if you label it right away.

Before traveling to any city, do a search on the Internet of the city name and the word "coupon" ("New Orleans coupon"). You will find many sites offering two-for-one, percentage-off, and dollar-off discounts. On a recent trip to St.Louis, we saved $100 at restaurants and attractions.

When carrying around my small umbrella, I put it in a Ziploc bag. After using it, I can store the umbrella, back inside the Ziploc, in my shoulder bag without getting everything else soaked.

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!

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.

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.

Before my last long flight, I went to librivox.org and chose a bunch of books, short stories, and poems to download to my iPod--for free. The site has both adult and children's books, and the list is growing. All of the titles are in the public domain, and they're read by volunteers, so there's no question of copyright infringement. Even if you don't own an iPod, you can download them to your computer and burn them onto a CD.

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.

I always snap photographs of scenic highway markers, park entrance signs, and the like. These informational photos are put into our album to help identify the many sites that we visited.

My husband and I travel to out-of-the-way towns where rural roads can be hard to navigate. We use a handheld GPS (Global Positioning System) to mark the spot where we're staying, the main highway turnoffs, and, most important, the turns to unmarked side roads. When we're back-tracking and arrive again at confusing intersections, we whip out our GPS and immediately know which route to take home.

When on vacation, I split my cash into envelopes, one per day, so I can keep track of how much I'm spending. If I need to dig into the next day's cash, I'll know that I've overdone it, and if I want to stay on budget, I'll have to cut back the next day. Any money left at the end of the day goes into a separate envelope. I've actually come home with money this way!

My husband and I befriended some locals in Provence by joining them in a game of petanque. It was such a memorable experience that now we brush up on local games each time we plan to travel abroad. We've played dominoes in Spain and bocce in Italy.

If you're on a road trip with young children and you're looking for a place to let them blow off some steam, check out the playgrounds at local elementary schools. They almost always have equipment that your children will love to explore. It will also give everyone in the family a welcome chance to stretch their legs.

If you book a package over the Internet, print out all the details of what's included and take it with you. When a hotel desk clerk in Paris said that the breakfast buffet we had enjoyed for the previous seven mornings was not included in our package, I was able to show him the printouts and prove him wrong. He apologized profusely and wiped the breakfast charges from our bill.

When my husband and I visit places like India or Thailand, we pack only one extra change of clothes. When we arrive, we hit a local market and buy local attire--woven shirts, saris, sarongs, etc. Not only does this make packing easier, but we get a better cultural experience and end up with lots of wearable souvenirs!

We like to buy shipboard souvenirs, so we try to choose a ship that's completing its run of an area--that's when merchandise is generally put on sale. Last year, for example, on a sailing in South America, all of the T-shirts, glassware, and rain jackets were 75 percent off.

My husband and I keep the stretchy slipper-socks that some airlines provide. (We've gotten them on Virgin Atlantic in economy class and on almost all airlines in business class.) They're great to use when packing shoes: Just slip each shoe into a sock, and you'll prevent clothes from getting marked up by the soles. As a bonus, you'll have slippers to wear when you're away from home. The socks are machine-washable and can last for many years.

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.

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!)

Treat yourself to a golf-ball foot massage. During a long flight, or afterward in your hotel room, take off your shoes, put a golf ball on the floor, and roll it under your foot. It's a great stress reliever. Practice a bit before you try it on a plane, so that your ball doesn't go rolling down the cabin, tripping up unsuspecting passengers.

Always carry peanut butter. A plastic jar is easy to pack, doesn't need refrigeration, is a great source of protein, and makes a quick, cheap meal when coupled with local bread. (But don't forget to pack a plastic knife for spreading it.)

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.

Give your children a coach's whistle in case they get lost; put it on a ribbon so they can wear it around their neck. The piercing sound may be annoying, but you'll definitely find them quicker!

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.

Bungee cords make versatile travel accessories. They come in handy at the airport for lashing a duffel bag to a wheeled suitcase. They can be hooked together and used as a clothesline for swimsuits, towels, etc. On skiing trips, hook them onto ski boots to create carrying handles. While camping, use them to secure tarps, to suspend a lantern from a nearby tree limb, or to secure items in a canoe. They even hold your pants up if you misplace your belt.

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.

I was booking tickets online for an upcoming flight to Europe from the East Coast. One particularly attractive fare was offered on a U.S. airline as well as on its foreign "partner airline." Same plane, same flight, same base price. But it was more than $100 cheaper per ticket to book with the foreign airline versus the U.S.one. We saved more than $400 for four tickets, but we'll be on the same plane!

Finding healthy breakfast alternatives at an airport can prove difficult. I always travel with an insulated travel mug. Before leaving home I fill it with a high-protein cereal and then request low-fat milk on the flight.

Traveling to non-English-speaking countries can be daunting for people with food allergies. Find someone fluent in the local language to write out what you are allergic to, the seriousness of the allergy (we had a friend include the phrase "this could kill me"), and what to do if you fall ill.

I always have problems locating my rental car in a large parking lot. Now I bring along a brightly colored bandanna and tie it to the antenna.