Travelers' Tales

Water-bottle holsters are good for more than holding water. I own several Water Bottle Totes by Outdoor Research (orgear.com). With their Velcro-like straps, I can fasten them anywher--to my belt, camera strap, fanny pack, purse, or airplane seat. I've used them at various times to carry my camera, binoculars, snacks, umbrella, battery-powered fan, flashlight, sunglasses, a windbreaker, and a rain poncho.

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.

I always pack several tea lights, a small vial of essential oils, and matches. Tea lights, when placed in a water glass for extra safety, banish stale or unpleasant smells in hotel rooms. The essential oils work wonders when a drop is placed on a warm lightbulb.

Want to visit museums with your children without the boredom and tears? Go to the gift shop first and buy postcards of the museum's most famous works. Have your kids treasure hunt for these masterpieces. When you get home the postcards can go right into your trip album.

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.

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.

Though they're often the best deals around, don't assume that packaged vacations always offer the biggest bang for your buck. My wife and I were ready to book an air/hotel package to Maui when we noticed a sale on Aloha Airlines ($280 round trip from Oakland). I added up the total cost of the trip if purchased separately and saved $400 over comparable packages from various tour operators. We used the extra money to stay in a nicer hotel and to rent a convertible!

Priceline was a total pig in a poke for me, so I never used the web site, until I found out about biddingfortravel.com. This helpful Web site gives potential bidders an idea of prices that are being accepted (and declined) on priceline.com for particular dates and properties (or airfares or car rentals). I got the Hyatt Regency Miami for $35 per night because of this!

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.

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.

Read the fine print on your rail pass. You can often use it to save money on other modes of public transportation. With a Scandinavian rail pass, for example, you'll pay less to ride the ferries. In Switzerland, a rail pass can get you free bus rides, as well as complimentary entrance to museums and discounts on funiculars and hotel accommodations.

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.

I travel with a mailing tube in my suitcase because I often buy paintings, drawings, and maps. My souvenirs always arrive home safe and sound. I just leave the mailing tube in my suitcase until the next trip.

Don't save the best for the last day. If you wait until the end of your trip for "must-do" activities, you won't be able to reschedule if something unforeseen happens. I planned a snorkeling excursion for my final day in San Diego, but the waters were too rough, and the trip had to be canceled.

Paper place mats can be useful anywhere there's an outdoor shower. By stepping onto a place mat after a bush shower in Botswana, I managed to keep my feet clean and avoided getting dirt in my clothes.

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.

Don't assume you can save a spot at the pool with your towel. Cruise lines give you one pool towel at the start of the cruise. If you don't have it (or a cleaned trade-in) at the end, you'll get charged. If you let it out of your sight, you run the risk of losing it or having it stolen by a fellow cruiser.

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!

I use an inexpensive, thumb-size USB flash drive to store medical and insurance contacts, confirmation codes, credit card numbers, addresses, and phone numbers. It fits in a secure zip pocket in my travel purse. If I don't have my laptop, I can insert the flash drive in most hotel or Internet café computers. Some USB flash drives password-protect your data, or you can download a free encryption program.

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.

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.

Anyone tired of the same boring postcards that are found at every roadside tourist trap should try shopping for vintage postcards at an antiques shop. They're a great addition to any photo album, as they often show what the local attractions looked like prior to development.

My husband cut an old contact lens case in two and uses the halves to carry his medication when we're traveling. He prefers them to regular pillboxes because lens cases are watertight and compact enough to carry inside a shirt pocket.

Before you leave the United States, photocopy receipts for any expensive items you're taking with you. This way, you won't have to argue with customs on the way home about declaring items you didn't buy abroad. (I'm a photographer, and I always bring expensive cameras on vacations.)

Therm-a-Rest's Compressible Pillow is perfect for the plane. It comes in three sizes, packs smaller and expands bigger than any other pillow, and is machine washable. Whenever I pull mine out of my carry-on, I get jealous stares: People always ask where they can get one. REI sells the pillows for $18 to $25, depending on the size (rei.com).

Batteries for cameras, laptops, cell phones, and other devices can be charged at night in your hotel room. But if you're doing a lot of driving, you might want to buy an inverter to charge them while on the road. Inverters (which plug into the car's cigarette lighter) are small, inexpensive, and can be purchased at auto-supply, variety, or electronics stores.

Before traveling overseas, look at your health insurance card. If it only shows an 800 or 888 number for precertification of hospital admissions, call that number and obtain the local number with an area code. Many 800 numbers can't be dialed from foreign countries. I learned this the hard way during an emergency hospital admission in Switzerland. The delay in reaching my carrier could have been avoided.

When I travel for business, I usually tack on a few extra days to do something active like hike in a nearby national park. I find that by taking two small suitcases instead of a single large one, I stay better organized and less burdened. I keep my business clothes, papers, and laptop in one bag and hiking clothes and gear in another. I leave the suitcase I'm not using at the time in the rental car and easily carry the lightweight case with the equipment and clothes I need into my hotel.

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.

Take along an extra duffel bag for your laundry. As your vacation progresses, throw dirty clothes into the duffel, keeping your suitcase for fresh clothes. At the end of the trip, put a tag on the bag and check it at the airport. This will also give you space in your luggage to bring home souvenirs or new clothes.