Art Hotels

Turn off your fridge's icemaker before you leave home. And remember to empty the ice cube bin. The power was out for several days while I was away recently. When I got back, the melted ice had refrozen throughout the freezer compartment. It took forever to clean up.

When traveling with your kids, give each child his or her own small carry-on bag. Fill it with new, surprise treats to occupy the downtime--layovers, long flights, time in hotels--as well as a few familiar items from home. Include a notebook and encourage your child to keep a travel diary.

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.

Whenever my husband and I get new pairs of eyeglasses, we relegate the old ones to our luggage, along with an inexpensive repair kit from the drugstore. If something happens while we're away from home, we can hopefully fix the glasses ourselves. If they're beyond saving, we have the backup pairs to get us through the rest of the trip.

If you go directly from the air-conditioned ship out onto the open-air deck (which is usually warmer and more humid in most cruise destinations), your camera's lens is likely to fog up. Warm the camera with your cabin's hairdryer on a low setting or briefly leave it out on your balcony so it can acclimate to the weather.

Place a coin over the veins on the inside of your wrist (about two finger widths from the base of your palm) and secure it in place with a rubber band or ponytail holder. The gentle pressure of the coin will stimulate nerves that control nausea, just like the motion-sickness bands that are sold at drugstores.

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.

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.

For long overnight flights, pack a dry washcloth in a Ziploc bag in your carry-on. Before landing, ask the flight attendant for a cup of hot (not boiling) water. Carefully pour the water into the Ziploc bag and then wipe your face and hands with the steaming cloth. It's like a portable sauna!

If you're traveling overseas, be sure to check the fine print concerning passports (go online or call the country's embassy). I had three months before my passport expired and found out at the last minute that I needed six months' leeway to enter Tahiti. Luckily, I was able to get a new passport just in time for my vacation.

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.

Even if you're not hungry when the flight attendant comes around with the snack service, take it for later. Although peanuts may not look appetizing at 7 a.m., they will look good later if you have nothing better to eat. And it saves you from picking up something at expensive airport shops.

Place a fabric softener sheet in your suitcase when packing. It'll absorb odors and dampness and keep clothing smelling fresh. It's most beneficial in warm, humid climates and while at sea. I found this quite useful during my twenty-three years in the U.S.Navy.

When planning a vacation, we send away for brochures from major tour operators. They provide hotel and restaurant recommendations and sightseeing itineraries, which we then duplicate on our own. Use this trick to mimic the vacation packages of high-end tour operators for what can turn out to be a fraction of the cost.

We always e-mail our itinerary--including flights, hotels, and confirmation numbers--to ourselves and to family members. If our luggage is lost or our wallets are stolen, all of this essential information is just an Internet café and a few quick clicks away.

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!

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.

If you're traveling solo and want some company for dinner, try the sushi bar at a Japanese restaurant. It's a great place to meet locals. Plus, you'll receive extra attention and special recommendations from the chef.

If I plan to travel to several countries that use different currencies, I pack a few cloth change purses: U.S. dollars go into one, British pounds in another, euros in a third, etc. When I'm sightseeing, I carry only the money I need; the purses that I'm not using are locked away in the hotel safe. I avoid fumbling around in shops and mixing up coins that look alike. Plus,I always know exactly how much cash I have.

For overnight flights, pack a few Oral B Brush-Ups in your carry-on. Before the plane lands, you can "brush" your teeth, leaving you refreshed and ready for the day!

Before I visit poorer countries, I pop into a thrift store and pick up some toys, stuffed animals, and an old suitcase or carryall. I try to avoid toys like Easter bunnies or Santas, which could be offensive, and expensive things that might embarrass parents. The contents of my extra bag bring joy to countless kids who have never had a thing.

If you plan to leave a gratuity for hotel staff, follow our friend Phil's good advice: Give it at the beginning of your vacation, not at the end. He introduces himself to the housekeepers early in the trip and hands them a nice tip. Guess who always has plenty of coffee and fresh towels?

If you even manage to get a cell signal while at sea, your roaming charges will be outrageous. To communicate with your cabinmates, leave Post-it Notes on your door detailing where you'll be throughout the day.

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.

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.

I started saving the heavy-duty plastic wrappers that sheets and curtains come in. Most have zippers or snaps, great to hold everything from toiletries to shoes to wet swimsuits. And I bet airport security must love them because they're see-through.

The magnets you use on a refrigerator will also stick well to most hotel and motel room doors, turning them into makeshift bulletin boards. Post theater tickets, itineraries, reminder notes, and any other useful information, then grab what you need before you leave the room for the day.

After I fell into a stream in Cambodia, my digital camera wouldn't work. Someone suggested leaving the camera in a bag of rice overnight to draw out any condensation. By the next morning, it was dry and working perfectly.

A simple but effective anti-pickpocketing measure is to fasten a safety pin across the opening of the pants pocket on the inside. Leave enough room to pull your wallet out with some effort, but not enough for a quick hand to lift it in a second or two.

As a flight attendant, I'm always amazed by the stuff that people leave behind. Most of it never gets back to its rightful owner because there's no way of knowing who the owner is. To avoid misplacing your property, put things back into your carry-on after using them--never on the floor or in the seat-back pocket. Label important items like books or games with return address labels so they can be sent back to you if found.