20 Travel-Inspiring Photos

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!

Even if you're staying at a standard resort hotel, take advantage of the day passes sold by many all-inclusive resorts (i.e., the right to use their facilities--such as swimming pools and beach chairs--and enjoy their meals for a day). The passes are primarily designed for cruise passengers on day trips but can be obtained by anyone for very little money. For persons staying in a less-expensive, no-frills hotel, it can give you the experience of a larger, more extensive resort for a day or two.

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.

Before I embark on a trip, I cover the dirt of my potted plants with plastic bags after watering them well. (Cut a few slits in the bags and keep plants out of direct sunlight.) The soil will stay damp for about three weeks.

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.

When seeking a cheap airfare, don't forget to consult the Web sites of the major charter tour operators--like Apple Vacations, TNT Vacations, Vacation Express, or SunTrips--which frequently sell air-only tickets in addition to air-and-hotel packages. Doing so helped me slash the cost of round-trip airfare to visit my mother in Las Vegas by well over 50 percent.

In areas where the majority of people don't speak English, head to an Internet café. In our experience, they're full of friendly young people anxious to practice their English.

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.

Before traveling by taxi in foreign (or even domestic) locations, ask a local (perhaps stopping in shops to question the sales staff) what the approximate taxi fare would be to a particular location. They've always been pleased to help me. In this manner, I can avoid paying the inflated tourist rates!

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.

If you're divorced and plan to travel out of the country with your children, check the legal requirements in advance. When I tried to take my kids to Cancun, I learned too late that Mexico requires a notarized letter of consent signed by both parents for minors traveling alone or with one parent or guardian. If the parents are divorced, a copy of the parental custody agreement is allowed instead. The airlines enforce this rule before you get on the plane.

I live in coastal Florida, where the electricity sometimes goes out during violent storms. Before a trip, I place a few ice cubes in a plastic bag and put the bag in the freezer. If the ice has melted and refrozen by the time I get home, I'll know we've had a power outage and that any food left in the refrigerator may be unsafe to consume.

Make a master list of jobs to do around the house before you leave (hold the mail, water the plants, take out the garbage). Keep the list on your computer, print it out, then check off each job as it gets done. You'll be able to go without worrying that you forgot to stop the newspaper.

I enjoy off-peak travel best--rates are cheaper, lines are shorter--but the weather can be iffy. To combat Mother Nature's unpredictability, I always pack a roll or two of black-and-white film. While dreary-day color photos bring only consoling remarks from friends, black-and-white film tends to lend a mystique to gray landscapes and creates some very dramatic Ansel Adams--esque shots.

If you're even slightly tech savvy and have a cell phone that will work overseas, check with your service provider about the cost of text messages. Some carriers offer free incoming text messages, and several Internet search engines (Yahoo, MSN, etc.) will send free text-message "alerts" to your phone while you're away. Prior to your trip, log on and request that weather forecasts and news updates be sent to your number daily. Even if you never use your phone for costly overseas calls, you can receive up-to-the-minute information, in English, about your hometown or cities on your itinerary.

If you're planning to use an ATM abroad, make sure the money you need is in your checking account, because some foreign ATMs don't allow access to savings accounts. And remember to carry your bank's local phone number with you; 800 numbers generally don't work overseas.

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.

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.

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.

Before you buy expensive bottled water from your hotel room minibar, head to the fitness center. You'll be able to fill up an empty bottle at the gym's water cooler or fountain for free, and you don't need to break a sweat.

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.

A small compass is a great travel aid. Aside from the obvious benefits during country drives or hikes, it's extremely helpful in navigating winding city streets and orienting yourself once you exit a subway station.

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."

Some people think that traveler's checks aren't necessary anymore, but they really can be useful in a variety of situations. My ATM card wouldn't work on Easter Island, where most restaurants did not accept credit cards and wanted to be paid in pesos. Luckily, our hotel cashed my traveler's checks and gave me the pesos I needed. On Dominica, my purse was stolen. But because I had traveler's checks stashed away in my luggage, the vacation wasn't ruined. I always travel with what I call the "trusty four": American dollars (lots of ones and fives divided up and hidden in several locations), traveler's checks, an ATM card, and a credit card.

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.

Before you book a room over the phone, peruse the hotel's site for its "Web only" rate. It's often cheaper than the best quote you'll get by calling. Recently, over the phone, I was quoted a daily rate of $129. I booked the same room online for $89.

It's often cheaper to buy a ticket to London and then fly onward within Europe via a regional low cost airline. Last summer, my husband and I bought consolidator tickets to London for $397. From there, we flew EasyJet to Nice for $72. The total cost was $469—much less than flying directly to Nice, plus we enjoyed a stopover in London.

To ensure the studs of pierced and delicate earrings don't get damaged, I put them in a film canister. An added benefit is that they're less likely to be stolen when left in a suitcase or hotel room, because thieves presume there's nothing inside but film.

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!

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.