Great Travel Tips

Things to remember while traveling with a tour group: If you have an international cell phone, you can program the tour director’s and the hotel’s phone numbers. This way you can do your own thing without getting lost. Your tour director is only a phone call away. For example if you were lost and could not communicate with the taxi driver, you can call the hotel and hand the phone to the taxi driver, who could get the directions from someone in the same language. Purchase roll-up vacuum packing bags which have a line of one-way valves that bleed out the air so your clothes now take up about 25 percent of your luggage space. These don't require a vacuum-cleaner hose! This means you can travel with fewer and smaller bags, which is WAY more convenient, or travel with normal bags and have WAY more room for SHOPPING!

Purchase oversized combination luggage locks that can be opened by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) inspectors at airports, so you don't need to unlock your luggage for US air travel. The oversized locks are especially nice because they have a slot for a business card. They can be purchased at www.travelsmith.com for $19.75