What Do I Pack?

Luggage
Luggage
Toiletries
Toiletries
Tips
Tips
Clothing
Clothes
Sundries
Sundries
Misc
Planning
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Planning

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Checklist

Clothes

Toiletries

Moneybelt items

Daypack items

Sundries

Checklist

Clothes

Toiletries

Moneybelt items

Daypack items

Sundries

Packing List

Luggage

Clothes

Toiletries

In Your Moneybelt

In Your Daypack

Sundries

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Packing List

Luggage

Clothes

Toiletries

In your moneybelt

In your daypack

Sundries

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Clothing



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Clothing



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Toiletries

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In your daypack

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Sundries

In your moneybelt

In your daypack

In your bag



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Pants (2 pair)

Take quick-dry travel slacks loaded with secret pockets. Pack convertible pants and you won't need shorts.
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Pants (2 pair)

Take quick-dry travel slacks loaded with secret pockets. I always make at least one a pair convertible pants so I don't need to bring extra shorts.
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Shorts (1 pair)

For hot destinations, pack shorts with pockets—or, even better, convertible pants that can act as shorts or long pants. Toss in a bikini top and the shorts can double as swimsuit bottoms. Note: Many churches won't let you in with bare knees, so always carry a wrap to cover up).
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Shorts (1 pair)

For hot destinations, pack shorts with pockets (bonus: doubles as a swimsuit)—or, even better, convertible pants that can act as shorts or long pants. This is especially handy in countries where the famous churches you want to visit won't let you in with bare knees, (otherwise, you'll end up having to wear a shawl like a skirt to cover up).
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Skirt or dress (1)

The skimpiness at which your respectability will be questioned varies by country, so hedge your bets with something long. Remember: many churches (including major tourist sights like St. Peter's in Rome) will refuse entry to anyone with bare shoulders and/or knees, so a longer dress with sleeves will prove most versatile (or at least carry a shawl for church visiting).
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Underwear (4 pair)

Four pairs will last you indefinitely if you wash them in the sink every few nights (pack quick-dry, not cotton). Alternately, they even make disposable underwear now.
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Underwear (4 pair)

Four pairs will last you indefinitely if you wash them in the sink every few nights (pack quick-dry, not cotton). Alternately, they even make disposable underwear now.
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Bras (4)

Whether you prefer bras or camisoles, make them light and, as with undies, wash them out in the sink every few nights to make 4 pairs last the entire trip.
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Socks (4 pair)

Problem: Performing sink laundry every 3 nights keeps you constantly in clean clothes while still packing light—but thick wool walking socks don't dry well overnight. Solution: wear thin sock liners (3 pair) underneath the woollies (1–2 pair) and wash only the liners.
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Socks (4 pair)

Problem: Performing sink laundry every 3 nights keeps you constantly in clean clothes while still packing light, but thick wool walking socks don't dry well overnight. Solution: wear thin sock liners (3 pair) underneath the woollies (1–2 pair) and wash only the liners.
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T-shirts (3 pair)

Get quick-drying tops, not cotton. Wear under long sleeves so the easily washed T-shirt will soak up all the sweat. Remember: Sleeveless tees and tank tops will keep you out of many major churches and other religious tourist sights, so if you bare your shoulders carry a wrap in your daypack in case you need to cover up.
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T-shirts (3 pair)

Get quick-drying tops, not cotton. Wear under long sleeves so the easily washed T-shirt will soak up all the sweat.
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Long-sleeved shirts (2 pair)

Button-down collared shirts are respectable for all occasions. Travel ones have hidden pockets, built-in sunblock or bug repellent, and quick-dry washability. In summer or warm-weather destinations, substitute one nice short-sleeved shirt (but still take one long one for dressing up, cool nights, buggy evenings, and to cover that sunburn).
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Long-sleeved shirts (2 pair)

Button-down collared shirts are respectable for all occasions. Travel ones have hidden pockets, built-in sunblock or bug repellent, and quick-dry washability. In summer or warm-weather destinations, substitute one nice short-sleeved shirt (but still take one long one for dressing up, cool nights, buggy evenings, and to cover that sunburn).
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Sweater (1)

Carry a thin wool sweater both for warmth and to dress up any outfit. Or you can do a jacket instead.
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Sweater (1)

Carry a thin wool sweater both for warmth and to dress up an outfit. Or you can do a jacket instead.
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Jacket (1)

Warm and dressy. No real need for summer or in hot destinations (though many hot places get markedly cool in the evenings, so a lightweight jacket is always wise).
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Jacket (1)

Warm and dressy. No real need for summer or in hot destinations (though many hot places get markedly cool in the evenings, so a lightweight jacket is always wise).
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Shawl or wrap (1)

For covering your shoulders or improvising a below-the-knee skirt over your shorts when visiting religious tourist sights, many of which have a no-bare-shoulders-or-knees rule (or, in Arab countries, to drape over your hair). I'm serious. The Vatican will not let you in wearing a tank top or short-shorts. Also good for warding off a burn on unexpectedly sun-drenched days. Carry a wrap in your daypack for insurance.
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Long underwear (1 set)

Only for visiting northern countries from late fall to spring. (I broke down one frigid November in Edinburgh and bought some.) Silk long underwear works great, is lightweight, naturally breathable, packs incredibly small, and feels wonderful.
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Long underwear (1 set)

Only for visiting northern countries from late fall to spring. (I broke down one frigid November in Edinburgh and bought some.) Silk long underwear works great, is lightweight, naturally breathable, packs incredibly small, and feels wonderful.
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Good walking shoes (1)

That's walking shoes. No heels, flip-flops, or anything you can’t walk in all day for two weeks. Lace-up shoes are generally better, though slip-on mocs come in handy in Asian and Arab countries (where you are constantly taking shoes off and on). Sturdy hiking sandals are also OK, though a bit too sporty for evenings out and fancy restaurants.
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Good walking shoes (1)

That's walking shoes. No dress shoes, flip-flops, or anything you can’t walk in all day for two weeks. Lace-up shoes are generally better, though slip-on mocs come in handy in Asian and Arab countries (where you are constantly taking shoes off and on). Sturdy hiking sandals are also OK, though a bit too sporty for evenings out and fancy restaurants.
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Hat (1)

Full-brim hats are far, far preferable (and smarter looking) than baseball caps. They are the best sunblock and built-in shade you can buy. The Tilley Hat is the ultimate travel topper, but go with whatever makes you look smashing.
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Belt (1)

Not just for holding up your pants and looking snappy, a travel belt with a hidden zipper along the inside lets you hide some emergency cash and your backup info sheet. (Note that you keep all your crucial items—passport, credit cards, IDs, etc.—in a much larger moneybelt worn under your clothes).
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A bathroom bag

Keep toiletries in a small waterproof bathroom bag. Minimize spillage disasters by storing everything in resealable plastic baggies.

Maximize the tiny space inside a bathroom bag with sample sizes and by decanting shampoo and detergent into small screw-top plastic bottles—bonus: this makes them TSA-safe.
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Toothbrush & toothpaste

Bring a travel toothbrush (or just a snap-on cap for your regular one). Pack just a tiny tube of toothpaste. If you run out, buy a local brand at any grocery store or pharmacy (great souvenir).
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Soap & shampoo

Get travel-sized shampoo (or decant yours into a small bottle) and bring the soap sliver from your bathtub to start. Grab more fun-sized toiletries from hotels as you go.
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Medicine

Pack 'em if you need 'em. All prescriptions should be written in generic, chemical form (not brand name) so foreign pharmacists can refill them and suspicious customs agents can clear them.

Note: For plane rides, pack your meds in your carry-on, not in your checked bag.
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Extra glasses/contacts

Count on losing them, and bring a hard glasses case. Also, bring enough saline solution to last (many parts of the world sell it only in glass bottles).
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Comb/flat brush

I use a brush at home, but downgrade to a flat comb for travel—and still look fabulous.
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Laundry kit

To wash clothes on the go in your bathroom sink, you need travel detergent (biodegradable).

Also handy: a braided clothesline (the twists act as clothespins) and a sink stopper (though I usually just stuff one sock in the drain and then do it last; works well enough).

I also suggest the truly remarkable stain eraserLink (perhaps I'm a slob, but I use it at least once per trip).
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Small towel

A shammy-style camping towel or even small terry cloth towel is a lifesaver when confronted with many country's nonabsorbent, waffle-pressed sheets masquerading as towels.
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Feminine hygiene products

You can buy tampons and pads abroad, but it's wiser to take what you need with you, especially if you’re brand-loyal.
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Condoms

U.S. brands are reliably safe.
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Shaver

Battery-op shaversPartner are the easiest way for travelers to deal with whiskers. Electric razors just add the hassle of dealing with electrical converters and adaptors, and even devoted razorPartner & shaving cream guys can change their habits once they realize how much room and weight they'll save by leaving the Bic and can of shaving cream at home. (Though if you insist on a razor, try a shaving oil or soap instead of foam or gel—much better shave and far less bulky; a few are recommended below.)
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Moneybelts

Picture a fanny pack (Brits: picture a bum bag). Now picture Wiley E. Coyote running over it with a steamroller. That's your moneybelt.

This wearable safe is a flat pouch with a zippered compartment (or two) that holds all your important documents—passport, plane tickets, railpass, traveler’s checks, driver’s license, credit cards, & ATM cards—and anything that would ruin your trip were you to lose it to pickpockets or bad luck.

Zipper it up, buckle it around your waist under your clothes, and no pickpocket will get your goodies.

Wear it properly

There are actually six kinds of moneybelt. Most come in poly or silk. I like silk for comfort and lightweight durability:

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How to wear a moneybelt

Always, always, always wear your moneybelt underneath your clothes, as nature intended.

Sure, they're a pain to get into as you must either reach down your shirt or down the front of your pants every time you want get a restaurant bill, hit the ATM, pay by credit card, or check into a hotel. But keeping this sucker tucked away is the only way it'll work.

It’s not that your stuff is "hidden" this way—every thief knows about Americans and their moneybelts—it's just inaccessible.

I see countless clueless travelers wearing the waist style on top of their pants like the world's flattest fanny pack, or the neck kind bouncing on their belly like a tiny purse. You can even see through the thin nylon fabric to their passport, traveler's checks, and folded up wad of emergency $20s. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Exposed like this, moneybelts actually make your most precious documents even less safe than they would be if you simply stuffed them in your pockets, the tops sticking out, with convenient little loops attached so pickpocket can more easily relieve you of them.

One more hint: On overnight trains (and in hostels and other shared accommodations), head to the bathroom just before bed and restrap the moneybelt around your upper thigh rather than your waist. It's not unheard of for light-fingered thieves to gently unzip your pants to get at your moneybelt—incredibly creepy, but true. This way, at least your valuables are extra secure.

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Guidebooks

Get a couple of good guidebooks. Your guidebook is your pocket-sized friend with all the answers and the best insider's advice, the one item in your pack that can tell you which bus will go to the castle outside town, which hidden bistro has the best local food, and which hotels accept Visa or give discounts to families.

A guidebook can provide the background on that fresco in the cathedral, instructions for using the local subway, and exact prices for triple rooms and prix-fixe menus to help you watch that travel budget. It will direct you to the best shopping, the hottest discos, and the museums most worth your time and money.

People who travel without guidebooks usually regret it and end up buying one on the road (which, with the exception of any locally produced guides, will be imported and hence far more expensive).

Each of the many travel guidebook series out there caters to a specific audience:

Some tips

  • Don't skimp. Buy two or three guidebooks. Get books that balance each other. One may have great hotel and restaurant recommendations, another is packed with background and historical info for sightseeing, a third has all sorts of fun recommendations for things to see and do beyond the touristy stuff.
  • Ignore the price. This is a $30 investment for a $3,000 trip and and it will pay for itself a hundred times over with its money- and time-saving advice. Don't even look at the cover price. I'll tell you right now: the most expensive guidebooks are the $29.95 visually oriented books on glossy paper with lots of pictures. Most hover around $15 to $20—that's peanuts to your vacation expense account.
  • Check publication dates. Guidebooks take 4–6 months or more to research and write, plus another 3–6 months to be edited, printed, and shipped to the store. That means the information in even a fresh-off-the-presses book is likely a year old. Things will have changed—restaurants close, tourist offices move, museums open, bus schedules change, and hotels always, always raise their prices. So cut your guide some slack when it comes to slightly stale info and do yourself a favor and always buy the latest edition. Getting an older guidebook—used or from the library—is just asking for trouble.
  • Frankenstein your guides. I always get several guidebooks to each destination, then ruthlessly rip them up and staple or tape together related sections—say, every book's chapter on Paris—to make my own Frankensteinian guide to each city. This is what I stick in my daypack to carry around town, rather than lugging about a stack of massive books. When I leave town, I either keep the sections as souvenirs, pass them along to a new arrival, or toss them onto the exchange bookshelf at the hotel.
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Phrase books

There are many ways to learn a bit of the local lingo and carry around some means of communicating in a foreign tongue. Use whichever one(s) suits you best and makes things easiest:

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Journal

You won’t remember it all half as well as you imagine unless you take notes. You never know: some people have figured out how to make a decent living from taking copious travel notes and sharing them with the world.
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Pens

With which to write in your journal.
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First aid kit

Many mistakenly pack their first aid kit in their toiletries bag, but it belongs in your daypack where it can do you some good while you're out and about and find you need, say, aspirin or a Band-Aid. Get a premade kit (below), or assemble your own. Make sure your kit contains at least:


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Camera

Bring extra batteries. Tote it in a purse or mild-mannered daypack, not a “steal-me” professional camera bag. I like the new waterproof pocket cameras. As always, my money is where my mouth is: I travel with the first two cameras below (Pentax Optio for pocketablity and waterproofness; Nikon D7000 for best-quality pics).
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Memory cards/film

Memory chips (and film) are very expensive abroad, so bring extras with you. Bring twice as much capacity as you expect to shoot (I travel with 64GB in the camera and another 96GB of backup...and it's barely enough).

If you shoot film, know this: Airport X-rays will fog higher-speed films, so stow the rolls in large, see-through plastic bags for hand inspection.
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Tiny tripod

I've tried lots of pocket tripods, but the amazing GorillaPods from Joby with their bendy, grippy legs are by far the most versatile. Unlike traditional tripods, they don't require an elevated flat surface for you to take the perfect shot. In fact, you can wrap the legs around a convenient pole or tree branch and fire away.

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Tiny flashlight

For exploring ancient tombs, poking around dimly lit churches, reading in bed (so as not to disturb others), and finding stuff in the dark.
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Pocket tissue packs

Invaluable for sudden spills, substitute napkins, bathroom emergencies, signaling surrender, and—if still clean enough—runny noses.
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Cell phone

Take yours abroad only if it's a tri- or quad-band world phone with AT&T or T-Mobile (both of which use the GSM standard in most of the world). Be prepared for outrageous fees.

It might be best (and cheapest) simply to rent a cell phone or get a local one. More on cell phones
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Swiss Army knife

Most useful features: screwdriver/can opener, blade, corkscrew (for picnics), tweezers, scissors, nail file. Sadly, bringing one means you can't travel with only a carry-on, since you'll have to chuck the knife into a checked bag for any plane rides.
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Water bottle

Either carry an environmentally friendly reusable bottle or buy disposable (but refillable!) water bottles as you go. Either way, always carry water to stay hydrated—it helps maintain energy and keeps you from getting sick.

Take it from someone who did drink the water in Mexico and (barely) lived to tell the tale—and who has suffered crypto, giardia, and Norwalk (all of which entail days of torturous diarrheal anguish for the hale and hearty, potential death for the frail). Outside of Europe and USA/Canada (where tap water is reliably safe—except on European trains), avoid waterborne illnesses by:

  1. Sticking to bottled water whenever possible—including for brushing your teeth (be sure the cap's seal is unbroken—some unscrupulous merchants refill empty bottles from the tap; I always order fizzy water so I can tell instantly whether it's truly fresh)
  2. Avoiding ice cubes
  3. Hedging your bets by treating all tap water

You have four options for water treatment offering various levels of protection against three categories of microscopic beasties: protozoa (Giardia, Cryptosporidium), bacteria (e. coli, salmonella, cholera), and viruses (hepatitis A, polio, Norwalk, rotavirus).

  • Bottle with a built-in filter. Filters strain out impurities and catch protozoa (P) and bacteria (B)—but not viruses (V). Fine for even backwoods travel in developed countries (I carry one for camping), but less safe in developing countries where viruses are a concern.
  • Bottle with a built-in purifier. Purifiers are basically a filter (handling P and B) with an added level of chemical cleansing to kill viruses. Most convenient (I carry one for travel abroad). Downside: can do only one bottle at a time.
  • Sterilizer. Little UV wand you stick into any bottle or glass of water and it kills all three types of nasties (P, B, V) in 30 seconds. Easiest method. Downsides: needs batteries; doesn't catch impurities; won't work with really murky water. (I carry one, but also purification tablets as a backup—always afraid that UV lamp might break, though it never has.)
  • Purification tablets. Drop one into your water, wait 30 minutes, and it kills everything (P, B, V)—though you're supposed to wait 4 hours to be sure it gets any crypto. Forget old-school iodine tabs; chlorine dioxide works better and tastes... uh, less awful.
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Sunscreen

Bringing a tan back from your trip is not a sign of a great vacation. It's a sign of nascent skin cancer (and a precursor to wrinkles). Savvy travelers slather on the sunblock every morning.
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Bug spray

Most countries have yet to discover that marvelous modern invention: the window screen. Make sure you apply bug spray where the bugs attack most: ankles and necks.

Insect repellent isn't just a comfort issue, it's a health concern as mosquitoes and ticks can carry disease. Since malaria mosquitoes are out at dusk and dengue fever ones fly during the day, it pays to ward off the little bloodsuckers at all hours. (And not just abroad—dengue fever has cropped up in Florida.)

In addition to spraying your skin, you can treat your clothes with Permethrin, which will turn them into wearable bug repellent (good for at least six weeks and a half dozen washings). Some specialty travel clothes come pretreated with Permethrin (and, as it bonds to the fibers, the effect lasts much longer).

Also handy: After Bite for the itch when, despite your best efforts, you do get bit. (Failing that, Tiger Balm works wonders.)
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Tiny umbrella

Folding travel umbrellas have gotten small enough they practically fit in your pants pocket (and certainly in a side pocket of your daypack).
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Sunglasses

Protect your eyeballs and look cool at the same time. Buy a cheap pair—though make sure they provide both UVA and UVB protection—so you won't be too upset when they get lost or broken.
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Tiny binoculars

Maybe I'm getting old, but increasingly I find binoculars useful for admiring distant frescoes, wildlife, landscapes, popes, opera from the cheap seats, etc.
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Plug adaptors

For charging your digital camera, cell phone, etc. abroad, you will need plug adaptors.

These small hunks of plastic with slotted holes in one end and metal prongs poking out the other are designed to make the plugs on your devices fit into foreign outlet sockets—turning, say, the two flat American prongs into two round European pins, or the UK's trio of skinny slabs, or New Zealand's pair of slanted prongs, etc.

Get as many adaptors as you (and your companion) have travel devices so you can simultaneously charge your camera, mobile phone, laptop, etc. each night (otherwise, it takes forever to round-robin them). I get one set of world adaptors (to be covered in all cases), then add a handful of extras specific to the countries I'm visiting.

Tips on electronics

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Chargers/cables

The bane of the 21st-century traveler is the bird's nest tangle of charging cables for mobile phones, digital cameras, and the lot.

I keep mine tidy by rubber-banding each coiled cord and nestling them (along with my plug adaptors) into a small toiletry bag.

You might also consider bringing a backup power source (essentially a battery pack—pre-charged by solar, outlet, or AAs—that can connect to your devices and juice them even if you're not near an outlet).

Tips on electronics
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Address list

Friends appreciate postcards at the time more than a slide show afterward (and it will make them more eager to check out your Flickr feed or Facebook vacation pics).

Somehow, a physical postcard seems much more heartfelt than having your friends simply skim your status updates or blog entries (plus, you know they'll actually read it).
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Luggage locks

Get enough for every zipper on your bag and daypack. Keep all zippers locked at all times (your bag back in the hotel room, your daypack on your shoulder).

Yes, it's annoying, but you'll get used to unlocking them constantly—and it does wonders to ward off pickpockets and thieves. They prefer unprepared, unaware victims and will avoid those who clearly take precautions.

Make sure the locks are the kind approved for TSA use, which come with a little red "hollow cube" logo: TSA-approved lock symbol. (Baggage screeners can open these with a special key and combination if they feel the need to paw through your dirty undies; locks without the logo they'll just cut off.)
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Sleep sack

A sleep sack is like a super-thin sleeping bag made from a cotton sheet or (my preference, for comfort and teensy size/weight) silk.

You need one only if you'll be staying in hostels (which often require guests to have one), or to line your sleeping bag if you'll be camping (keeps the main bag clean—and warmer by nearly 10°F). 
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Pocket sewing kit

Trust me. Good for popped buttons, ripped clothing, holes in socks or moneybelts, busted zippers, and emergency bag repairs. It needn't be fancy—just the matchbook-sized version some hotels provide in the bathroom, basically 3 feet of thread in each of a six useful colors wrapped around a bit of cardboard, a needle or two, and a few spare buttons—but it does come in handy.
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Duct tape

Duct tapes fixes everything—and nothing says "classy" like worn-out travel gear patched up with silvery strips. Get a tiny roll, or just wrap a foot or two around a pencil.
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Novel/e-reader

A good book is indispensable for long plane rides and train trips. Books about the destination (histories, travel narratives, fiction set wherever you're traveling) are great choices.

E-readers

If you bring an e-reader (iPad, Kindle, NOOK, Sony—I'm platform agnostic) you'll have a library at your fingertips. Just be sure to download what you want to read before leaving home, then turn off data roaming when abroad to avoid high fees (or connect via WiFi, if you have a make and model that supports that). Note that the new Kindles work on GSM networks for free in 100 countries.

Books

If you go old-school and carry actual printed booksbarnes&noble, many hotels have rotating bookshelves where you can trade for a new one when you’re done. Or find a local English-language book shop. Many will buy used booksbarnes&noble or do trades.

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Neck pillow

For the plane. Inflatable kinds pack smaller than memory foam or bean-filled. Some (like me) prefer the all-around-the neck style (for chin support) to the old horseshoe collar style.

An eye mask is useful, too (not just for the plane, but for travel to Arctic/Antarctic latitudes where the sun doesn't really set).

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Noise-canceling headphones

The one seemingly silly travel gadget I actually use (it really does make flying less stressful, even if you don't sleep; also: easier to hear the movie). There are tons of models. I currently rock a JVC HANC250—1/3 the price of Bose; nearly as good.

The cheaper, low-tech route: ear plugs (less effective—and I can't tolerate them in my ears—but they work wonders for some).

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Wallet

Just for carrying the day's spending money.

Keep all important stuff in your moneybelt: credit cards, ATM cards, IDs, most of your cash, travelers' checks, etc.
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Bags & bottles

Sealable bags

Minimize toiletries spillage disasters by storing everything in resealable plastic bags.

Bonus: This also helps with organizing the jumble in your bathroom bag (and that first aid kit in your daypack).

I always carry a few extra Ziplocs; they come in handy (especially for picnic leftovers).

Small bottles

Create your own travel-sized shampoos and such by decanting your liquids into small plastic bottles—bonus, they're all TSA-safe.

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Packing tips

Aside from a gung-ho, healthy attitude, the most important factor that will make or break your trip is your luggage and how you pack it. Pack for ultimate mobility, versatility, and necessity. When in doubt, leave it at home.

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How much to pack

Lay out everything you think you’ll need to take and consider the pile.

Put away any item that’s not really necessary.

Take whatever remains, pack half of it, and leave the other half at home—you won’t need it.

Packing rules:

Trust me, you'll be thankful later when you shoulder your bag easily and zip off to your hotel while the guy who sat next to you on the plane gets a hernia just trying to get his luggage out of the airport.

Also remember: clothes take up the most room in your luggage, so be stingy with what you take. It's easier to do a bit of laundry in your room every few nights than to lug around a ton of stuff.

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Not on the list?

If an item you thought was necessary doesn't appear on this packing list, ask yourself seriously whether it's truly indispensable.

Most likely, you'll get by fine without it—or you can buy it over there if you find you truly need it (hey: foreign toothpaste or a swimsuit bought at some exotic beach makes for a fun souvenir).

Any item you do not take is one item you don't have to lug around and waste your precious travel time dealing with.

Make travel an exercise in simplifying your life.

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Leave space

Always leave room for souvenirs. When I stick to this packing list, I always have a sizeable pocket of space left in my bag—yes, even in a carry-on—for accumulating stuff.

Shopaholics (you know who you are) might want to pay it safe and toss in a nifty duffel that packs into its own little pocket so you can fill it for the trip home.

If your shopping gets out of control and you truly run out of room to pack it all, stop at any post office to ship home any items you've found you didn't need—or just before flying home, mail your dirty laundry to yourself.

This way, you can carry your new purchases instead of entrusting them to foreign postal systems.

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Clothing tips

When you travel you want to wear clothes that don't wrinkle, stain, or rip easily but do dry fast, breathe well, and pack into remarkably small spaces.

Oh, and pockets. Lots and lots of pockets.

Cardinal rules of travel clothes

  1. Nothing white
  2. Nothing that wrinkles
  3. Clothes you can layer
  4. Lots of pockets
  5. Very few

Clothes take up the most space in your luggage, so don’t pack many. Just get used to doing laundry in your room every other night.

Other clothing tips

While you should travel in whatever wardrobe makes you comfortable, dress for the destination. Research local norms and customs and pack accordingly.

In Europe

Europeans dress pretty snappily—not necessarily in the latest Armani suit, but well nonetheless. You’ll probably be happier fitting in, so save the Bermuda shorts and sleeveless T-shirt for that trip to Hawaii.

In Catholic countries

In many famous churches—Rome’s St. Peter’s, for example—there is a strict dress code that forbids shorts, skirts above the knee, and bare shoulders. Pack accordingly.

Women: stuffing a wrap or pashmina in your daypack lets you go sleeveless or bare-kneed, but allows you to cover up when necessary. (A handful of major churches keep tissue-paper shawls on hand to lend—or sell—to unprepared visitors, but don't count on it.)

Men: get used to wearing a shawl, or just keep your shoulders and knees covered at all times.

Convertible pants (men/women) are a terrific compromise—shorts when you want 'em, long pants when you need 'em.

In Muslim countries

Women traveling to most Muslim countries needn't wear a burka, but it will be easier (and more respectful) if you do dress modestly (i.e.: show very little skin; covering your hair, too, is a nice gesture).

In Asian & Muslim countries

For Asian and Muslim countries, hiking sandals or other laceless shoes will be a great time-saver, since you have to remove your shoes to visit mosques, temples, and in some places (say, Thailand) even restaurants.

Pack for 2–3 days & do laundry

Don't pack enough outfits to last the entire trip. Pack for 2–3 days and just do a bit of laundry in the sink every few nights to make the togs last as long as the trip (I've used this same, brief packing list on five-month epic journeys).

Only your immediate traveling companions will know you've been wearing the same outfit for the past three countries. Socks, T-shirts, and underwear—the clothes that ripen quickly—are the easiest items to wash out and dry overnight.

In truth, you can wear the same pair of pants for quite awhile before they begin walking around on their own in search of the Laundromat (a place you should visit for a proper washing of everything every two weeks or so).

Pack for the type of trip

Obviously, your needs will be different for a ski trip to the Alps, a vacation at a Caribbean resort, and a business conference in L.A., but the general tips and packing list here should work well for cultural trips to temperate climes.

For other trips, just add the appropriate specialty items (ski togs; swim trunks and snorkel; suit and tie; whatever).

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Toiletries tips

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Luggage



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Luggage tips

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Main bag

The best all-around luggage choice is—brace yourself—a carry-on-size backpack with a zip-off daypack.

Luggage tips
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Daypack

Carry your daily needs in a small backpack, satchel, shoulder bag, or security purse.

Daypack items Daypack tips
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Daypack tips

Nearly these tips are designed to foil pickpockets and purse-snatchers—or at least make them think twice about going for you. Thieves prefer an easy mark and will steer clear of someone who looks prepared and aware.

For backpacks

For purses & shoulder bags

Shop daypacks

Purse

Carry your daily needs items in a small backpack or security purse (designed with reinforced fabrics and a cable hidden in the strap to foil pickpockets, purse slashers, and purse snatchers).

Purse items Purse tips
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Packing systems

Keeping clothes both organized and less wrinkled is a challenge. I've tried all the methods, and currently use a mix of these:
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Electronics tips

Electronics are a hassle. In a perfect world, you'd travel without them. But in this world, you have to charge the batteries on your digital camera, cell phone, laptop, handheld... Just try to keep as much of it battery-powered as possible.

Passports & paperwork

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What ID to carry

Carry at least one form of photo ID at all times.

For domestic travel, your driver's license or national identity card is fine.

For foreign travel—even to Canada or Mexico—you must have a passport. (It's wise also to carry your driver's license, since you will need it to rent a car or a scooter, and to leave behind as collateral when renting a bike or something.)

Carry all of these vital IDs in your moneybelt—not your wallet. Your wallet is for a day's spending cash. That's all. This way, if you get pickpocketed you haven't lost much.

Leave at home all other superfluous wallet items (employee ID, library card, gas cards, cheese-of-the-month membership card, etc.).

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Passports

A valid passport is the only legal form of identification recognized around the world. Even infants need passports.

Your driver's license ain't gonna cut it abroad (though you will need one to rent a car).

You cannot cross an international border without a passport. Well, OK, since 1997 you can crisscross most of Western Europe without flashing it, but you still need one to get into Europe, plus to go to the UK or Ireland (it's an insular thing), Switzerland (it's a neutrality thing), and most of Eastern Europe (it's a holdover-from-the-Iron-Curtain-days thing).

All the current details on how to apply for a U.S. passport are at travel.state.gov.

If you hail from another country, use embassyworld.com to find the site of your local equivalent to the State Department or Foreign Office to get passport details.

For U.S. citizens

Getting a passport is easy—all it takes is two photos of yourself, some government forms, and $135—but it takes some time to complete the process.

Make sure you start the paperwork at least six to ten weeks in advance of your departure. It'll probably take only 3 or 4 weeks to receive your passport, but don't tempt fate. (There are ways to expedite it, for a fee; see the tips section).

The process involves showing up in person at a Passport Acceptance Facility, which includes many major post offices, some libraries, courthouses, and other government buildings (the list is at travel.state.gov).

You cannot simply apply for a passport by mail anymore.

Passport tips
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Passport tips

Driver's license

Your driver's license is usually sufficient to rent a car anywhere (and is a handy backup form of photo ID—though for travel abroad, the only officially recognized form of ID is a passport).

If you do plan to drive abroad, you may want also to take (although it's not usually required) an International Driver's Permit, valid in 150 countries. This merely translates the data on your license into 11 languages, and it must be used in conjunction with your actual license. It costs $15 from AAA, and you don't even have to be a member.

(If you are a AAA member, while you're there be sure to ask for any free info or maps covering the destinations you're visiting.)

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Travel entry visas

An entry visa is not a credit card. It is an official stamp or piece of paper that allows you into a foreign country.

Some are so automatic you barely realize you got one. Others require more work and advance planning.

The excellent U.S. State Department website travel.state.gov has all the details (non-U.S. citizens can get details from their own Foreign Office sites; find them at embassyworld.com), but in brief:

Automatic arrival visas

For many popular tourist destinations, getting a visa is a quick and painless process. They simply stamp your passport upon arrival, and you are free to stay for 30 or 90 days as a tourist. Sometimes this is considered a visa. Sometimes this is considered to be "visa-free" entry. Either way, you don't have to do anything.

A few countries require you to pay a processing fee upon arrival. Sometimes this is a token amount—$15 for Egypt, $20 for Turkey, $35 for Cambodia. But for some (mostly in South America: Chile, Bolivia) the fee can range up to $140.

(This is actually a "reciprocity fee" charged only to Americans because we charge their citizens the same amount to process a visa to visit the U.S. Only fair, I guess.)

Apply-in-advance visas

A handful of countries require you to apply for, and pay for, a travel visa in advance of visiting.

For the most part, this usually involves only the more exotic places (say, Africa or the Middle East; perhaps the most popular tourist destination in this category is India) or authoritarian regimes (think: China, though not Hong Kong)—but there are a few on the list you might not expect, like Brazil.

The fees for this type of visa also tend to fall into that $140 camp. (Luckily, such paid visas are usually valid for three or five years or the life of the passport, whichever comes first.)

You can usually apply for one at the country's local consulates in your home country, by mail, or using a paid service like RushMyPassport.comRushMyPassport.com.

Other entry requirements

In addition to a passport, and possibly an entry visa, some countries may ask for the following:

• A local address in the country (just have the name/location of your first hotel ready)
• An ongoing plane ticket (proof you're going to leave the country)
• Proof that you have money (credit cards and an ATM card should do)

Exit fees

Some countries charge an exit fee when you fly out. This can range from $20 to $100—and is often cash-only.

Be prepared by reading up on the requirements at travel.state.gov before leaving home.

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Student IDs

The International Student Identity Card (www.isic.org) is the only officially acceptable form of student identification around the world.

It is good for discounts on sightseeing admissions, railpasses, plane tickets, and more. (Whenever you have to pay for something, blurt out "Student?" in a questioning voice with a smile and flash your ISIC. This is the international signal for "Hey, gimme a discount if there is one." )

The card also provides basic health and life insurance and a 24-hour help line. 

If you're no longer a student but are still under 26 you can get an International Youth Identity Card from the same people, which will get you the insurance and some of the discounts (but not student admission prices in museums).

Student resources

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Health insurance

A few health insurance plans (like Blue Cross/Blue Shield) will actually cover hospital expenses abroad—but only at approved hospitals (ask in advance for a list). Otherwise, it might be best to purchase a separate travel health insurance plan.

How much it costs

As a ballpark: Health insurance coverage for a couple in their 40s on a two-week trip costs from $45 to $116.

Where to get it

The quickest, easiest, and most economical way to find travel health insurance is to use the comparison shopping sites:

SquareMouth.com InsureMyTrip.com

You put in your trip details, the site quickly shows you a side-by-side analysis of how much a policy would cost at each of 16 major travel insurers such as Travel Guard.

Medical evacuation insurance

If all you want is the assurance you would be able to get home quickly in the event of a medical emergency, consider signing up for medical evacuation insurance.

These programs are intended mostly for travel to the developing world, where medical establishments may not be quite up to par. However, some people like the comfort of knowing they can get evacuated quickly from anywhere with any medical problem or emergency.

There are several outfits providing medical evacuation insurance starting under $100. Peruse them all; pick the one that best suits your travel needs:

  Medexassist.com iamat.org Medjetassist.com

Trip insurance

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Trip insurance

Travel insurance can cover a variety of things: trip cancellation, lost luggage, medical costs, emergency evacuation, and other travel mishaps. 

How much it costs

Insurance packages usually run 5% to 10% of the total value of your vacation for folks aged 30/35 to 60. In practice, it can can cost as little as $40 to $60 per person.

Where to get it

The quickest, easiest, and most economical way to find travel insurance is to use the comparison shopping sites:

SquareMouth.com InsureMyTrip.com

You put in your trip details, the site quickly shows you a side-by-side analysis of how much a policy would cost at each of 16 major travel insurers such as Travel Guard.

Should you buy trip insurance?

Well, that's up to you and your level of comfort with where you've spent your vacation money. If you do, there are a few things you need to know:

Insurance tips

You may also want to read this section:

Travel health insurance
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Insurance tips

Backup info sheet

The sheet of backup information is the message in a bottle you send to yourself in case you get into trouble and lose all your important travel documents.

Make a photocopy collage that includes the following: 

Also write on this sheet:

Note that most credit cards and such will have a local, non-toll-free number that you can call collect from abroad (since you can't dial 800, 866, 877, or 888 numbers from overseas). Be sure this is the number you get before you leave. If it's not written on the back of the card or somewhere on the card issuer's website, call the toll-free number that is on there, navigate the annoying "push 1 for..." system until you get a live person, and ask. 

Make at least three copies of this backup sheet of paper:


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Travel safety

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Safety tips

Outside of war zones, hot spots, and slums, the world is actually a pretty safe place—certainly, most of the places frequented by tourists are.

Random, violent crime rates are much lower in, say, Europe than in the United States. Murder is rare, and terrorism is more a scary bluff than harsh reality.

I've spent probably a total of nine years living or traveling around the world, and I've had far more instances of feeling distinctly unsafe in the course of everyday life in New York City than I ever have anywhere else (and the only time I've ever been mugged was in my hometown, Philadelphia).

Be smart, be safe, and enjoy yourself. Try to make yourself theft-proof by following the advice below (which may sound scary at first but is really just a list of sensible precautions that quickly become second nature).

Safety tips

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Foiling pickpockets

It's no secret that pickpockets target tourists, especially American and Western European ones. The United States and European nations are rich countries, and thieves know that American and European tourists carry the best cameras, the most money, and the latest, priciest gadgets. 

Be especially careful anywhere that’s crowded: buses, subways, train stations, street markets, exceedingly popular tourist spots.

Also, be especially careful around gypsies (identifiable by their swirl of colorful, if dingy, clothing). Plenty of them are fine people, but the ones who hang around tourist sights are there only to beg (which is fine) or steal (not fine). 

The solution is simple: don’t tempt the thieves. Leave all your jewelry at home, and don’t flash your wallet or valuables. 

When you aren’t using your camera, keep it stowed in a plain bag (a camera bag is a big sign that says to thieves “Yo! Over here. Steal this camera.”). 

If your stuff does get stolen or lost, here's some advice.

3 best ways to keep your stuff safe

Carry a daypack/purse Use a moneybelt Have a backup info sheet More safety tips
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Rip-offs & scams

I actually find that there aren't that many people out there who will try to play you.

Sure, you sometimes draw the dishonest cabbie who slyly sets his flag for out-of-town rates, or a waiter who gives himself an extra tip by padding your bill.

But that can happen anywhere, and I don't find anywhere else in the world to be more crowded with con artists than the United States.

Rule #1: Don't be an easy mark

A con artist or petty thief always looks for the easy mark. You are a foreigner and a tourist, and in their eyes that paints you with a big bull's-eye.

You don’t speak the local lingo, you're probably a bit lost, you may be jet-lagged, you're so busy taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of a new and exciting destination so you're not paying as close attention as you might otherwise. 

Most of all, you simply don't know how things work locally—that there's a little window on the taxi meter that should say "1" and not "2" when you're just getting a ride around downtown; or when a random extra charge for "bread and cover" on the bill is perfectly normal and acceptable (say, in Italy) or is unusual and may be a sign of greedy waiter trying to pull a fast one (say, in England). 

Tips

Common tourist swindles

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Restaurant scams

Oh, waiter! There's a scam in my soup!

The scam is you didn't order the soup. Some shady waiters will pad bills with:

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Touts

Everywhere you go you will be pestered by touts—people who approach you trying to sell a good or service. They flock around tourist sights and especially points of entry (airports, train stations, bus terminals, and ferry docks).

Touts are extremely annoying, and they increase exponentially once you venture beyond North America, Europe, or Oceania.

A few are actually legit, but even most of those represent tourist businesses too crummy to drum up business any other way. The louder or more insistent they are, the less likely they are to be running a legitimate business.

Luckily, touts are the easiest scam to see coming—and the easiest to avoid: just ignore them.

Don't talk to them at all—not even to say "No, thank you." That only encourages them.

Also, avoid eye contact.

The less you engage, the sooner they will stop trying to get past your stony wall of silence and circle back to try flogging their wares or services on the next tourist. Just push past them firmly and get on with your vacation.

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Money-changer scam

The walking, talking ATM and his light fingers are actually two scams rolled into one—or, technically, a scam wrapped in a pickpocketing.

The scam

A stranger offers to help you change money. Alarm bells should go off immediately. 

While in some countries, buying currency on the gray market like this can work in your favor (but you have to know what you're doing), those countries are no longer found in the developed world.

No dude on the street can give you a honest rate that's better than what you'd get at a bank. Besides, this is one major way local criminals dispose of counterfeit bills. Just say no.

OK, say you skipped that last paragraph and fell for the scam anyway—we'll even give you a lame excuse for it (it's 3am, you just got off the train in a new country, you have nothing but some emergency dollars, everything is closed, the ATM in the station isn't working, and the only hotel still open in town demands cash up front. Congratulations: you have just repeated my first night in Krakow in 1994).

So you dabble with the dude and his gray-market money.

He is a warm and friendly guy, your money-changing savior, and after the deal is concluded, he goes all Mediterranean on you, exclaiming, "You are my new American friend!" And he wraps you in a big bear hug to say good-bye.

You stand there, bemused by his effusiveness, and he walks away with a wave and a smile. 

Congratulations, he switched gears from con artist to pickpocket and just stole back the money he gave you, plus whatever else was in your wallet.

Now, not every gray-market money changer throws a wallet-lift onto the end of the shady transaction, but since you avoided step 1 to begin with (the scam) you luckily never have to find out which kind he is.

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Monetary confusion scam

"Hey buddy, you got change for 50,000?"

The euro has helped with this, but there are still many countries in the world where pocket change is counted in increments of a thousand. In these places especially, many unscrupulous types try to catch new arrivals by confusing them with all those zeros, giving change for 5,000 when you paid with a 50,000 bill. 

They may even try this in a country that uses euros because, until you get the hang of the currency, a 10 and a 100 might look pretty similar (in that neither looks instantly familiar), and unless you take a sec to see which one you're taking out of your wallet, a slick con artist might glibly insist you gave him one with fewer zeros on it (he'll even show you "your bill," which is, of course, one he keeps in reserve for just such a sleight-of-hand scam). 

Until you get used to the money, examine each bill before you hand it over, and make a show of doing so.

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Meterless taxi scam

If the taxi has a "broken meter," your feet were made for walkin'.

Gypsy cabs and other unofficial taxis are usually rip-offs, and always illegal.

As in the U.S., most cities require that true cabbies and car services get a license and their vehicle a "medallion" number and a meter to keep track of your fare.

Ones that don’t have this are usually run by some branch of the local underworld, and they can also charge whatever they think you'll pay, since there's no meter.

That said, many cities do have an official flat rate for trips to and from the airport, in which case the meter might not be turned on. As always, check your guidebook (or the local airport or tourism authority website) for local norms.

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Broken taxi meter scam

Taxi drivers—even legal ones with meters—will sometimes try to get a fat, unintended tip out of you.

If the meter is not on, insist that it be turned on. Make sure it corresponds to whatever per-kilometer/per-minute rates are posted (most taxis post rates). 

In developed countries

In most developed countries, the initial "flag-fall" charge plus a per-kilometer amount (or charge for time stuck in traffic) is standard.

However, if you're taking a long trip—say, to the airport—taxis will often charge a flat fee, and this is legit. 

Before you leave, check what this flat rate should be at the airport's own website—or, failing that, with the local tourist office, hotel desk, or your guidebook.

In developing countries

In many developing countries, no matter where you're going, you almost always haggle a flat rate before getting in the cab.

Again, check your guidebook for the local norms.

Charges beyond the actual fare

The following small, extra charges (never more than $1 to $3) are usually legitimate:

  • Charge per bag in the trunk.
  • Charge for travel on a Sunday or national holiday.
  • Surcharge for trips to/from the airport.
  • Flat-fee charge if you called ahead for the cab (the flag drops when they get the call, not when you get in the car).
  • Charge for trips after-hours (usually roughly after 10pm or midnight and before 5 or 7am).
  • Tolls.

If none of those conditions applies, question any "extra" fee the taxi driver tries to foist off on you.

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Kickbacks & commissions

When your friendly escort on a guided bus tour recommends the “best shop” for buying local crafts or souvenirs, nine times out of ten she’s getting a healthy kickback from that store and the prices are heavily inflated. 

(In defense of tour guides, this is one of the only methods for them to eke out a living, as they are notoriously underpaid—in part because companies unofficially expect them to take advantage of this option as an unlisted perk.) 

Do your shopping on your own time, and get your recommendations from a guidebook or the hotel desk.

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Hotel rip-offs

OK, these are technically not scams. They're rip-offs. These nasty, money-grubbing tricks that hotels pull are actually legal—but there's still no reason to fall for them.

Avoid if at all possible:

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The minibar

Avoid using the hotel minibar.

$10 for a can of Coca-cola? $8 for a miniature can of Pringles? Yep, that about sums it up.

The minibar has been minting money for the hotel industry since the early 1980s. (If you're looking for someone to blame, the hotel minibar was supposedly invented at the Westin Ottawa.)

Seriously folks, just say no. Simply push aside the overpriced peanuts and $7 bottle of tap water (not kidding) so you can use the minibar as a minifridge for the couple of sodas or beers you grabbed at the local grocery store and to store your picnic purchases.

But, for heaven's sake, just leave the teensy bottles of liquor alone.

Beware the false minibar charge

Scrutinize your hotel bill and ask about any incremental charge that is anything other than the amount you agreed to pay multiplied by the number of nights stayed. Frequently, I'll find a phone or minibar charge on there that I did nothing to provoke.

I believe in the goodness of human nature, so I usually chalk this up to a computer error, but still, you must point it out and have it expunged.

The most common of these false charges is for something from the minibar, and there's usually a good explanation (well, not good, but explicable): the maid.

No, she wasn't guzzling your teensy bottles of vodka on the job. But many hotels use a shortcut to determine whether you've used the minibar—they have the maid jot down every empty bottle, can, or snack packaging she sees in your trash can, and assume you got it from that tiny fridge under the TV and just "forgot" to tick it off on the honor sheet price list posted inside.

Why these hotels can't see the gaping flaw in this logic (that I might have bought that can of soda while out and just happened to finish it—and toss the empty—in my room) is beyond me, but there you go.

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Hotel phones

Avoid using the hotel phone.

This one's simple: hotels charge obscenely high telephone rates—we're talking markups anywhere from 150% to 400%—especially on long-distance calls.

As usual, the more expensive the establishment, the higher the markup (often, modest little cheap hotels will charge only the same price as a pay phone, which is very stand-upish of them).

Many hotels will even charge you for what should be a toll-free local call so you can use your calling card! Their totally indefensible excuse for this bit of thievery is that you are tying up one of their outgoing lines and so should be charged for the usage, when really they're just miffed that they're missing out on the chance to gouge you big-time for an overseas call.

I have a simple rule: just pretend that hotel phone doesn't exist and use pay phones, cell phones, and  Skype instead.

The most I'll use a hotel telephone for is to receive a wake-up call from the front desk.

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Hotel laundry service

Avoid using the hotel laundry service.

This is the biggest rip-off at the hotel. Oh, sure, the phone charges are the most insidious—the phone is one of life's daily necessities, plus unlike with minibar or laundry, they don't warn you with a price list first—but in terms of sheer overcharging for services rendered, the laundry just might be the worst.

How much a hotel laundry service overcharges

I jotted down a few prices from the laundry charges sheet at a mid-range hotel in Italy:

And that's just to wash them. They'd come back to you still sopping wet.

Let's assume you follow this packing list, and that you are going to wear one set of clothes while washing the rest—and that you won't bother washing the jacket or sweater. Washing a single load of travel laundry would cost about $31.70.

Heck, in a Queens Laundromat it only costs me $1.25 for the washer (plus $1 for the dryer).

How to avoid the high cost of having the hotel do your laundry

Some cheaper, friendlier hotels will do your laundry for a nominal fee equivalent to local Laundromats, but most overcharge as above. The solution? Two choices.

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Hotel breakfasts

Avoid hotel breakfasts (unless unavoidably included in the rates)

A hotel breakfast usually costs anywhere from $5 to $35 per person, so if you have the option of opting out and getting some of that amount knocked off your hotel bill, you should do so.

Except in B&Bs, some farm stays, or a Scandinavian smorgasbord (at all of which breakfast may be included and is often phenomenal), breakfast normally consists of croissants and/or rolls, maybe some packaged jams, coffee or tea. Sometimes, there's juice.

You can get the same "hotel breakfast" from the corner cafe for $5 or less—plus you get to rub elbows with locals on their way to work rather than share a hotel breakfast in a room filled with other tourists.

Only on very rare occasions and in the very cheapest hotels do they charge you as little for breakfast as the local cafe would.

Yes, some hotels lay on a much more impressive spread—slices of ham, cheese, teensy boxes of cold cereal, even hot prepared foods like eggs and grilled breakfast meats—but even that is truly not worth the added expense. Skip it, hit the local cafe, and get on with your day more quickly and, dare I say, more authentically.

(This rule doesn't apply at beach resorts, which are often little self-contained islands of commerce with no local options readily available.)

However, if your hotel insists that breakfast is included in the rate and you cannot opt out, then you have my permission to bring your daypack down to breakfast with you and (discreetly) load it up with enough extra food to make at least a decent midmorning snack if not a light picnic lunch out of it.

After all, the hotel did insist, and you are paying through the nose for it. Just don't be obvious about it; for some reason, they seem to frown upon this act of nonviolent protest.

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Hotel parking

Avoid parking in the hotel garage

OK, that'll be $70 for your room, plus $40 a day for parking... Sound familiar? All of a sudden, you're looking at a triple-digit daily charge just for you and your wheels to spend the night.

With rare expectations, hotel parking (whether on-site or in a local garage) costs far more than the municipal garage or lot. I've actually run into places charging up to $60 a night just for the car!

The catch, of course, is that if you do pick the public garage/lot, you have to then shuttle yourself between the hotel and said lot—and the most reasonable lots (ones costing under $20 for 24 hours) are usually on the edges of town.

This might actually be a blessing in disguise, though. Most cities have crazy traffic, arcane driving rules, narrow streets, and a mind-bogglingly large percentage of one-way or pedestrian-only roads.

This makes a good argument for not even trying to drive into the heart of town and instead parking in an outskirts garage and taking public transportation in.

Contact the tourist office or look in your guidebook to find out the going rate at the city garage, and then ask your hotel what their charge would be, as well as whether it's on-site (garage, lot, or just a few spaces on the streets around the hotel) and DIY, or if it's nearby and requires a valet (and, if so, how much that service costs).

Another tip: if it is on-street parking (the case with many smaller, cheaper hotels), make sure you tell them you have a car when checking in and exactly where you parked it. The desk clerk will know whether you're in a legal space, and whether he needs to give you a special temporary "resident" parking disc so you can run down and stick on your dashboard before getting ticketed.

Back to garages: long experience—and much driving frustration—has taught me that, unless you're carefully scrimping on every penny, if the hotel's parking only costs up to about $10 more than the municipal lot, it's worth it if only to relieve yourself of the hassle.

If the difference is significantly more than that (which it often is), it's up to your take on how much extra time versus money you have to spend, and how willing you are to get (ahem) taken for a ride on the parking fee.

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Hotel taxes

Make sure all taxes are included in the room price you are quoted.

Always ask if taxes are included in the hotel rate quote. This is significant since taxes and local "occupancy fees" (another word for taxes) can add anywhere from 4% to 20% to your room rate.

Note that, in much of Europe, this is not an issue as the country's VAT—the Value Added Tax, sort of like a national sales tax—is automatically folded into the sticker price.

However, there are a few countries where they might set the room rates before taxes and then tack on the extra when it comes time to pay the bill. The U.S.A. is one.

There's nothing illegal about this at all, just a bit sneaky. As with so many other hidden or inflated charges, cheaper hotels will often include taxes in their quoted rates, while ludicrously overpriced hotels will try to hide it in the fine print and spring it on you when you check out.

Where you'll find hotel taxes

In addition to the U.S., look out for added hotel taxes in Spain (7%) and France (it varies depending on the hotel's star rating), as in both countries it's fairly standard to quote hotel prices without taxes.

In 2011, Italy's major cities started charging taxes as well. This varies based on the hotel rating and other factors, and differs in Rome, Venice, and Florence, but in general is no more than €1 to €5 per person per night. These Italian taxes are so new hotels have yet to settle on a way to present them, so some fold them into the rates, other break them out and charge separately. Just be prepared.

It happens much less frequently, but with rather more dramatic results, in the UK (where the tax is a whopping 20%) and the more expensive properties in the Czech Republic (where you may find a 22% headache waiting for you at the end of your stay).

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Losing things

How to lose things—passports, credit cards, and other important items—without it ruining your vacation

Rule #1: Keep all your important stuff in your moneybelt (including your passport, credit cards, ATM cards, IDs, and the bulk of your cash). This will make you pickpocket-proof.

Losing your passport Losing credit cards & Traveler’s checks Losing anything else

3 best ways to keep your stuff safe

Carry your daypack/purse Use a moneybelt Have a backup info sheet More safety tips
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Losing passports

If you lose your passport, go immediately to the nearest consulate for your home country (find them at: Embassyworld.com; shortcut for Americans: USembassy.gov).

Do not cross an international border, do not collect €200. Without a passport, you are a nonentity. You need a replacement posthaste.

Take along your backup info sheet with its photocopy of the information page of your missing passport (that would be the two pages facing each other with your picture and vital information; don’t bother photocopying the cover).

Also take two passport-size photos and any other form of identification you still have with you.

It will take time to process it all and issue you a new passport, so get ready to shack up in town and wait.

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Losing credit cards

What to do if you lose a credit card, bank card, or traveler’s checks

Divide and conquer

When traveling with others, divvy up your credit cards so that each person in the group is carrying at least one card belonging to someone else. That way, if you lose all the cards you have on you, you still have a backup card (assuming your traveling companion is willing to give it back to you).

Backup info sheet to the rescue

On your backup info sheet, you should have the phone numbers to call to report stolen or lost cards for all your credit cards and bank cards, as well as the numbers for each of your traveler’s checks.

Since you were careful to keep this list separate from the cards and checks themselves, you are in pretty good shape.

Should your cards or checks get lost or stolen, contact the issuing bank(s) immediately. In case you forgot to write down the emergency numbers, here’s a cheat sheet (though double-check these numbers first): 

  • Citi Visa: 800/950-5114 (outside the U.S., call collect 1-605-335-2222).
  • Bank of America Visa: 800/732-9194 (outside the U.S., call collect 1-757-677-4701).
  • Captial One Visa: 800/955-7070 (outside the U.S., call collect 1-804-934-2001)
  • American Express (credit cards or traveler’s checks): Call collect 1-801-864-6665.
  • MasterCard: Call collect 1-314-542-7111 (or call in the U.S. 800/307-7309 to get their local toll-free numbers in the countries you'll be visiting).

Don't jump the gun

Of course, reporting cards as stolen means that if they turn up two hours later at the bottom of your bag, there’s not much you can do about reactivating your accounts until after you get home.

Although in the case of genuine card theft, every second counts in reporting the loss in order to cut the thief off at the pass.

It might be prudent to find a phone and quickly contact the last hotel, restaurant, or other place you may have left your wallet or purse.

If this doesn't produce a lucky break, hang up, call the credit card company, and get ready to play Creative Vacation Financing as you continue your trip without the aid of plastic.

Most credit card issuers delete your old account number and create a new one to transfer your account into, which means you need to get new cards. Cards you can only pick up, of course, once you're back at home.

Traveler’s checks to the rescue

Losing your credit and ATM cards on vacation is when, as American Express commercials have been trumpeting for years, carrying good old-fashioned traveler’s checks can save the trip. If you lose the traveler’s checks you can get them rather speedily replaced in any big city.

Just remember to write down the identification number of each traveler’s check as you cash it or use it. When you’re in your hotel room each night, take out your backup info sheet with its master list of numbers and cross off the ones you have used. (If the balance of checks gets stolen at some point, you need to be able to report exactly which ones are gone so they can be replaced.)

Wiring money

In the end, if you're left destitute, you can also have a friend wire you money using:

Western Union MoneyGram Xoom
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Losing anything else

"Losing anything else" means losing anything besides your monetary means and important documents. That’s because these are the only things to be concerned about. The loss of any other item (clothing, toiletries, whatever) will be annoying but not insurmountable.

Even if you lost something incredibly valuable, like the heirloom jewelry you inherited from Great Aunt...

Wait a minute. That’s right. You never, ever pack pointless valuables to take on vacation. Never. That way, there's no way you can lose them. Case solved.

Tip: When packing, divide up everybody's stuff among all the suitcases you have so that each person is carrying a bit of everybody's clothes, toiletries, guidebooks, credit cards, etc. (and always keep all medicines in your carry-on). That way, if one bag gets lost, you still have something left for everyone.

Look at it this way: if you lose all your luggage, you’ll just have to come home looking like a local, having refit your wardrobe at flea markets and department stores. (This happened when my family moved to Rome and all our stuff was stuck in Brooklyn for months due to a longshoreman's strike.)

Or, view this as the perfect excuse to hit the high-fashion outlets, as Chevy Chase and family did in European Vacation.

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Train safety

Sleeping on overnight trains is a relatively safe endeavor, but take a few sensible precautions to avoid pickpockets and thieves and to sleep more soundly.

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Drugs & prostitution

Sorry if this section seems like a letdown, but it is not about where to find drugs or prostitutes. If it were, I could just type the word "Amsterdam" and be done with it.

No, I'm here to warn you that drugs and prostitution are illegal just about everywhere (and very strictly controlled even in Amsterdam).

It’s just not a good idea to mess around with either in the first place. I'm not making moral judgments, here. I'm just thinking about AIDS and some serious jail time in countries where the accused don't enjoy the same protections offered by the Constitution and our nation's relatively warm and fuzzy legal and incarceration systems.

If you do get arrested, especially for carrying drugs (and especially if you do so across national borders), there’s little your local consulate can do (or even wants to do) other than provide you with a list of local lawyers who speak English.

The best your family or lawyer from back home can do is send you a care package every once in awhile and, if you're lucky, get permission to visit you in prison.

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Women's safety issues

Travel is as easy for women as it is for men. You may get aggressively complimented, whistled at, pinched, prodded, or propositioned, but you’re as physically safe in most tourist destinations as you are at home.

All women should take precautions and play it safe, but even solo women should have few problems traveling alone, although it certainly helps and is safer to have a companion (of either gender).

Women are targets

Women’s lib notwithstanding, women seen without men are targeted more often by thieves, so be extra careful. 

Many men—particularly Mediterranean and Latin men—act like peacocks around women, parading around to win admiration. When this behavior is not overly annoying, it can be quite comical. 

A single woman, or a group made up solely of women, will get approached far more often than a man or mixed group.

Look on the bright side.  This can be a great opportunity to make friends, get instant language lessons, or flirt. It can also be an enormous nuisance.

Just pick when you feel it’s safe and you’re in the mood to be friendly, and when you should firmly ignore all those men falling over one another to be helpful, charming, and gallant. 

Of course, it always pays to play it safe.

Tips to stay safe

Here is how to avoid unwanted attention and generally stay safe on the road.

  • Stick to populated streets after dark, and know where the bad neighborhoods are.
  • Dress modestly to avoid unwanted attention, and wear dark shades to avoid eye contact (direct eye contact seems to translate as “come molest me” in some countries).
  • Stride confidently and purposefully down the street, oversized "leave me alone" sunglasses firmly in place. (Imagining you're Audrey Hepburn helps.)
  • Ignore any comments, catcalls, or wolf whistles, refuse to engage the harassers in so much as eye contact, and firmly fend off all courtiers. 
  • On trains, sit with other women or families. Avoid empty train compartments because then your companions can choose you instead of the other way around. Instead, find a couchette with five nuns and one empty seat and ask if you can join them. 
  • Yes, some creepy Mediterranean men pinch bottoms and (ahem) rub inappropriate body parts against women, usually in crowded places, and can make the most surprising and sometimes raunchy propositions. Try to ignore them.
  • If you find yourself molested on a city bus or other crowded place, tell the transgressor firmly “No!” and “Alt!” (international-ese for “stop”) and proceed to pinch, scratch, elbow, kick, punch, and so forth to further discourage him. Also, enlist the aid of a nearby local woman to noisily chastise the offending would-be Romeo and perhaps whap him with her purse.
  • Employ the imaginary husband. Creeps are less likely to hassle a married woman. Solo women might want to travel with a fictional husband (he works even if you’ve got a spare one at home who happens to be real). This faux hubby is always just around the corner where you’re going to meet him in five minutes, he's built like Mr. Universe, is definitely the jealous type, and best of all, he always leaves the toilet seat down. Even if you haven’t actually tied the knot, you might want to wear a fake wedding band to ward off the more assiduous admirers. One step up from the imaginary hubby: Puff out your belly and keep absently patting it in the universal "I'm pregnant" manner.

Now that all of that has been said: You should feel perfectly safe, even in big cities, even at night. Many women report feeling much safer in Rome or Paris than they ever do at home, and they even feel fine walking through deserted streets in the middle of the night all alone.

Stereotypes about Americans

Unfortunately, Hollywood films have provided many men out there with the impression that all American women are easy—blondes doubly so. 

Also, many countries have a more rigid, formal, “traditional” society than in America. The fact that American women are used to being more independent, straightforward, and openly friendly than their local counterparts has the unfortunate side effect of reinforcing that Hollywood sexpot image in which every American engages in a sex scene by the end of the second act.

The practical upshot: American women are seen as fair and likely game. 

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Travel warnings

A word about U.S. State Department travel warnings (travel.state.gov).

These fear-mongering documents pop up all the time, and if you read enough of them it will make any country sound like a certain death trap of infectious diseases, venomous animals, radical terrorist groups, and dangerously unstable governments and economies. And that’s just Belgium!

Just kidding. But remember when reading these warnings that well over half of the hazards they list—such as hepatitis, Lyme disease, poisonous snakes and spiders, radical militia groups, or terrorist attacks—are threats or phenomena we already face here at home in the U.S.A., so a place like France is not half as dangerous as these documents can make it sound.

Get a second (and third) opinion

Here are where some of the major English-speaking nations keep their official lists of disapproved countries and travel warnings—not just the U.S., which uses travel advisories as part of a larger antiterrorism propaganda machine, but those of other, sometimes more levelheaded nations.

Whatever you do, don't stay at home

I reiterate what I've said elsewhere: September 11 happened in the United States, not in some far-off and foreign land. It happened in New York, in Washington, D.C., and in a field in Pennsylvania.

Staying home is not the answer to avoiding terrorists.

The only way anyone in this world will learn to stop hating those who are different is by meeting people from other cultures, learning who they are, and putting a human face to every race.

That's a big part of what travel is about. You learn about them. They learn about you. Barriers are broken down and friendships are formed.

As the great Mark Twain wrote in his first book, Innocents Abroad—which, I might point out, is a travelogue:

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.

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Travel & terrorism

Why I am not afraid

September 11, 2001, changed everything, but when it comes to air travel one thing truly remains the same, no matter how hard it is to believe or to wrap your mind around: The odds are still astronomically against a terrorist smuggling a bomb onto your plane—or turning your plane into a missile—let alone lurking behind you on the Champs-Elysées.

As Oklahoma City and September 11 have shown us, terrorism is a random act that can happen to anyone, anywhere. That’s what makes it so scary: it doesn’t matter whether you’re in the American heartland, New York City, Rome, Tokyo, or Tel Aviv.

Frankly, I worry more about traffic and handgun fatalities at home than I do about terrorism abroad—and the statistics support it:

None of that is cheery news (particularly that asteroid bit), but it does help put things in perspective.

Just about the only thing you personally can do to ward off terrorism is to do your best not to stand out as a “rich American” (if you’re anywhere above the poverty line, you’re rich by world standards). We capitalists often make great targets for terrorists trying to make a political statement.

What about air safety?

Yes, would-be shoe bombers and underwear bombers are as frightening as they are faintly ridiculous—but you'll notice both those guys failed. The odds detailed above point out how astronomically unlikely it is your plane will be the target of any terrorist attack.

There are, at worst, only one in three million airline fatalities per year. That includes bombs, mechanical failure, terrorism, acts of God, and human error combined—and it includes the tiny private planes and marginal airlines that account for the vast majority of crashes.

If you limit the statistics to the major airlines and large passenger jets with which you’ll actually be flying, the risk numbers jump to something highly unlikely like one in six million (some reports peg it as high as one in 12 million). And that data includes September 11.

Statistically, you’re much, much, much safer in the air and traveling abroad than you are driving to work. The one-year odds of an American dying in an automobile accident are 1 in 6,500. The lifetime odds of dying in an automobile accident? One in 83.

Now I'm scared to get in the car.

Just think about the security measures they've put in place since fall 2001, fasten your seat belt, and enjoy the ride.

Why I refuse to worry about terrorism

Should you worry about terrorism? Should you give into fear?

I wouldn’t. That way, the terrorists win.

They want us to be afraid to live our lives.

I, for one, am not about to give Bin Laden's successors that kind of satisfaction.

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Travel health

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Travel health concerns

Travel—especially the high-stress, never-stop, whirlwind variety—puts a strain on your system, and exotic bugs just love a stained system. It’s so much easier to set up housekeeping in you that way. 

You probably won't catch anything more exotic than a cold or a case of the tourist runs on vacation, but a few precautions and tips can help keep you healthy while on the road.

Don't drink the water

Outside of the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, it's not wise to drink tap water. Sometimes the local water contains actual disease. In most cases, it simply contains bacteria or microbes to which your digestive system is not accustomed (it doesn't affect locals, but foreigners get la turista). Solutions:

  1. Carry a bottle with a built-in purifier or a sterilizer to treat the local water.
  2. Stick to bottled water. Be sure the cap seal is unbroken (unscrupulous merchants sometimes refill bottles with tap water). Best way to ensure a the water is fresh: always buy fizzy mineral water (if it's flat, it's been opened).
More on treating water

La Turista

Whatever they call it—Montezuma's Revenge, the Pharaoh's Curse, Delhi Belly—many people will have a bout with diarrhea on the road.

The change in diet and so many rich foods usually sidelines one person in five with diarrhea for a day or two—up to a week if you're particularly prone. It's just one of the many little joys of being a world traveler. The more exotic the locale, the greater the chance you'll spend a day or two glued to the toilet.

Immodium stops the issue pretty fast, but the Pepto-Bismol people were thrilled a few years ago when university researchers discovered that, in addition to calming sour stomachs, settling indigestion, and helping with that hangover, the pink stuff also cures diarrhea (not just treats the symptoms, but actually kills the bacteria).

Carry the tablet or chewable kind (mmm! Pink chalk discs!); the liquid form presents spillage problems.

Otherwise, just take it easy for a day, eat bland foods such as toast, bananas, rice, and tea for two days, and ride it out.

Check required vaccines

Travel in the developed world requires no more shots than most Westerners get with basic health care (MMR, tetanus, diphtheria, etc.).

For trips to the developing world or more exotic locales, it's best to get any recommended vaccines (usually against things like Hepatitis A and B, Japanese encephalitis, typhoid, and cholera).

The only typically required vaccine is against yellow fever for travel to sub-Saharan Africa and tropical South America.

Get full lists on required and recommended vaccines at:

Take your prescriptions

Take enough prescription medication to last your trip plus one week (just in case).

Keep all pills in their original vials—that and an innocent smile will help prove to customs officials that they're prescription drugs, not narcotics. Bring along extra written prescriptions in each drug's generic, chemical name, not a brand name. This type of prescription will help customs officials approve it, and foreign druggists fill it.

Carry a first aid kit

Carrying a mini first aid kit in your daypack will come in handy.

First aid kits

Use local pharmacies

In most countries, pharmacies are the first lines of local health care. Pharmacists are astoundingly helpful (they can often hand out what it takes a prescription to get Stateside)

On hospitals

In most Western countries (except the U.S.), hospitals are marvels of socialized medicine. For minor complaints or ailments you can often get taken care of lickety-split with no time spent in the waiting room, no forms to fill out, and no insurance co-pay.

Useful travel health links

Travel health insurance

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The U.S. government's CDC will caution you about health threats and which vaccines you need.

www.cdc.gov

World Health Organization

The United Nations' WHO does an excellent job of pouncing on any health threat to the public, no matter how minor, and smothering it with travel warnings and provisos. Overly cautious alerts notwithstanding—reading just CDC reports, you'd think breathing the air in Iowa was the world's leading cause of death—this remains the single best repository of the official word on all health-related issues around the world.

www.who.int

IAMAT

The International Association for Medical Assistance to Travelers is chock-full of advice on travel health and serves as a sort of free health insurance. You can become a member at no charge (they do appreciate donations), and you get a directory of doctors around the world who will be happy to treat you. The docs may charge you, they may not; still, the free list of English-speaking doctors is a boon.

www.iamat.org

International Society for Travel Medicine

This is actually an industry organization, one to which doctors who specialize in travel medicine can belong, but it also has some nifty recourses for the public, including a list of travel health clinics.

www.istm.org

Medic Alert

Discuss any chronic condition with your doctor before leaving. If you have epilepsy, diabetes, or a heart condition and don't already have a Medic Alert Identification tag or bracelet—recognized by docs the world over and giving them instant, 24-hour access to your personal health records—do yourself a favor and get one. Membership costs $35 the first year, and $20 annually after that.

www.medicalert.org
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Dealing with jet lag

Everyone has a homespun remedy for overcoming the inevitable jet lag that occurs when you first arrive in a distant land and the clocks show 7am but your body says it's 1am. (The fact that you barely managed to doze fitfully on the overnight plane ride doesn't help.)

Then again, some people never feel jet leg. These people deserve a beating. More practical, though, would be to make them carry your stuff for the first few days while they're chipper and you're still zonkered.

Overcoming jet lag is 50% attitude anyway, so whatever you think works best does tend to work best. Here are some solutions:

Medicinal remedies

  • Melatonin. Some swear by these over-the-counter pills that replicate the hormone released by your pineal gland at bedtime to regulate sleep cycles. It is arguably the most "natural" of the medicinal sleep aids—more of a body clock–resetting device than a sleeping pill.
  • Your favorite sleeping pill. I resisted for years the idea of using sleeping pills, but after a bout with insomnia I had a few Ambien (aka Zolpidem) left over and as an experiment popped one on an overnight flight. It gave me that nudge into unconsciousness and allowed me to sleep on a plane for the first time in nearly 20 years, which in turn greatly reduced my jet lag.
  • No-Jet Lag. This homeopathic pill with the inspirational name is sold over the counter.

Tips on the plane

  • Stay hydrated and avoid alcohol. Actually, that's the same thing said two different ways. The problem with drinking alcohol on the plane is not that you might make an ill-conceived pass at the flight attendant, but that booze dehydrates you something fierce (that's what hangovers are all about). The recirculated air on the plane dries you out anyway, so you really need to suck down as much water as you can. Look at it this way: more trips to the bathroom means you're also getting up and moving around periodically, which is important on a long flight even if you aren't scared by all that deep vein thrombosis talk.
  • Use noise-canceling headphones. This is the one seemingly silly travel gadget I actually use. These things really do make flying less stressful on a biological level. The low-frequency, often subsonic roar of the jet engines actually raises your autonomic stress levels, putting your body into a slow-burn version of the classic fight-or-flight reaction (no pun intended), which basically means you're dripping a constant stream of adrenaline into your system. Not only does this make it terribly hard to sleep, but once the plane lands and the roar subsides, the adrenaline drip shuts off and you crash. This is what we call "jet lag." And that's how these headphones work. If you put them on at home, you hear nothing more than a faint hiss, but in the sky they actually actively cancel out the ambient noise (and that subsonic roar), disrupting the whole stress-induced cycle. Also, they make it way easier to hear the movie.
  • Try to sleep on the plane. I know, that's really hard. I can never do it properly (at least not without prescription help). But after you settle in and wisely avoid eating the in-flight meal, put away the iPod and the book, ignore the 24 channels of movies and television they now pipe directly to the seat back screen in front of you, and try to get some shut-eye. Even if all you manage is a catnap, it'll help you fight off jet lag without adding a night's lost sleep to the equation.

Tips upon arrival

  • Do not nap when you arrive! I know the temptation is strong, especially by midafternoon on that first day when you look like a tourist zombie stumbling around the Louvre with a thousand-yard stare. Do not give in! The only way to reset the body clock is to force it into the new time zone. After two or three days, feel free to indulge in a vacation siesta. Until then, eyes open, back straight, and plow through each day to the end. Make the first day easy and go to bed early, but still at a reasonable bedtime.
  • Expose your face to bright sunlight. When you arrive and for the first few mornings, make sure you drink in the natural sunlight. Your body knows how to reset its own internal clock if you let it.
  • The best advice is simply to get acclimated to local time as quickly as possible. You can even start resetting your internal clock before you leave by altering your sleeping hours at home by an hour or two to more closely match the time in your destination. Once you do arrive, go to bed at a decent time according to the clocks of the country you're in, not what your body tells you (try for 10pm; don’t stay up past midnight). Wake up at a normal time the next day—even when your alarm beeps that it's 8am, but your tired body is telling you it's 2am.
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Communications

How to stay in touch on the road and communicate in foreign tongues.


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Mobile phones

You have four main options for using cellphones abroad. Like many things in life, the simpler the solution the more expensive it is, and the most complicated is the cheapest.

These are in order from simplest to cheapest. (Skype is tacked on at the end because, while both simple and insanely cheap, it does have two huge drawbacks).


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Use your own phone

This is the easiest—but by far most expensive—option. A few things to know:

Only world phones work

Traditionally, only a phone using the world standard GSM network (in other words, those from AT&T or T-Mobile)—and some CDMA (Sprint/Nextel)—will actually work outside of North America.

The iPhone, and a handful of other smartphones, have changed that.

Starting with the iPhone 4S (released in October, 2011), Verizon and Sprint handsets will come with both CDMA and GSM support. They will use the CDMA networks in the U.S., but still offer service abroad through the GSM capabilities—and, what's more, will allow you to unlock your iPhone 4S so you can insert a microSIM chip from a local provider in a foreign country (way cheaper than paying international roaming charges). Sadly, AT&T still stubbornly refuses to allow users to unlock iPhones (though they will let you do so for other phones).

However, when it comes to Verizon and Sprint this only applies to the iPhone 4S, Blackberries, and a few other smartphones—most of their standard phones will not work abroad (they use a dead-end cell technology the rest of the world has since abandoned).

Even among GSM networks, only a tri-band (or quad-band) phone will work in Europe, Asia, South America, or Africa.

(This is because other countries use different frequencies than the U.S.; so-called "world phones" are designed to work on all three, or four, major frequencies.)

Use your phone, pay the price

Even if you have a worldphone that will work overseas, you will pay and arm and a leg to make or receive any calls.

Let's use AT&T as an example. International rates vary wildly (Western Europe is cheapest), but in 2011 were on the order of $1.39–$2.89 per minute. These drop to 99¢–$1.69 per minute if you pay $5.99 for a monthly "World Traveler" plan.

Texts are 50¢.

Picture or video SMSs are $1.30.

Turn off the data!

Don't even think about using the Internet on your smartphone; data roaming fees are monstrous (the tales of folks returning from two-week vacations to $3,000 phone bills are true).

Just turn off any roaming, 3G, or other data signal and leave your cell in phone-only mode. (Turning on WiFi is OK; you just have to find a signal.)

I don't even bother leaving the phone mode on. I just put my iPhone into "Airplane Mode" and then turn WiFi back on.

If you absolutely must have the data, roaming packages start around $25 per month for 50MB.

Where to get the fine print

For more direct dirt on the fine print (and various international roaming and data plans), see the page about international roaming at your own service provider's website.

AT&T T-Mobile Nextel/Sprint Verizon
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Rent a world phone

Renting a world phone for your travels is a pretty straightforward exercise: you get a phone that works globally—along with a short-term service plan—and don't have to worry about the details.

It's not the cheapest option—per-minute rates are a bit richer than they would be if you outright bought a phone and plan—but it's far cheaper than using your own phone and home account, and is by a long shot the easiest way to get a mobile that will work in just about any foreign country.

There are many companies that provide this service—heck, rent a car with consolidator Auto Europe and they'll usually throw in a GSM cell phone for free (you still pay for the minutes you use; only the rental is free).

Otherwise, research the best deal for you with any of the following recommended services:

Cellular Abroad Mobal Telestial

How rentals work

How it works is simple. They'll provide a phone that works around the world, a number where people can call you, and you rest easy.

Depending on the type of phone/plan you get, the rental itself runs $3.50–$12 per day.

Calls cost $1.25–$2.95 per minute in Western Europe (up to $5.95 elsewhere).

Texts are around 80¢.

Data plans can get expensive, starting around $5 per MB.

Note: You will, of course, be assigned a new phone number (some give you both a U.S. and a UK number), but you can set your home phone and cell to forward calls to the new number so that your rented cellphone will ring in, say, Italy or Thailand when people call your regular phone number(s) back home. Neat.

Sat phones

If you plan to really go off the grid and away from cellphone service—as I did in Alaska a few summers back—you can also rent a satellite phone from those same companies.

Charges are considerably higher for a sat phone than a cellphone. The rental itself costs $7.99 to $14.99 per day (less if you're renting for longer periods). Per-minute fees are $1.59–$1.99 (through incoming calls are free); outgoing texts $1.50.

Cellphones work only when you are within range of a tower. Sat phones work wherever you can get a clear shot at the sky overhead.

Cellular Abroad Mobal Telestial
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Buy a world phone

Almost as cheap as renting—and probably a better idea if you plan to travel abroad more than once in the next few years—is simply to buy your own world phone with an international plan.

There are two main ways to get a world phone.

Get one before you leave

You can buy an international phone and plan before you travel from the same merchants listed under "rentals":

Cellular Abroad Mobal Telestial

Basic world phones from these merchants sell for as little as $29 to $69 (3G/Smartphones from $109).

The rates start as low as 29¢ per minute in Western Europe (ranging from 39¢ to $4.49 elsewhere).

Texts are 39¢–99¢.

Data plans can get expensive, starting around $5 per MB.

Note: You will, of course, be assigned a new phone number (some give you both a U.S. and a UK number), but you can set your home phone and cell to forward calls to the new number so that your rented cellphone will ring in, say, Italy or Thailand when people call your regular phone number(s) back home. Neat.

Buy one when you get there

Once you arrive in your destination, just stop into any local cell phone shop and buy the cheapest phone available along with a pay-as-you-go plan (often called "prepaid" or "rechargeable").

Finding a shop is not hard. Airports and major train stations usually have a cell phone store, and these offices in particular are extremely accustomed to setting up accounts for foreigners.

Otherwise, just wander any downtown for more than five minutes and you'll pass half a dozen competing mobile phone retailers.

Within 15 minutes, you'll be back on the street with a brand new phone—and your own personal local telephone number.

As you use up your prepaid minutes, you can top off the account online, at phone stores, and usually wherever you can buy local bus tickets (tobacconists, newsstands, etc).

     Checklist      

Unlock your phone

If you have a tri-band or quad-band GSM phone (say from AT&T), you should be able just to buy a SIM card chip anywhere else in the world, swap it out for the one in your phone, and be good to go, right?

Wrong.

Your home service provider will try to keep you from doing this, and the first step in that process is that every cellphone in the U.S. is sold "locked"—which means you can't swap chips. Physically, yes, you can put the chip in—the "lock" is a bit of programming code—but the phone won't actually work with the new SIM.

How to unlock your phone

What you need is the "unlock code"—a simple set of digits you punch into your phone to unlock it forever.

Many phone companies will do everything in its power to keep you from learning this code, even though they have it readily available. They will swear they cannot provide it, or tell you the code has to come from the manufacturer, so you should contact Motorola (or whatever).

They are filthy, stinking, greedy liars. They can easily get the code and tell it to you over the phone or send it to you in an e-mail or text message. They are simply trained to stonewall you for as long as possible, hoping you will give up.

You think I'm joking. I am not. Ever try to get out of that two-year calling plan you're locked into (or, for that matter, a gym membership)? Yeah, it's like that.

Pester the heck out of them long enough, and—with the glaring exception of AT&T and the iPhone (see below)—they will, eventually, give in. You will get your unlock code, and you can then put any SIM into the phone (microSIM in the case of the iPhone) and it will suddenly start making and receiving calls on that account (when you get home, just swap the SIMs back again—though with Verizon and Sprint iPhones it doesn't matter, since the U.S. they use only the CMDA antenna, not the GSM).

You can't unlock an AT&T iPhone

That glaring exception: an AT&T iPhone

As of the iPhone 4S, Sprint (immediately) and Verizon (after you've been a customer in good standing for 60 days) will unlock your iPhone.

However, AT&T still categorically refuses to unlock an iPhone—for now, at least. As an AT&T iPhone user, this annoys the !@#$% out of me.

You can buy an unlocked iPhone in other countries, but since the price isn't being subsidized by AT&T or Verizon, it'll cost you a monstrous $900 (in Europe, around €620 for the cheapest 3GS model) or more to buy one.

If you have an iPhone, just forgo the 3G and cellular antennas entirely. Put it into airplane mode (which turns off all antennas), then switch ONLY the WiFi back on. You can now use any stray WiFi signal—or rent a portable WiFi hotspot—to make Skype calls—for free! It's what I do.

     Checklist      

Skype

The Internet phone and video-calling service Skype is by far the simplest, cheapest way to stay in touch on the road.

Sign up for Skype

Skype-to-Skype calls are free

You can call any other Skype user FOR FREE. That's right: free. Zilch. Zip. Nada.

It costs nothing to join, nothing to download the software or app, and nothing to call another Skype user. Just download the Skype app to your iPhone, the Skype software to your home computer, set up an accounts for each, and you can "call" home for free.

Even video calls are free. Not kidding. I used to pay hundreds of dollars a month to make a series of quick calls home from the road using pay phones and special-rate calling cards.

Now I can engage in leisurely video calls lasting as long as I want. I can even read bedtime stories to my son from halfway around the world—for free.

I love Skype.

Catching a stray WiFi signal by a canal in Venice
Your intrepid reporter Skypes home using his laptop and a stray WiFi signal by a canal in Venice.

Skype-to-landline calls are 2.3¢

You can "Skype out" to call any landline around the world for the insanely cheap rate of 2.3¢ per minute for calls to landlines in Europe, Japan, China, etc. (To some countries the cost is 9¢–30¢.) That means just $10 would buy you 434 minutes of talking. Wow.

Calls to cellular networks usually cost a bit more, though usually less than a regular phone line, calling card, or international dialing plan.

Just link your Skype account to a PayPal account (and your PayPal to a checking account so it can top off the balance as needed).

Skype calling plans: From 1.2¢

If you plan to be a heavy Skype user—for a longer trip or a semester abroad—and don't want to pay 2.3¢ per minute to "Skype out" to landline phones, you can also sign up for a unlimited monthly plan.

The $2.99/month plan for U.S. and Canada obviously won't work for travel abroad, but you could get:

  • Single-country plans: $6.99/month for unlimited calls to your choice of country.
  • Unlimited Word: $13.99/month for unlimited calls to 40 countries.
  • Incremental plans: Cheapskates can also buy monthly minutes to a single country. Price varies by country; for example, for Italy it's $1.09/month for 60 min., $2.09 for 120 min., $4.99 for 400 min.
Shop plans

However, Skype comes with two major caveats:

  1. You have to have a device that can use it (smartphone or laptop).
  2. You need to be connected to the Internet.

If you are using this app, you obviously already have an iPhone, so that's one problem solved. The Internet access is a bit trickier.

If you're a big spender who can can plump for a global data-roaming plan...well, bully for you. Just use that.

Otherwise, in order to use Skype, you need to find WiFi hotspots (or rent a portable WiFi hotspot).

Finding WiFi

Technically, you don't need to bring any device (or find WiFi) to use Skype. Even if you don't pack your iPhone or laptop, you can always just saunter into just about any cyber cafe on the road; most now have machines with headsets for Skyping.

Sign up for Skype
     Checklist      

Getting online

Postcards can take up to a week. Tweeting, posting updates, blogging, or simply sending your jealous friends a quick e-mail rundown of what a fantastic vacation you're having is instantaneous.

(Plus, it's a great way to create installments of a trip journal for your own uses.)

Since you already have an iPhone, you can just put it into "airplane mode," then turn on just the WiFi (that way, you avoid data-roaming charges), find a hotspot, and you're good to go.

Finding WiFi

If you prefer a full-sized computer and keyboard (and don't want to travel with a laptop or tablet), there are four types of places where you can borrow a computer to get online:

Cyber cafes

A little room, disused office space, rented storefront, corner table in a pub or café, pretty much anywhere an enterprising entrepreneurs can plug in a bunch of computers and hook them up to his DSL connection. That's a cyber cafe.

Access fees can range anywhere from 10¢ per minute to $10 an hour or more.

You can usually find them clustered around train stations, neighborhoods packed with tourist hotels, backpacker hangouts, and often just off major squares.

When in doubt, just ask around (your hotel, the local tourist office, fellow travelers).

Internet cafes pop up and disappear with astonishing frequency, so even the online resources for tracking them down will not be totally up-to-date, but are still useful:

Cybercaptive.com Cybercafes.com World66.com/netcafeguide

Your hotel

Increasingly, hotels have a PC jacked in and available for guest use.

Sometimes its free; sometimes it costs a bit (rarely more than a regular Internet café, though). It's always convenient.

Public kiosks

These suck. They're basically like pay phones, only with a big screen and a keyboard attached. I have yet to run across one that didn't make 9,600 dial-up speed seem like a dedicated T1 line.

Once, at a public terminal in a Spanish tourist office where it took 3–5 seconds for each keystroke I made to register on the screen, I swear that, after I was finally finished my short note to an editor and hit "send," a little guy burst from a door at the back with a slip of paper in his hand and scurried out of the place headed toward the nearby post office. I still suspect my "e-mail" arrived with a stamp on it.

Sometimes these machines are just out in public, like pay phones. More often you find them in hubs of public communications, like major post offices, phone offices, airports, and tourist offices. I've even run across them in department stores.

Libraries

The big traveler's secret that no Internet café wants you to know about. Public libraries the world over offer access, for free, and usually to anyone who wanders in (you don't have to have a local library card).

Of course, they put you on a time limit, and remember: no loud typing!

Oh, and one more thing on using computers abroad:

Finding "@" on foreign keyboards

Foreign keyboards are tricky. The letters are sometimes arranged in a slightly different way, but that's merely annoying (for example, in Europe you'll frequently find yourself inserting an extraneous comma where you meant to type an "m").

What's really frustrating is that, not only is "@" not hovering over the "2" key like you're used to, it sometimes seems impossible to get the keyboard to produce the @ ("at symbol") at all, preventing you from addressing e-mails or making Twitter shout-outs.

Here's the secret: Foreign keyboards have a whole extra function key (alongside familiar Ctrl, Alt, Cmd, Option, etc.) called "Alt Gr."

If, as in the example below, the @ appears on a key crowded with three or more options, try holding down "Alt Gr" and hitting it.

The elusive @ will magically appear.

How to get an @ on a foreign keyboard
     Checklist      

Finding WiFi

Many hotels these days offer WiFi—some for free, others for a modest fee. But WiFi floats around elsewhere as well.

Travel telecom—e-mail, web surfing, Skyping—can be free if you know how to find these floating, free-range WiFi hotspots. (Good places to try: Bookstores, coffee shops, some chain restaurants.)

Rent a MiFi portable hotspot

The easiest alternative: Carry a MiFi, which provides you with your own portable WiFi hotspot for up to five devices.

Prices to rent a MiFi start around $20 per day for a week's rental ($12 per day or less if you rent one for more than a week).

You can rent one from Cellularabroad.com.

Find WiFi hotspots

Here are some resources to help you find both paid and free WiFi hotspots around the world:

Wififreespot.com Wi-fihotspotlist.com Hotspot-locations.com Jaunted.com (airports)

Paid WiFi hotspot services

These are those services that, for a one-time or monthly fee, allow you to use their hotspots, which are typically scattered around airports, rail stations, and stores (both chain and non).

Boingo.com T-mobile.com Att.com
Using a signal at an Italian pub, this travel writer can get plenty of work done without having to sequester himself in his hotel room.
Using a signal at an Italian pub, this travel writer can get plenty of work done without having to sequester himself in his hotel room.
     Checklist      

The "language barrier"

There is no language barrier. There's just a bit of a linguistic speed bump on the travelin' highway.

Memorizing a handful of key words and phrases, learning to count to two, and having keen pantomime skills will be enough to survive just about anywhere.

Plus, in most cities you'll find people who speak and understand enough English to get by in a pinch—though never expect it or depend upon it.

If you show you want to learn the lingo, locals will often be more than happy to teach you a bit.

Thank you & other essentials

If you learn how to say nothing else in the local tongue, learn how to say "thank you."

Especially if you don't speak the language, you will be relying on the kindness of strangers (waiters, clerks, guides, concierges, and anyone you stop to ask directions) to help guide you through their country. The least you should be able to do is thank them for it.

It's polite, and it'll encourage them to help you further. I enjoy collecting native ways to say "thank you" every bit as much as collecting postcards or museum books.

After you learn "thank you," move on to learning "yes," "no," "Where's the bathroom?" "please," "I would like," "Do you speak English?" and "one," "two," "three."

Then, simply pay attention to the best teachers available: the locals all around you:

  • Listen to how locals pronounce things.
  • Exaggerate accents.
  • Speak volumes through your facial expressions.
  • Copy locals' gestures (but carefully—see the Gestures section for details).

Bring a phrase book or app, and you can ask any question, hopefully understand the answers, and decode most of what's on a given menu. (If you can't find the full name of a dish translated, often you can at least find out that the second word is "chicken," which is usually enough to go on).

Faking fluency

You can look up complex phrases in your Berlitz and try to pronounce them properly, but in the interests of time and clarity, you'll often find it's much more expedient to resort to a combination of charades and international pidgin.

Don't be shy about acting out what you mean.

You don't need to know how to phrase a question properly, just how to add an audible question mark by lilting up at the end of the word. Understand?

When trying to read a foreign language, don't be intimidated by the full sentence. Instead, look at all its parts. Examine each word for things that ring a bell.

Spanish and Italian are close enough when written down that you can often make out half of one if you have a good working knowledge of the other.

English is an amalgam mainly of old High German and Latin, which have evolved into modern German and the Romance languages (French, Italian, and Spanish). Look for root words that sound similar.

Look for words and word fragments you recognize and assume, within reason, that they mean what you think they mean.

Make educated guesses, make your share of mistakes, but above all, make an effort to learn what you can and to communicate with foreign language speakers on their terms.

An example to illustrate the point:

The Italian sign says "ACQUA NON POTABILE."

Well, acqua, that's like agua, which you know from Spanish is "water."

Non, that's easy, that means "no."

Potabile, well, that's got the word "pot" in it. Hmmm. "Don't boil water in a pot?" Nah. Wait: potable. Doesn't that mean "drinkable?"

Ah, ha! Acqua non potabile. "Non-drinkable water." (Glance down at the by-now empty glass in your hand).

Uh-oh...

The international language

No, not love. I'll leave it to you to master that tongue on your own (or, rather, with the help of someone else).

And I don't mean English, either, even if that has become the de facto international language. (Lucky break for us English speakers, no?) That doesn't excuse us from trying to learn the local lingo.

No, what I mean is that collection of words which, pronounced "International-style," work in most countries. Just pretend you are French or Italian and say the following words in that accent:

  • Alt (stop)
  • auto
  • bank (pronounce it bahn-kah)
  • beer (roll the "r;" sometimes add an "a" at the end)
  • bus (pronounce it boo-ss)
  • café
  • camping
  • ciao
  • couchette (sleeping compartment on train; helps to mime sleeping)
  • English
  • hotel
  • information
  • kaput (broken)
  • moment (universal for "wait")
  • no
  • OK
  • pardon
  • foto
  • police
  • post (as in -office)
  • restaurant
  • student
  • taxi
  • telephone
  • terminal (as in airport)
  • toilet
  • tourist (of course)
     Checklist      

Gestures/body language

While many cultures are fond of gesticulating (Southern Europeans especially—think: Italians), be very careful using any gestures, and in how you touch.

No single aspect of communication seems to have such diverse meanings and interpretations across different cultures.

With a few exceptions, polite—or at least innocuous—words in one language rarely just happen to translate into something unimaginably offensive in another.

Gestures and body language, however, are another matter entirely.

Gestures can get you punched

Common gestures that are innocuous to some, offensive to others

  • The two-fingered "V" for victory symbol is fine palms-out. If you make it with you palm facing toward you, you'll offend any Brit—it's their version of giving someone the finger.
  • The thumb-and-forefinger-circle that means "OK!" to you means "Up yours!" or "You're an a**hole!" in some cultures (especially when held upside down).
  • Never, ever hold out just your forefinger and pinkie raised to make "horns" (or the "I love you" gesture from sign language).

    Depending on how you hold your hand and where you are, you're either casting the evil eye on someone, warding against it (which insults the people around you, implying that they are casting one), or calling someone a cuckold.

Common gestures that can be misinterpreted

In most cases, of course, your gestures won't mistakenly be offensive; they'll simply be misconstrued.

  • When holding up their fingers to count, most Europeans start with the thumb for "one." Holding up just your forefinger means "wait a sec" in most countries. You may be trying to order one beer; they'll think you aren't ready yet.
  • A Southern European gesturing "come here" looks like they're waving you away. People waving good-bye in Europe hold their hand out, palm facing up, and repeatedly slap all four fingers as a group toward themselves; to an American, that might mean "come here."

Confused? You should be. There are whole books on this subject (see below).

Gestures are an integral part of communicating, especially Southern Europe, but until you learn the local body language, it might be best just to keep your hands to yourself.

Recommended books

• Gestures: The Do's and Taboos of Body Language Around the World by Roger E. Axtell
• Multicultural Manners: Essential Rules of Etiquette for the 21st Century by Norine Dresser
• Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: How to Do Business in Sixty Countries by Terri Morrison

When is close too close?

Mediterranean men are much more touchy-feely than Americans might be used to.
Mediterranean men are much more touchy-feely than Americans might be used to.

Proximity is a relative thing. Take Europe for example.

In Northern Europe, especially England, people require a larger sphere of personal space than do most Americans and can be rather adverse to physical contact. Dear old friends will rarely greet each other with anything more than a firm handshake and warm smile.

When you get to Sicily, though, total strangers will be throwing their arms around you and greeting you with a wet kiss on each cheek.

Of course, those are both stereotypes, but ones that often hold true.

The farther south you go, the more people touch.

Manly, macho Mediterranean men will often link elbows and walk arm-in-arm with each another down the streets.

Teenage boys, oozing hormones and unnecessary aftershave, will zoom up on their scooters and greet their pals with that double cheek peck so beloved of Hollywood types.

They probably aren't gay, effeminate, or even metrosexual. That’s just the way their culture is. Men touch.

As always, be observant and let the locals be your guide as to how to act—when to be politely standoffish and when it's acceptable to sling an arm around someone's shoulders and plant a big, wet frencher on them (note: only if you know them very, very well or are very, very drunk).

And that's just Europe. There are loads of other rules for every culture.

Heads & feet in Asia and Islam

In Muslim and many Asian countries, it's incredibly impolite to show the bottoms of your feet to someone, or to point them toward a person (or, even worse, statue of a deity).

In many Asian cultures, you should never touch someone else's head—especially a Buddhist monk. In fact, just avoid touching monks at all. It's safer.

In many Asian cultures, a smile is more often a sign of embarrassment or discomfort than of happiness or mirth. It can get quite confusing.

Read your guidebooks for the local norms, perhaps pick up one of those books recommended above, and try not to create an international incident.

     Checklist      

Translator apps

There are more than 100 translator and language apps out there. I sampled a few dozen of the best and picked two winners in each of three price categories. My criteria:

Here are the best of the under-$10 crowd. If you prefer to spend $25 on a full-fledged traveler's dictionary app with 250,000 entries, my fave is the Ultralingua line from Collins Pro.

Best free phrase apps

Best in class: World Nomads

(25 languages) The World Nomads apps present lists divided into categories of useful basic travel phrases. Tap on a phrase, and you hear an audio clip of a native speaker pronouncing it—a high-end feature surprising to find in a free app...

MoreGet

Runner-up: 24/7 Tutor Lite

(7 languages) These are more aimed at full language learning than travel phrases, but if you click on the "study guide" for each category you are presented with dozens upon dozens of useful words, all with audio clip pronunciations...

MoreGet

Best 99¢ phrase apps

Best in class: Coolgorilla

(9 languages) The interface is similar to that of freebie World Nomads—useful travel phases divided by category—but with ten times the number of phrases, making it a fantastic investment for just a buck. Each app features more than 500 phrases in 40 categories (accommodations, food and drink, activities, shopping, etc.), all professionally translated and spoken aloud....

MoreGet

Runner-up: World Roll

(7 languages) WordRoll apps are just dictionaries, not phrase books (and have no audio function to help pronunciation). However, each comes fully loaded with tens of thousands of words in your choice of seven languages...

MoreGet

Best $4.99–$5.99 phrase apps

Best in class: Odyssey Translator ($4.99)

(6 languages) The Odyssey apps cover all the usual travel categories, but in far greater detail than the competition and with a novel interface that guides you through compiling sentences from snippets, anticipating what you might want to say. Rather than just giving a standard word or phrase, it suggests ways you might start a sentences in the appropriate category. By doing so, the app subtly and organically teaches you how to put together phrases on your own...

MoreGet

Runner-up: Lonely Planet Phrasebooks ($5.99)

(16 languages) LP provides an iPhone version of a classic travel phrase book, each featuring more than 600 phrases, and does so for languages most competitors ignore, like Turkish, Vietnamese, and Swahili. This being Lonely Planet—and therefore hip—the apps include all sort of sentences overlooked by stodgier, traditional phrase books, such as "I'm looking for a gay venue," "Do you have vegetarian food," and "I'd like a SIM card for your network"...

MoreGet

     Checklist      

World Nomads

The free World Nomads apps present lists divided into categories of useful basic travel phrases. Tap on a phrase, and you hear an audio clip of a native speaker pronouncing it—a high-end feature I'm surprised to find in a free app.

In most languages, the rudimentary standards a tourist needs are all here: greetings, key words (yes, no, please, thank you, excuse me), numbers up to ten, and a few terms useful in transportation (where is the … ticket, train, bus, taxi); lodging ("too expensive"); and safety (doctor, hospital, police; some include "Stop thief!" "Don't shoot!" and everybody's favorite: "Those drugs aren't mine!").

There's also a "Language Lesson" feature in which all the phrases are strung together in a short audio skit, complete with background sound effects, of a "typical tourist situation."

Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd

Frustrations

Dining phrases are missing—a big drawback.

There are also inconsistencies. The Thai app tells you how to say "yes," but not "no." (For the record, it's mai.)

Sometimes, an app suffers the opposite problem of presenting the forest rather than simply the one tree you need. For example, the Arabic module presents five ways to greet people, but none of them is the handy, pan-Arabic "salaam aleikum," which is all you need to know.

Get more for a buck or two

World Nomads has introduced more robust phrase book apps for 99¢ to $1.99 each that include more than twice as many phrases and expanded sections:

Languages: 25

Spanish, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Greek, Portuguese, Swedish, Croatian, Nepali, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Arabic, Khmer (Cambodian), Turkish, Russian, Malay, Lao, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Hindi, Swahili, and Australian (which can be more useful than you'd think, as it's loaded with a prodigious amount of otherwise incomprehensible Aussie slang).

itunes

     Checklist      

24/7 Tutor Lite

These are more aimed at full language learning than travel phrases, but if you click on the "study guide" for each category you are presented with dozens upon dozens of useful words, all with audio clip pronunciations.

Perhaps more useful are the "Phrases" series.

itunes

Frustrations

It's only available in Spanish, French, and German—with more basic versions also available in Italian and Russian.

You can only get the "Lite" editions for free. The full-fledged "Tutor" apps (or the more handy "Phrases" apps) each cost $7.99 to $9.99—probably not worth it.

Languages: 7

Spanish, French, German, Italian, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Brazilian Portuguese.

Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd

     Checklist      

WordRoll

WordRoll apps are just dictionaries, not phrase books (and have no audio function to help with pronunciation).

However, each comes fully loaded with tens of thousands of words in your choice of seven languages (each app is sold separately).

Within each app, you can switch easily between languages (look up the German based on the English or vice versa), and—for a dollar app—it has an impressive number of entries, between 24,000 and 35,000, depending on the language.

Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd

Frustrations

Many words have multiple synonyms or different meanings, and to its credit WordRoll presents all possible definitions/translations. However, they're merely listed, in alphabetical order, without further explanation. You don’t know which of the seven Italian offerings for "have" means accept, possess, have, host, take, procure, or receive—or that the Italian word for the kind of bed that you sleep on is the fourth one down on the list (after the Italian word for the kind of bed in which you plant flowers and just before the Italian for "layer").

That said, it's most useful for translating words from the local lingo into English, since at least you'll have context to figure out the correct definition.

Languages: 7

German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, and Swedish.

Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd

     Checklist      

Coolgorilla

The interface is similar to that of World Nomads—useful travel phases divided by category—but with ten times the number of phrases, making it a fantastic investment for just 99¢.

Each app features more than 500 phrases in 40 categories (accommodations, food and drink, activities, shopping, etc.), all professionally translated and spoken aloud.

How do I know it's a pro doing the audio? They get all breathy and excited when translating such phrases as "Kiss me," and "I want you." (Never fear, these phrases come after "Would you like a drink?" and "What's your sign?")

Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd

Frustrations

Some translations seem less than necessary (guess what the Italian words pizza, lasagne, and tiramisu mean in English?).

More languages would be nice.

Also, this is a British company, which means you first need to translate things into British English in your head ("chips" are "french fries").

It's a bit buggy and crashes on occasion—not a huge concern, but annoying.

Languages: 9

Japanese, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch , and Spanish (plus an Arabic one that doesn't talk to you, as well as Spanish to English, Mandarin to English, and Cantonese to English apps)

Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd

     Checklist      

Odyssey translator

The Odyssey apps cover all the usual travel categories, but in far greater detail than the competition and with a novel interface that guides you through compiling sentences from snippets, anticipating what you might want to say.

Rather than just giving a standard word or phrase, it suggests ways you might start a sentences in the appropriate category. By doing so, the app subtly and organically teaches you how to put together phrases on your own.

How it works

Within each subsection, the screen has a matrix of buttons each containing a snippet (in English) of potential phrases you could make in that subject area. Snippets that might start a potential phrase or question (such as "Where is…" or "I would like…") are automatically highlighted, with a little "1" appearing over one corner.

Once you tap the one you want and the voice begins speaking the translation, it instantly highlights all the buttons of words or snippets that might follow and places a "2" in the corner (say,  “...a bottle of...” or “...a glass of...”).

Tap on one of those and, while the next part of the staccato sentence is playing, it highlights all the snippets that might finish your phrase with a "3” (“...beer,” “...wine,” “...water”).

Neat.

itunes

Frustrations

I look forward to the release of more languages, as six is more of a sampler size.

The audio for each word was obviously recorded separately and then stitched together, so there is a pause between each word—even those within a common phrase—and the inflection is sometimes off. So the language flows somewhat awkwardly.

This interactive, build-your-own phrases interface may not please those used to more traditional phrase books. Luckily, you can give the app a test drive by downloading a free, stripped-down version to give you a feel for the real deal.

Languages: 6

Italian , Spanish , French , German , Mandarin Chinese, and Brazilian Portuguese (plus Spanish-to-English and Brazilian Portuguese-to-English).

itunes

     Checklist      

Lonely Planet phrase apps

Guidebook titan Lonely Planet provides an iPhone version of a classic travel phrase book, each featuring more than 600 phrases, and does so for languages most competitors ignore, like Turkish, Vietnamese, and Swahili.

This being Lonely Planet—and therefore hip—the apps include all sort of sentences overlooked by stodgier, traditional phrase books, such as "I'm looking for a gay venue," "Do you have vegetarian food?" and "I'd like a SIM card for your network."

itunes

Frustrations

They could have included far more for the money. (LP print phrase books are far more in-depth.)

Also, there are some tech problems: When you tap a phrase, you see the translation quickly, but there's an odd lag before you hear the audio clip.

The search feature is woefully bloody-minded, featuring only phrases, not words or even synonyms. If you type "bathroom" in the search field, it finds nothing. Type "toilet," however, and you get five relevant —and terribly useful—phrases.

Frankly, you can get nearly the same quality with Coolgorilla at one-tenth the price, so LP is probably most useful for languages Coolgorilla misses.

(LP also offers a new line of voice-reconigtion translator apps that work offline; you say or type in a phrase, it translates it. Avaiable in seven languages.)

Languages: 17

French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Czech, Arabic, Polish, Greek, Turkish, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Korean, Thai, Tagalog, and Swahili.

itunes

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Phrase books

As handy as apps and the Internet are, I never travel without an old-fashioned phrase book in my daypack.

Comes in handy countless times a day (particularly when trying to decipher menus and determine which is the chicken and which is what, in my country, is considered a household pet).

For long sojourns, I carry a traveler's dictionary, too.
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Digital translators

These handheld devices translate hundreds of thousands of words and phrases between dozens of languages—some even speak, and one even understands what you say and can translate instantly.

Sure, eventually we'll all have apps that can work offline to translate on the fly for us at a fraction of the cost of a dedicated unit (currently, the only ones that really work well require an Internet connection, and data roaming charges on the road are astronomical).

For now, these handheld, calculator-sized devices have amazing offline capabilities yet to be seen in an iPhone or Android.

The talking translator

Lingo Voyager 5 translatorIt's the size of a calculator and it literally speaks 20 languages. The Lingo Xplorer 52 Talking Translator knows 1,000,000 words and 100,000 useful phrases in 52 languages. What's more, it can speak them in a native's crisp, local accent.

This makes it a much better learning tool than puzzling over the pronunciation guide in a Berlitz, and also provides a wimp's way out of actually learning the lingo. Just walk up to a hotel clerk, select the right phrase, and the Lingo will ask for the price of a double room on your behalf.

But wait, there's more! (Always wanted to say that.) It has a built-in FM radio, world alarm clock, voice recorder, calculator, calendar, metric and currency converter, and eight games for long train rides (since Mine Sweeper and Sudoku are the same in any language). My favorite phrase: "I have been bitten by a dog" in German.

$249.99 from Magellan's

The talking and listening translator

iTRAVL® Multilingual Communicator and DictionaryAmazonYou can really upgrade into the realm of Star Trek instant translators and get the Ectaco NTL-8C iTRAVL Talking 2-Way Multilingual Language Communicator and Electronic DictionaryAmazon.

You speak into it, and it (a) recognizes your language and what you said, (b) translates it into any of eight other languages of your choice, and then (c) spits it back out in the foreign tongue. Wow.

It knows 3,370,000 words, and 14,000 travel phrases, in English, Italian, French, German, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, and Spanish.

You can carry on entire, albeit stilted conversations by asking a question in English, having it repeat your question in Italian for the local, then they say their answer in Italian and the iTRAVL translates it into English for you.

Oh, and it also comes with a built-in language teacher so you can actually learn some Italian, plus a talking calculator, cultural notes, time zone maps, and Fodor's restaurant, hotel, and sightseeing info on 50 major destinations on five continents and the CIA World Factbook. Did I mention it can play MP3s and audio books (some travel ones are already included)?

There is, of course, a price to be paid for this technological Wunderkind:

$499.95 from AmazonAmazon

The low-tech option

Kwikpoint point-and-choose translator card You can go really low-tech (and cheap) with the laminated, foldable Kwikpoint card covered with cartoonish pictures off all the things a traveler might need—double bed, taxi, AAA batteiesy, ice skates, pig, computer printer, toothpaste, cheese, gas station, can opener, policeman, etc.

You just unfold it like a map, point at the thing you want, and throw on the local word for "please?"

$14.85 from B&N

Online translators

Computerized translations are, of course, far from perfect, but you can use them to understand about 80%–90% of what you're trying to read online in a foreign language—and they are free.

Just cut and paste the bit of confusing foreign text into one of these translator engines—or simply plug in the url for the page you want translated—and it will whip out a (sometimes comical, but usually intelligible) rendition in your native language.

Here are the best of the free online translators:

Google Translate Babelfish Bing Translator Dictionary.com
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Learn a language

Rosetta Stone multimedia, CDs, DVDs, books, and interactive book/computer combos—whatever works best for you, use it to learn a bit of the local lingo before you travel (or during long plane and train rides).
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Money matters

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Cold, hard cash

Money talks, and euros, yen, pounds, and rubles speak the local lingo a lot better than dollars do. (Though I always carry some emergency dollars in my belt—a few $20s and maybe a $100.)

While you get a more favorable exchange rate by using a credit card for purchases (on the order of 9% better), not every business accepts plastic, and transactions in local currency are quicker—and can sometimes even get you a discount. 

Cash vs. credit

Though cash vs. credit prices at U.S. gas pumps may largely be a relic of the past, in many countries you will often find a surprise discount if you pay in cash (like 5%) on such big-ticket items as hotel rooms. 

In fact, whenever you're discussing price on something sizeable—like your hotel room or that leather jacket at the market stall—and he names his price, ask, "And if I pay cash?"

You'll be surprised how often the number comes down a bit, especially for longer stays or larger purchases.  

Where to get local currency

If possible, always get cash from a local bank ATM using your home bank card linked to a checking account.

You can also cash traveler's checks and get credit card cash advances (again, try to do so at banks; exchange bureaus, hotel desks, and shops give far worse exchange rates). However, the rates aren't as favorable as for ATM cards—and, in the case of credit card advances, the punishing interest starts accruing immediately, not at the end of the month as usual, so only do so in an emergency.

Some folks also buy some foreign currency from their home bank before leaving. However, this is both:

  1. Expensive. The exchange rate is pretty crummy, and often coupled with a fee; what's more, you often have to go to a downtown main branch to do it.
  2. Largely unnecessary. There's almost always an ATM or two at major arrival points (airports, train stations). 
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Credit cards

Using credit cards is by far the cheapest way to pay for things in a foreign country, with exchange rates averaging 9% better than even cash withdrawals from an ATM (the second cheapest way to pay for things).

Most everywhere—particularly in the developed world—takes plastic, right down to most of the smallest shops and bistros.

Which cards to carry

Contrary to the old commercials, you can leave home without American Express and never notice the difference. 

Visa and MasterCard are much more widely accepted abroad these days, partly because they've partnered with other major card brands in other countries, and partly because AMEX charges higher fees to the merchants and is slower in paying them, so many small family businesses have stopped accepting it, arguing—with a good point—"Everybody has Visa!" 

Diner's Club is accepted in many places (though often only the pricier joints). So is Japan's JCB. 

Discover or any other card will only elicit a raised eyebrow of curiosity and shake of the head; leave any other card at home.

About rates and fees

This is infinitely dull stuff, so here's the practical upshot: While paying with credit cards does get you a better exchange rate than with cash, Visa does impose a 1% "commission" for foreign purchases/cash advances.

Moreover, many Visa-issuing banks tack on an additional 1% to 4% "commission" of their own. Since Visa itself has already performed the currency exchange, the banks are simply stealing this money from you for no defensible reason. Some even charge exorbitant "transaction fees" of $5 or more.

Lowest-fee credit cards

Your best bet is a small local bank or credit union. 

Of the big national credit card issuers, here are a few that charge nothing to 1% (last time I checked): 

  • Capital One: 0%
  • HSBC: 1%
  • Providian: 1%

You can get much more on this (and other financial issues) at the excellent financial-planning sites BankRate.com and Card Hub and at this wiki on FlyerGuide.com.

Warn issuers about vacation

Tell your bank and card issuers you are going on vacation

This is crucial. Call all credit card and bank companies and tell them your travel dates and destinations.

Most companies have a computerized watchdog that monitors your card's use, looking for radical changes in the frequency or location of charges. When it finds them, it freezes the account. 

Ideally, this system alerts them if someone steals your card and goes on a shopping spree, but it has the unfortunate side effect of leaving travelers in the lurch, because on a typical vacation you're charging more than usual and charging it from strange places. 

This goes not only for foreign countries, but even travel to other states within the U.S. Last summer my companions and I ran into problems trying to use our credit cards in, of all places, Florida.

Avoid cash advances

In an emergency, you can use your credit card and a PIN to get a cash advance from any ATM. But there's an enormous catch.

You know how the interest fees on a credit card usually do not kick in until the end of the month, and then only if you do not pay the entire balance?

Cash advances start accruing interest the second you get the money—and the interest charged is always at the very highest APR allowed, no matter what your regular rate might be. Also, there's often a fee.

Chip-and-PIN cards

The latest wrinkle the in the travel credit card game is that Europe has largely switched over from the old-fashioned magnetic stripe cards to the newer, safer, chip-and-PIN cards.

Increasingly, there are merchants and services in Europe that accept only the chip-and-PIN smartcards.

In stores, you can often convince them (or a manager) to swipe your antique magnetic card and complete the purchase, but some stores now have a chip-and-PIN-only policy and turn away anyone without such a card (happened to me in Leipzig, Germany, in 2010).

The real problem comes at the increasingly prevalent automated machines—particularly gas stations, train stations, and public transport ticket dispensers. Often there is no manager to whom to appeal, and your antiquated magnetic-strip Visa is worthless. (This, in case you recall, was the reason the Paris city bike program didn't work for Americans at first.)

Solution: Get a Travelex Cash Passport, currently the only chip-and-pin card available to the general American market. It's a prepaid card, so you have to fill it up with cash before you leave—and the exchange rate is an abysmal 14%–15% worse than with credit cards, but it can come in use.

Also: pester your bank—repeatedly—to get with the program. A few American banks are starting to experiment with chip-and-PIN cards. Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase have each made limited numbers of what they call E.M.V. cards available to select customers. They have a chip and PIN, and they will work abroad.

As always, carry cash.

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ATMs

The easiest way to get cash abroad is the same way you do at home: simply use the bank card linked to your home checking account to get local cash out of street-corner ATMs.

How to find an ATM

Just look for a bank. As in the U.S., you can find one on almost every block in major cities, and on the main squares or drags in smaller towns.

From Bangkok to Brisbane, Cairo to Casablanca, and Rio to Rome, I've never had a problem finding a bank and using its ATM to get local cash.

Failing that, look for a convenience store. They often have ATMs. There's little need to research in advance the automated locators provided by MasterCard/Cirrus and Visa/Plus. If you are stymied, just ask a local; cash machines are almost universally called "bancomat." 

If you're on the MasterCard/Cirrus or Visa/Plus networks—and virtually all bank cards are, no matter what your local system is called (look for the name and symbol on the back of the card)—you will be able to get cash out of virtually any ATM. 

Why an ATM is the best

  • Save time. There's no need to wait in line at the bank window or at the local American Express office, hand over your passport in order to cash traveler's checks then fork over a commission of 10% or so. With an ATM, you just saunter up, stick in your card, punch in the PIN, and it spits out local cash, just like at home. 
  • Save money. The cash comes at one of the most favorable exchange rates and, unless your bank at home charges you for out-of-network withdrawals (most do, at $1 to $4; some local banks and credit unions do not), there's usually no commission—most foreign banks have yet to hit upon this method of nickel-and-diming customers.

Tips for using ATMs abroad

  • Make sure your card is linked to your checking account, as some banks won't let you withdrawal from your savings account at foreign ATMs.
  • Make sure your PIN is only 4 digits long (not six), as some banks won't accept longer ones.
  • Make sure you let your bank know you'll be making foreign withdrawals. Banks sometimes have automated software that looks for suspicious usages that might imply theft—i.e., your card is suddenly used for lots of withdrawals, far from home, for larger-than-usual amounts—and freezes your account to protect you. That’s very nice... unless you are the one making larger-than-usual withdrawals far from home!
  • Know that you will get an even better rate (an average of 9% better) if you avoid using ATMs and cash at all and instead use a credit card wherever possible.

A warning on fees

Some American banks have begun charging a higher fee for international withdrawals and, sadly, many U.S. banks are also now charging an additional "foreign exchange" fee for withdrawing money abroad—even though it doesn't cost them a single cent (or euro) more. It's just a way of stealing more money from you. Ask your local bank before traveling to avoid a nasty surprise.

You can get much more on this (and other financial issues) at the excellent financial-planning sites BankRate.com and Card Hub and at this wiki on FlyerGuide.com.

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Travelers' checks

Traveler's checks do still matter (as a way to carry emergency backup cash), even in this age of credit cards, ATMs, and computerized banking.

Back in the Dark Ages of tourism (circa 1850–1995), a traveler's check and the local American Express or Thomas Cooke office were the only way to get your paws on some local cash while abroad. 

However, the aggressive evolution of computerized banking, widespread acceptance of credit cards, and proliferation of faster, easier, and cheaper-to-use ATM machines have largely turned these old travel standbys nearly into quaint museum pieces. 

What is a traveler's check?

For those of you new to foreign travel: a traveler's check is a form of Monopoly money that the whole world has agreed to treat as if it were real. It's a prepaid slip of paper worth $20, $50, or $100 (there are bigger denominations, plus tensies, but none are really useful for travel). 

You buy these things at face value from your bank, AMEX travel office, or AAA office—though your bank may charge you a modest fee, and only AAA members and AMEX cardholders can buy the things from those respective businesses without paying the usual 1% to 4% commission. 

There's a space on the check where you sign each and every one before you take off on your trip (there are "couples" version that you both sign then either can use them).

Each check has a serial number, and you jot that down in two places: once on a list to carry with you, the other on your backup info sheet. You'll see why in a minute.

The cons

Cashing a traveler's check—exchanging it for local currency—can be a tedious process.

First, you have to find a bank (and "banker's hours" in most countries are even more restrictive than back home), an American Express office, or (in a pinch, since the rate will be crummy) an exchange booth. Many shops and hotel front desks will accept them, too, but at abysmal rates.

So go to the bank. Wait in line. Dig your passport out of your moneybelt (it's the only acceptable ID). Wait for them to go photocopy it. Countersign and date all the checks you're going to cash (these days often limited to $200 total per visit—if the bank even accepts them), and carefully cross each check's serial number off your master list (again, more on that in a sec).

In return for all this hassle and wasted vacation time, the bank will give you local currency at a lousy rate while charging a high commission fee.

Excited yet? There is a point to all this: insurance.

The pros

Traveler's checks still have one huge advantage over any other form of carrying money. If lost or stolen, traveler's checks will be replaced by the issuer, free of charge.

Remember the step back before you left home where you wrote down the checks' serial numbers? And then you crossed each one off as you cashed it?

That's crucial, because when you get back to your hotel at the end of the day you have to cross those numbers off the master list of all your checks' serial numbers on your backup info sheet—the one you laboriously copied down on a separate sheet of paper and have been carting around with you, making sure to keep it in an entirely different place from the checks themselves. (See, if you lose the checks and the list, you're out of luck because you can't tell AMEX, or whomever, which ones to replace.)

Traveler's checks are also computer-proof —sometimes you'll find the ATMs of an entire town evilly disposed to your bank card or Visa (perhaps a computer glitch or the phone connections to check your PIN are down).

A handful of traveler's checks in your moneybelt can save the day, and they remain the safest way to carry your dollars.

The tips

  • Get checks issued in dollar amounts (as opposed to, say, euros or pounds) as they will be more widely accepted abroad—especially if you have some left over at the end of your European holiday and will be using them on a later trip to Costa Rica or something. 
  • Buy traveler's checks in a few different denominations. Cash $100 checks when you'll be in town for a while and $50 ones near the end of your visit so you don't end up with extra foreign currency. If you're just passing through a country quickly (say, Switzerland, England, or Croatia, none of which are on the euro), a $20 check or two may come in handy. 
  • Obscure areas, especially smaller towns and islands, may have no bank. In a crunch you can always change a check at a local business, usually at a pretty pathetic rate (though sometimes you just show the merchant the rate quoted in the most recent Herald Tribune and he'll happily exchange at that price, usually without charging you a fee or anything). 
  • You'll have no problem getting checks branded American Express, Visa, or Thomas Cook —especially AMEX—accepted at major businesses (discounting perhaps Angelo the town barber, or that elderly couple with the five-table trattoria). However, paying for a meal, purchase, or hotel room directly with a traveler's check is a good way to ensure you get the worst possible exchange rate. Use your checks to get local cash at a bank or the American Express office, not as currency.

The resources

American Express - The most widely accepted checks. They will also sell checks to holders of most types of American Express cards at no commission.

AAA - Your local AAA auto club will sell members AMEX-branded traveler's checks at no fee.

Thomas Cook  - Britain's mighty financial and tourism operator issues MasterCard-branded traveler's checks.

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Airfares

You could easily do a whole app dedicated to finding the best airfares (and I will soon), but in super-brief, the most important steps to finding the cheapest plane tickets are:
  1. Use an aggregator to search many airlines, booking engines, and travel agencies at the same time (Momondo, VayamaLink, Cheapflightslink, DoHop, Kayak)
  2. Compare to a consolidator that buys airfares wholesale and passes along some of the savings to you (AutoEurope, CheapTicketsPartner, CheapOAirpartner, OneTravel)
  3. Consider using a bidding site (Priceline) or opaque booking site (Hotwire) to try for even lower fares, often in exchange for giving up some control (like picking precise airports, flight times, or number of stops)
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Gear

These are the stores where I shop for nearly all my travel gear. Why do so many seem aimed at the outdoorsy crowd? Clothing and equipment made for campers is far more ingeniously designed and better field-tested than stuff made for the general market.

REI

One of the best outdoors, camping, and adventure travel outfitters for 65 years. Lots of high-tech clothing designed for heavy-duty wear, travel, camping, and sport. It's a co-op, so if you become a member ($15 to join for life), you get 8% back on REI purchases at the end of the year.

Shop REI

Magellan's

Clothing, luggage, and lots of travel gadgets—some exceedingly useful, others faintly ridiculous. (Seriously, who needs a portable oxygen mask?) However, it does carry some prime merchandise difficult to find elsewhere, and Magellan's really is the place to go for obscure but useful travel gadgets and electrical adaptors for countries you can't even spell properly.

Shop Magellans

EMS

REI's archrival. Perhaps a shade more focused on outdoorsy products than travel items, but still a great resource.

Shop EMS

Sierra Trading Post

Overstock outdoor gear and travel clothes at 35% to 70% off. Since it's all bargain-bin stock, the selection can be hit-or-miss, but the savings are great.

Shop Sierra Trading Post

TravelSmith

High-quality clothing and luggage (and some gadgets) selected to be ideal for traveling. Sadly, in recent years its focus has drifted from true travel gear toward merely fashionable clothing. The women's clothing is less reliable than men's—usually excellent, but sometimes a big letdown in terms of quality or looks.

Shop TravelSmith

L.L. Bean

This Maine camping clothier and catalog has been a legend since it sold its first pair of duck boots in 1912. Its travel specialty gear is, as with most of their stock, the ultimate in durability, quality, and utility (if not always style). Best bit: "We guarantee all items for the useful life of the product." Once you buy something from L.L. Bean, it's yours for life. With such high quality and that guarantee, it doesn't matter that the prices might be a bit above what you could find elsewhere—it'll last you three times as long.

Shop L.L. Bean
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Hotels

You could easily do a whole app dedicated to the best tips, tricks, and resources for finding a place to stay (and I will soon), but in super-brief, the best resources for seeking out the best hotels for your money are:
  1. Use a better booking engine. My favorites include Booking.com and Venere.com (strongest in Europe)—both of which include tons of small, mom-and-pop hotels that more famous booking sites miss, as well as B&Bs, agritourism/farm stays, and other intriguing non-hotel options—as well as the other options below: Booking.com Venere.com Airbnb.com Priceline Hotwire Bedandbreakfast.com GetaRoom Hostelworld

  2. Read your guidebooks. The authors of the better guidebooks will have expended a lot of time and energy examining 40 or 50 hotels in town in order to figure out which 20 hotels offer the best value in each price category or style. The hotel reviews will be done with a professional, critical eye, and in comparison to what other local hotels are like.


  3. Peruse TripAdvisorTripAdvisor. It's hard to find a hotel without at least a few reviews on this granddaddy of crowdsourced review sites. Just take all reviews with a grain of salt.

     TripAdvisorTripAdvisor reviewers aren't pros, so sometimes they will complain about aspects of a hotel (say, small rooms) that are common to all hotels in that particular country—they're simply not what the ill-informed reviewer is used to. Usually the reviewer had one experience in one room. She might have stayed on an off day for the manager, or unwittingly had the best (or worst) room in the house, or was in a bad mood herself, or it was pouring rain the whole time, or it was her honeymoon and everything she saw was sweetness and light.... The review will be colored by such things, good and bad.

    Don't both reading TripAdvisorTripAdvisor reviews older than a year or two. Things will undoubtedly have changed (from minor renovations to new staff or even management). In the end, it's best to treat TripAdvisorTripAdvisor (and other crowdsourced) reviews like Olympic judges' scores: toss out the highest and lowest ones (the absolute raves and the total pans), and focus on what the folks in the middle say. That way you also adjust for those dastardly fake reviews planted by friends or foes of the hotel in question.
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About this site



Nobody returns from a trip saying, "Next time, we should pack heavier."

About the site About Reid Bramblett Fine Print
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The site

This site will show you how to pack everything you need for any trip into a carry-on-sized bag—with room left over for souvenirs.

Trust me. I've been a travel writer for nearly two decades. I've been on more trips than I can remember, and I have used this list for everything from long weekends in Morocco to three weeks in Antarctica to five months in Italy.

Why this site?

It used to be that whenever I packed for a trip, I was constantly running back and forth to my computer to tick items off the packing list page I keep on my website, ReidsGuides.com.

Once I got an iPhone, I figured I could just access the list on that, but it didn't work especially well because most websites is not optimized for a phone screen.

So I continued to dash back and forth—and eventually figured out it would be easier, in the long run, just to learn how to build a mobile/app version.

What's on the site

This app site was just going to be a checklist—honest it was. But then I figured I should offer some advice on each item (not just pants but which kinds of pants were best for travel). And, so as long as I was doing that, why not describe two to four of the best actual pairs of pants with which to travel? Same goes for neck pillows, or bathroom bags, or moneybelts. Oh, and the bags in which to pack it all.

Then I realized that "packing" wasn't just about the items you put in your luggage, but also all the elements of preparing for a trip: getting passports and plane tickets, considering insurance and perusing hotels, choosing guidebooks and figuring out how you're going to stay in touch on the road, picking a method for carrying and accessing money and deciding which phrasebooks or translator apps work best for you. And so on.

The simple checklist feature is still front and center—you can access it from the bottom of any page on the app, and it will remember each item you tick off every time you return to it—but all that other stuff is in here as well, alongside general tips on packing, safety, electronics, health, and much more.

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Reid Bramblett

This site was written and designed by guidebook author and travel expert Reid Bramblett.

Why bother listening to Reid's advice?

Reid has worked as a travel editor at a major guidebook publisher (Frommer's), magazine (Budget Travel), and website (MSNBC.com), and continues to contribute freelance travel articles to many publications.

Reid has traveled to 45 countries on all seven continents, logged hundreds of thousands of miles, and spent nearly a third of his life traveling or living abroad.

Reid's guidebooks

Reid has authored or contributed to more than 30 guidebooks, and collectively updated them over more than two dozen editions—including Frommer's Italy from $90 a Day, DK's Eyewitness Top 10 Milan & the Lakes, and Frommer's Memorable Walks in New York—and has contributed to more than two dozen others, most recently to Pauline Frommer's Italy.

He has spent many years professionally investigating the finer points of packing and preparing for travel. Among his books are the trip-planning guides The Complete Idiot's Guide to Planning Your Trip to Europe and Europe for Dummies (yes, both of them), and for years he penned the planning chapters for Frommer's Europe and Frommer's Europe on $xx a Day.

Reid in print

As a daily travel reporter for MSNBC.com in 2003, Reid won two Lowell Thomas awards for travel writing.

Reid has written feature articles for many publications, including Newsweek, the Miami Herald,Yahoo.com, Dallas Morning News, Modern Bride, AOL.com, and Spirit (Southwest Airline's in-flight).

He is a frequent contributor to TravelandLeisure.com, a Contributing Writer at Condè Nast's Concierge.com, and a Contributing Editor to Budget Travel magazine, where he formerly served as Associate Editor.

Reid's weekly adventure column, "The Intrepid Traveler," has appeared in the Chicago Daily Herald, St. Petersburg Times, and the Tampa Bay Times.

Reid on the air

Reid Bramblett has appeared as a travel expert on CNN, Fox NEWS, the Travel Channel, and the New York City affiliates of ABC, Fox, and UPN. He has also been a guest on various NPR programs and stations.

He appears as the Cultural Anthropologist on the Travel Channel series Cruises We Love, and is the occasional cohost of the weekly nationally syndicated radio call-in show "The Travel Show with Arthur Frommer" (Sundays noon–2pm; www.wor710.com).

Reid in person

Reid lectures regularly on Italy and other travel topics at the Smithsonian Institution, and has spoken at many other venues, including the New York Times Travel Show, the New York Explorer's Club, many bookstores and libraries, and various professional conferences, including those of SATW (the Society of American Travel Writers, where he recently stepped down from the post of Active-at-Large).

Reid has also acted as a travel consultant for national tourism boards, major tour companies, scout troops, executives planning trips, and couples looking for something special on their next vacation.

Reid on the web

Reid maintains the award-winning ReidsGuides.com trip-planning site, which has been recommended by CNN, USA Today, Smart Money, The Washington Post, MSNBC.com, Frommers.com, Fodors.com, Men's Health, Away.com, and National Geographic Traveler, and was proclaimed "Among the best" by Arthur Frommer.

He has also launched ReidsItaly.com (devoted to Italy travel) and TheIntrepidTraveler.net (devoted to adventure travel).

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Fine print

Terms of use

The information contained on this site is personal opinion and is intended for informational purposes only. All assertions of fact were as accurate as we could make them at the time of publication, and we cannot be held responsible for any changes that have happened since.

This site links to various online sites we think might be useful to travelers and readers, but we cannot be held responsible for the quality of information or other content on those sites.

The images of individual products (and much of the text describing them) are adapted from the catalogs of the various resellers linked to for each item. Otherwise, all general text is the copyright of Reid Bramblett. Of those icon images not created by Reid Bramblett, some were adapted from images in the public domain, others were adapted from the Map Icons Collection and are used under a Creative Commons License.

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Privacy policy

The privacy of our users is important to us.

At ReidsGuides, we recognize that privacy of your personal information is important. Here is information on what types of personal information we receive and collect when you use this app, and how we safeguard your information.

First, we don't collect any personal information on you at all—we don't even know who you are, unless you send us an e-mail—and we would never sell your personal information to third parties even if we did know.

Frankly, we wouldn't even know how to do that. We're just an informational app, run by an independent travel journalist, and know only (barely) enough programming to make the app look more or less how we pictured it. Also, we hate junk mail and spam just as much as you do, and would never do anything to subject our loyal readers to any more of it than they already receive.

Your device on which this app is running, like all such devices, keeps track of geolocation data and the like, but this app does not make use of it.

And that's all I have to say about that.

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Partners

Let us make one thing clear: I am first and foremost a journalist. My primary goal is, and always shall be, to provide the best travel information and advice possible.

However, journalists have bills to pay, too.

A journalist's first job is the tell the truth, and the truth is that this site isn't going to pay those bills unless it can make money.

How this site makes money

There are excellent sites out there created by hobbyists that don't make any money, but I do this for a living, and I have been a full-time travel writer for 17 years. I am a professional—and that means at this site you will get professional-grade advice, reviews, and trip-planning information.

Although What Do I Pack is a travel information site, not a retail store, I understand that most of you are probably going to want to actually, you know, buy some of the items on the list.

That's why I have partnered with several respected retailers, using them to carefully select a handful of the best choices for each item on the packing list. In fact, in most cases, the first choice or two for any item is the actual one(s) I carry with me when I travel.

You'll notice I have two major partners for gear, REIREI and Magellan's—but that's mainly because about 90% of what I pack for my own trips comes from those two suppliers. (Moving to within a mile of an REI store was a glorious day for me—and a terrible one for my bank account.)

Again, I put journalistic integrity first. I recommend these partners only because they are genuinely superior, not because I get paid to do so.

Yes, I do get a small commission if you end up buying your shirt or luggage after clicking or tapping over to a partner.

However:

I work for you, not my partners

I am a bit of an old-school journalist, and still feel like my most important duty is to my readers. I work for you, the traveler.

You will notice that I also recommend other sites with whom I do not have a partnership—often ones that are direct competitors to my partners.

Other app publishers have called me foolish for doing this, but to me, offering solid, trustworthy travel advice some first; monetizing it comes last.

Thank you for your support.

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