Jim’s Travel Tips

I do carry a wallet when on foreign travel. But if your wallet is like mine, it has all kinds of cards, coupons, and memberships stored in it. Most of these are not needed or valid when you travel out of the US. If you will not be driving you may not want to carry your drivers license as you will have your passport for needed ID. I have a small folding wallet that can carry a few necessary cards and has a nice money clip for cash. This way you can keep the unnecessary cards, etc. at home in case something gets lost. Just take what you need. TIP: Bring a photo copy of all the cards you did bring in case of theft. This should include a copy of your passport. Include the back sides of credit cards as they provide phone numbers to call just in case. It might be a good idea to give a copy to someone at home too. Keep a “spare” credit card in your hotel safe along with your passport, as insurance against theft.

There are many theories on this topic – My philosophy is, when in doubt – tip. It is also good to ask the locals what the custom is. USA Today had a good article on tipping recently. Here is the link to the foreign tipping guide (I don’t know how long it will be active): www.usatoday.com/travel/world/2007-09-10-tipchart_N.htm

All frequent fliers have different ways to get over and deal with jet lag. Jet lag is something that is different for everyone. Some people really suffer from it while others barely notice a change at all. I’ve talked with lots of frequent travelers like myself and they all have slightly different methods of coping. But, they all swear by their own methods. So it is a good idea to try several different solutions on different trips to see what works best, or at all, for you. TIP: A fellow traveler used the following method, which he insisted was fool-proof. He would set his watch to the local time of his destination at takeoff. He would eat the meal as close as possible to fit the destination time schedule and take a Tylenol PM when it would be his destination sleep time.

In addition to helpful travel tips, I am always looking for unique travel products that make travel more pleasurable or comfortable. Airport shops are always a good place to hunt for such items, though may not have the best price. The airline magazines are also a good source of practical travel products as well as an entertaining source of strange products you could never imagine buying. TIP: To shop easily online, go to www.travelproducts.com

Frequent travelers develop all kinds of techniques to help overcome jet lag. Even travel in the US involves different time zones to get in sync with. Here is one of the simplest ones that can help you start to adjust. This one may seem trivial, but the small psychological effect it has could make all the difference. TIP: Adjust your watch to your destination time as soon as the plane takes off – get your mind changing to the new time zone immediately. If you have connecting flights in a time a zone different than your destination only adjust to the connecting time – you don’t want to miss the connecting flight.