Travel Tips by
Budget Travel and Independent Traveler.com
Thwart Thieves: When you're driving a rental car on vacation, buy a local newspaper and keep in on the dashboard or on one of the seats. Burglars often target tourists but the papers will make your car look like it belongs to someone in the area.
Easy Money: In France, ATMS sometimes distribute 50 bank notes but many shopkeepers won't break them especially when you're buying a 2 euro pastry. However, if you make sure that your ATM withdrawals aren't divisible by 50, you'll get 20 euro notes. Fees add up so you don't want to take just 40 euros each time. Instead, request 130. Save the 50s for musuem shops, which have no problem breaking large bills.
What's in the bag: It's a good idea to keep a copy of your packing list with you when you travel. If the airline loses your lugagge, the list will come in handy when you need to replace the contents.
Clean sheets: If you're planning a trip and will be staying in a questionable hotel, make a sleeping bag out of a king size bedsheet and bring it with you. Just fold the sheet in half vertically and sew the bottom and two thirds of the side closed.
Laundry secret: Pack a few Purex 3-in-1 laundry sheets in a ziploc bag if you plan on doing laundry while on vacation. You use one sheet per load and it washes and softens clothes and eliminates static.
Conversions made easy: Instead of doing a mental calculation every time you buy something in a foreign country, print out a currency-conversion cheat sheet at oanda.com. A quick glance at the sheet will help you understand how much you're spending right away.
Food Abroad: Eating safe while travelling We all know the basics of developing safe eating habits while abroad such as drinking only bottled water, avoiding ice-cubes and salads unless you can ascertain both have been prepared using bottled water. However there are a number of other practices you can employ to avoid catching any tummy bugs. Consider turning vegetarian temporarily on your trips. Most food-borne illnesses are caused by eating meat so you can avoid this by opting for the cooked vegetarian options or fruits and vegetables that you can peel yourself. If you must eat meat then make sure it is well done. Avoid eating products that go off quickly without proper refrigeration such as mayonnaise, seafood and dairy products.
Blend In: To avoid looking like a foreigner, buy a local sports team's jersey. On a recent trip to South Africa, I bought a shirt with the logo of the national rubgy team. Each time I wore my Springbok jersey, everyone greeted me like an old friend or teammate.
Airplane Boredom Beater: After leafing through the airline's inflight magazine three times during recent flights, boredom on the plane seems to set in. Bring binoculars to peer out at the landscape below you.
