Sydney: Kings Cross & Potts Point

When I'm on the road, I often have to use the hotel iron before heading out to business meetings. But getting water into the iron can be a hassle--most irons won't fit under the sink faucet, and using a glass to pour water into the tiny hole is nearly impossible without spilling everywhere. There's an easy solution: Use the carafe from the coffee maker. Just be sure the carafe is clean, or you could end up with coffee stains on your clothes.

When planning a vacation, we send away for brochures from major tour operators. They provide hotel and restaurant recommendations and sightseeing itineraries, which we then duplicate on our own. Use this trick to mimic the vacation packages of high-end tour operators for what can turn out to be a fraction of the cost.

Before exchanging foreign currency at the airport, find out if there's a departure tax. At the Bangkok airport, we were very upset- as were travelers around us- to find we had to pay a fee before continuing to our gate. Unfortunately, by that point everyone had cashed in their baht, so the options were a conveniently located ATM, a credit card, or an exchange booth with notably poor rates. When we described this incident to friends, they told us of a similar experience when trying to leave the Dominican Republic.

On international flights, I used to fumble through my belongings--often having to retrieve them from the overhead bin--after a flight attendant appeared with customs and immigration forms. (I don't know of many people who have their passport's number and date of issue memorized.) Now I write all that info on the bookmark of whatever I plan to read on the long flight so I don't have to dig out my passport. I can fill out the card quickly--giving me more time to loan my pen to all the people who never seem to carry one.

My husband and I keep the stretchy slipper-socks that some airlines provide. (We've gotten them on Virgin Atlantic in economy class and on almost all airlines in business class.) They're great to use when packing shoes: Just slip each shoe into a sock, and you'll prevent clothes from getting marked up by the soles. As a bonus, you'll have slippers to wear when you're away from home. The socks are machine-washable and can last for many years.

Finding healthy breakfast alternatives at an airport can prove difficult. I always travel with an insulated travel mug. Before leaving home I fill it with a high-protein cereal and then request low-fat milk on the flight.

Bring your own linens. They're useful in a million different ways. Obviously a soft cotton pillowcase makes those scratchy airplane pillows bearable, but it can also be used to gather loose items when deplaning. A nice sheet will cover up an ugly bedspread or sofa, and makes a great tablecloth or picnic blanket.

Paper place mats can be useful anywhere there's an outdoor shower. By stepping onto a place mat after a bush shower in Botswana, I managed to keep my feet clean and avoided getting dirt in my clothes.

For long overnight flights, pack a dry washcloth in a Ziploc bag in your carry-on. Before landing, ask the flight attendant for a cup of hot (not boiling) water. Carefully pour the water into the Ziploc bag and then wipe your face and hands with the steaming cloth. It's like a portable sauna!

I'm a gadget freak, and I don't like to travel without things like my digital camera and iPod. On one trip, though, I put my camera down in a crowded restaurant and then forgot to put it back in my bag. By the time I remembered it, the camera was long gone. Now, I attach those kinds of items to my daypack with a lanyard. They're still easy to pull out and use, and they never get left behind.

I've discovered a wonderful way to enjoy massages at a fraction of the usual cost. Some massage-training schools provide superb service in a spa-type environment. Do a Google search to see if there are training programs near your next vacation destination.

Everyone knows that duct tape is great for helping out in travel emergencies, but no one wants to lug around a bulky roll of the stuff. By wrapping a few feet onto a pencil or ballpoint pen, you'll get a miniature roll that does not take up much in the way of additional space.

The help of a concierge at an expensive hotel is available even if you're staying at a motel across the street. Go to the concierge with $5 (or whatever the assistance is worth to you) held discreetly but visibly in your hand. Chances are you won't be asked whether you're staying at the hotel. This worked for us once when we were stranded by a blizzard. We tried to rebook our flights on our own, but phones at the airlines were busy for two days straight. The concierge at a fancy hotel a few blocks away got through on his first try and managed to rearrange our flights for us.

While traveling abroad, I've frequently encountered some appallingly bad (and often very funny) English translations of menus. In those cases, I simply offered to clean up the translations in exchange for a meal. This has worked quite a few times.

I agree that the anti-seasickness medication for cruises, Bonine, is excellent and effective; but there is a budget way to buy it. The primary ingredient in Bonine is meclizine (25 mg). While a package of eight Bonine tablets costs just over $4 at a drugstore, you can buy a bottle of 100 generic meclizine (25 mg) for about the same price. This is an over-the-counter (no prescription needed) item, but you usually have to ask for it at the pharmacy counter.

I have the words "hotel" and "taxi" on my cell- phone speed dial. On a trip, I change the numbers, but leave the preprogrammed titles the same--instant access and no more little slips of paper everywhere.

Deli counters in grocery stores are great mealtime alternatives to restaurants or fast-food fare when you're exploring the United States. The food is fresh, there's a big variety (hot and cold), and economically, it's a great break. I recently had a complete hot meal, including beverage, for $3 from a grocery-store deli.

The couple of hangers provided on cruise ships aren't enough for weeklong trips. So I save wire hangers from the dry cleaner and slip a few into our suitcases while packing. I then leave them behind for the next passenger.

Ever since my children were small, I've carried recent, wallet-size pictures of them when we all go on vacation, in case we get separated. Now that they are teenagers and traveling with friends' families, too, I send pictures for the other family to bring along with them. I also write my telephone numbers on the back of the pictures so they know where to reach me in an emergency.

When you go to a convention or trade show, don't assume that the official prices at recommended hotels are the best you can do. Go to the hotel Web site. I recently got an AARP rate at a major hotel that was 30 percent below the special price offered through the tradeshow sponsors. AAA discounts often work, too.

My husband and I always travel around Europe by train. When we arrive in any city, we first stop at a ticket window and get all the information we'll need for the next leg of our journey. This gives us plenty of time to find an English-speaking ticket agent who'll print out departure times and platform numbers for us. Before leaving the station, we can note the location of the platform we'll be looking for that morning. One wrong move when you're rushing for a train and you could end up in the wrong city!

Pack a power strip and extension cord for your next cruise. Many cruise-ship cabins have only one out- let, but you'll definitely need more if you want to power up your laptop, iPod, cell phone, electric razor, hairdryer, or any other gadgets you bring on board.

I never leave home without dental floss. I've used it as a clothesline between tents in Botswana's Okavango Delta and to replace a lost screw for my sunglasses in Malaysia. I even cut off a piece of floss the size of my waist and headed to the night markets in Bangkok. My "tape measure" assured a perfect fit!

If you know you'll be cooking while on vacation, bring along small amounts of the spices you need for your favorite recipes. You'll save by not buying large containers of spices.

Accidentally reformat your camera's memory card? As long as you don't overwrite the disk by shooting more photos, those original pictures are still there. Buy another card to use in the meantime, and then, when you get home, either purchase a file-recovery software program (about $35) or take the card to a camera shop and see if someone there can help.

We were told by an airport security official to tape a business card onto the cover of our laptop. Turns out he has an average of six laptop computers left behind each day! There are so many more procedures now--removing shoes, removing coats--that people forget when they send their laptop through in a separate bin. The official added that it's very difficult to return them because most laptops have passwords that keep the owners' personal information hidden.

As a flight attendant, I'm always amazed by the stuff that people leave behind. Most of it never gets back to its rightful owner because there's no way of knowing who the owner is. To avoid misplacing your property, put things back into your carry-on after using them--never on the floor or in the seat-back pocket. Label important items like books or games with return address labels so they can be sent back to you if found.

Get the right maps. For road trips on the Continent, European maps are much more helpful when it comes to reading road signs. They'll say Napoli instead of Naples, Firenze rather than Florence. I could spend all day waiting for a road sign for Munich and miss the exit for Munchen.

Check out grocery stores in Europe for bargains on wine. On our last trip to Italy, I found a 1993 Banfi Brunello in a small market for $16. If I could find it at all in my local wine shop, that same bottle would cost more than $100. I only wish I had listened to my husband and bought all three of the bottles the store had.

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