Rome: Essentials

Make a master list of jobs to do around the house before you leave (hold the mail, water the plants, take out the garbage). Keep the list on your computer, print it out, then check off each job as it gets done. You'll be able to go without worrying that you forgot to stop the newspaper.

If you're on a road trip with young children and you're looking for a place to let them blow off some steam, check out the playgrounds at local elementary schools. They almost always have equipment that your children will love to explore. It will also give everyone in the family a welcome chance to stretch their legs.

If you've accumulated more souvenirs on your trip than you can carry, drive your rental car up to curbside check-in, then return the vehicle and come back on the shuttle bus with only your carry-on. This only works if there's no check-in line, but can save dragging your luggage onto the shuttle bus, across parking lots, etc.

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.

About a month before leaving on vacation, I start clipping the crossword puzzles from the daily newspaper and pasting them into a blank notebook. The puzzles keep me occupied during my trip. The newspaper's crosswords are so much more interesting than the generic books of them you can purchase at the airport.

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!

I was heading to the hotel ice machine when I noticed that our ice bucket was looking very tired and missing its disposable plastic liner. My solution: the shower cap that we never use anyway. In fact, it actually worked better than the liner bag because the elastic band held it in place around the top of the bucket.

I use an inexpensive, thumb-size USB flash drive to store medical and insurance contacts, confirmation codes, credit card numbers, addresses, and phone numbers. It fits in a secure zip pocket in my travel purse. If I don't have my laptop, I can insert the flash drive in most hotel or Internet café computers. Some USB flash drives password-protect your data, or you can download a free encryption program.

My friends and I contribute to a kitty and use that money to pay for group expenses such as taxis and meals. It saves us from having to figure out each person's share at every stop. At the end of the trip, we split what remains.

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.

Scuba-diving vacations can get expensive. As I start planning a trip, I call one of the local PADI dive shops and ask the employees about accommodations nearby. They give me hotel connections I couldn't find on my own, and I often save enough to pay for my dives.

Don't be too quick to grab one of those GST tax-rebate envelopes that are everywhere in Canadian airports. The envelopes look official, but they're really from companies that process the request for you and often pocket 15 percent or more. Instead, go to the Canada Revenue Agency Web site (cra-arc.gc.ca), download the Application for Visitor Tax Refund, and then file the request yourself. Your check will arrive in a few weeks. Just remember to get your receipt stamped by the Canada Border Services Agency at the airport.

Before I embark on a trip, I cover the dirt of my potted plants with plastic bags after watering them well. (Cut a few slits in the bags and keep plants out of direct sunlight.) The soil will stay damp for about three weeks.

A small compass is a great travel aid. Aside from the obvious benefits during country drives or hikes, it's extremely helpful in navigating winding city streets and orienting yourself once you exit a subway station.

Before traveling overseas, look at your health insurance card. If it only shows an 800 or 888 number for precertification of hospital admissions, call that number and obtain the local number with an area code. Many 800 numbers can't be dialed from foreign countries. I learned this the hard way during an emergency hospital admission in Switzerland. The delay in reaching my carrier could have been avoided.

Frequent fliers should consider noise-cancellation headphones. They have a built-in device that "hears" low-frequency sound just before you do and generates a sound wave that cancels it out. Several manufacturers make them, ranging in price from $40 to $300 or so.

Cold-weather traveling means turning up the thermostat in your hotel room, and along with the artificially warmed air come dry skin and static electricity. Instead of turning on the heat, fill the bathtub with very hot water and leave the bathroom door open. In about an hour, your entire room will be warm and humidified.

If you plan to travel to a less-developed country, pack an extra suitcase with hand-me-downs of all sizes. Housekeepers and other resort workers make so little money that the clothes are greatly appreciated. On your way home, you can use that empty suitcase for souvenirs.

Paramedics now look for emergency contact information in victims' mobile phones. Store the word "ICE" (In Case of Emergency) in your address book, along with the name and number of the person you'd like emergency personnel to call on your behalf. (For more than one entry, use ICE1, ICE2, etc.) Tell your friends or family members that you've chosen them as your contacts and make sure they're aware of any medical conditions or allergies that could affect your treatment.

Driving around Italy last summer, my husband and I found that even the most detailed maps left us scratching our heads in confusion. Desperate and lost, we decided to follow a tour bus. Guess what? It got us exactly where we wanted to go.

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.

To find a reasonably priced villa or apartment to rent, try going directly to the owner through a site such as abritel.fr. (Click on the British flag for English.) I arranged to spend two weeks in an apartment in Brittany and one week in an apartment in the Loire Valley, all for a total of $800.

Ask your flight attendants for dining, lodging, shopping, and sightseeing advice. Most crews have up to the minute information gleaned from layovers, which they're more than happy to share with passengers. You can count on flight attendants to seek out budget treasures. I know—I've been married to one for more than 21 years!

If you even manage to get a cell signal while at sea, your roaming charges will be outrageous. To communicate with your cabinmates, leave Post-it Notes on your door detailing where you'll be throughout the day.

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.

You can suspend more than your newspaper when you're away. On several occasions, DirecTV has agreed to put my account on hold while I was traveling--without penalties, additional fees, reconnection charges, or the like. So, instead of a monthly bill of $65, mine gets prorated.

Know your PINs! My husband and I left home with very little cash on us, and instead of stopping to get money at the airport, my husband--ever the procrastinator--decided to wait until we got to Cancún to use his ATM card. Guess what? It didn't work in any of the machines. And although he had several credit cards for cash advances, he didn't know the PINs off the top of his head. We charged everything we could during our stay, but most of the markets don't take credit cards. Needless to say, I didn't come home with a lot of souvenirs.

Quotetravelinsurance.com gives you comparable details on more than one hundred travel-insurance plans, enabling you to make the best buy. It relies on ratings from insurance industry overseers such as A.M. Best and state insurance commissioners before allowing an insurance company into its extensive lineup.

I bought several items while in London and noticed when I returned home that my credit card number was printed in full on each sales slip. (In the United States, usually only the last four digits of the number are visible.) Travelers should be careful when using their credit cards overseas--don't leave the sales slips lying around.

You can enjoy free airport-area parking by staying the night before departure at an airport hotel or motel that offers park-and-fly rates. The cost of that overnight (which usually entitles you to two weeks of parking) is much less than what you'd otherwise pay at an airport parking lot.