Travel Gems for February 22nd – 26th

Each Monday through Friday, a Travel Gem of the Day will be posted at SmartWomenTravelers.com. These Travel Gems are tips that will help a traveler travel smarter, safer, handle home issues, be prepared and enjoy their journeys.

Here are last week’s Travel Gems:

Monday Feb. 22nd – Start each trip with small bills for tipping and incidentals. Fellow travelers recommend starting each trip with $10 to $20 in one-dollar bills. This saves time, hassle and money! Without having a sufficient amount of small bills, the small tips typically end up being $5 tips vs. a dollar or two.

Tuesday Feb. 23rd – Multi-purpose hotel shower caps: Beyond using these to keep your hair dry, how about wrapping one around each shoe to keep the rest of the items in your luggage protected? Or slip one over your camera lens to keep light mist off the lens when you’re shooting photos.  I also wrap a shower cap around a can of hair mousse or hair spray, as these are the two items that most leak in my luggage.  They’re also good for wrapping around anything not fully dry, such as a damp bathing suit.

Wednesday Feb. 24th – For overnight walks to the bathroom where lack of light can cause bumps into doors or stubbed toes, pick up a small Night Light that will give off just enough light for safe bathroom trips and not add much to your luggage.

Thursday Feb. 25th – Are your documents protected in case your laptop is stolen? As a preventative measure, consider investing in Lojack For Laptops. Lojack is software that will help secure your documents and recover you computer in case it is stolen. You can buy a 3-year license for $63.49, but do this now or it will be too late once your laptop has already disappeared.

Friday Feb. 26th – Like to journal your travels but don’t want the weight of the journal? I like to write in a travel journal to keep track of where I’ve been, who I met, where I stayed and ate and anything else of interest. But I often do not want to carry the travel journal with me due to the added weight. When I leave it at home, I instead buy a few postcards and make my notes on the back of these.  I slip these into my journal when I get home.

If you would like a favorite travel tip of yours to be included in the Travel Gem of the Day, email your tip, name and website to travelgem@smartwomentravelers.com.