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Here are a few things to keep in mind before you pack your bags to go to a far-off new place.

Steps

1. Consult travel agencies to find out the places times of the year to travel to different places. It is their job to be familiar with the travel trends and they will most likely have some good advice.
2. If there is a specific place you want to visit, check out a current travel guide from the library or buy an inexpensive one. These books normally have suggestions and reviews on places to eat, places to stay, and things to do.
3. Yahoo has chatrooms and sometimes even message boards geared toward specific cities. If you’re brave enough you can always pop online and ask for some tips from the locals.
4. If you are going to a foreign country, find the website for their local US Embassy. the United States government works to keep Americans safe across the globe and often has information we need to keep in mind when traveling abroad.

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• How to Choose a Travel Agent
• How to Plan a Ski Vacation to Jackson Hole
• How to Plan for a Perfect Holiday

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world’s largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Research Whether and How to Travel to a Particular Location. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Are you one of those people who just love to make your friends jealous by sending off giant emails with every detail of your trip? Well, technology has improved to the point that you can now go one better. By keeping a Travel Blog as you move along, you’ll be able to keep all your friends up to date on what you’re up to, without clogging up their inbox. You can also upload Photos from the road, and even track your progress on a World Map!

Steps

1. Do some Research. There are plenty of good Blog hosts out there, and several of them are tailored specifically to Travelers. While you can’t really go wrong with a generic Blog host like Blogger, you’ll probably be better off going with a host that specializes in Travel Blogs. Here are a few Free options that offer unlimited Photo storage and will plot your travels on a Map:
   • Blogabond.com
   • TravelBlog.org
   • VirtualTourist.com
2. Do some more research. Then sign up for an account. Don’t forget your username and password!
3. Get a good Digital Camera, and make sure it has a standard format memory card. Most modern cameras will use Secure Digital (SD) or Compact Flash (CF) memory cards. Be sure that you have a little USB card reader for the type of memory that your camera uses. Some brands, such as Cannon, will have a special cable that you can use to plug the camera directly into a computer. Don’t forget to bring this along!
4. Send off a HUGE Email to everybody you know, telling them where to find your Blog.
5. Go!
6. Jot down details about your trip every once in a while. Try doing this while it’s still fresh in your mind. You can refer back to these later when you’re writing a blog entry, making sure you don’t forget any details.
7. Find Internet Cafes on The Road. Log onto your Blog host and spout off about the great time you’re having. Computers at most internet cafes will have USB ports that allow you to plug in your card reader or digital camera to transfer photos. If not, they’ll always have at least one machine with a universal reader. Just ask the guy at the desk.
8. When you get home, edit some of those frantic posts you made from the road. Upload some more photos now that you have a better internet connection. Polish your Blog so that others can stumble across it and use it for inspiration!

Tips

• Don’t be afraid to create accounts with a few different Blog hosts. Try posting a few sample trip reports to get a feel for how they will look. Pick the host that feels best for you.
• Internet Cafes usually have really slow internet connections. Try uploading just a few of your best photos while you’re on the road, then come back later and upload the rest from a faster connection.

Warnings

• Some Blog Hosts will want to put advertising on your Blog pages. Try writing a few test entries and make sure that your Blog is not lost in a sea of banner ads!

Related wikiHows

• How to Not Carry a Map
• How to Plan a Road Trip
• How to Stay Occupied on a Long Trip
• How to Travel Around the World
• How to Travel Beyond the Tour Bus
• How to Travel With One Bag
• How to Keep a Diary and Stick to It

Sources and Citations

• Blogabond.com - Travel Blogs, Maps and Community for World Travelers
• TravelBlog.org - Travel Blogs, Journals, Diaries and Photos
• VirtualTourist.com - Travel Guides, Maps, Photos and more

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world’s largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Keep a Travel Blog. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Ever find that your passengers can’t sleep, eat or even have a comfortable ride? Make things a bit more comfy with these suggested tips.

Steps

1. Try a different seating arrangement. In order to travel in a van with comfort try this seating arrangement for four people:
   • Lay down the middle seat.
   • Next flip the back seat back so it’s touching the trunk door.
   • Now three people can sit there. The person seated in the passenger seat can now recline.
2. Fix it for meals. For dining, pull the back seat all the way forward. Now just put down the middle seat and use it as a table.
3. Create a tailgate party arrangement. To have a great tailgate party, flip the back seat around and open the trunk door like an awning.
4. Sleep happily. To sleep, recline every seat for use as beds.

Tips

• Maximize room for the passengers. Store items in trunk or under seats and in the legroom spots. Pack light.

Warnings

• Do not allow passengers to sleep in the reclining position while the van in is motion. This will prevent the seatbelts from working properly should there be an accident.
• Pack carefully; ensure that heavy objects are neatly tucked away and cannot fly about the van in the event of stopping suddenly or rolling.
• Make sure everyone is wearing their seatbelts at all times. Do not create seating arrangements that prevent proper wearing of seatbelts.
• Do not obstruct airbags with items or seating arrangements.

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• How to Enjoy a Car Trip
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Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world’s largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Travel Comfortably in a Van. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

This article is a stub. You can help by expanding and clarifying it. Notice added on 2007-11-21.
Take your prescription medications with you when you travel, but protect yourself from trouble with authorities and with lost,stolen, or running out of medications.

Steps

1. Check the forms of medications you can take: liquids in certain quantities may be prohibited on airplanes. Remember, the pharmacy will pour liquid medication into smaller bottles for travel if you request it.
2. Take the medications in the original containers, bearing the name of the pharmacy and the prescribing physician.
3. Take a list of the generic drug names. If you run out of a prescribed medication abroad, you may be able to get an emergency refill, but the brand names may be different and unfamiliar in the country you’re traveling in. Physicians or pharmacists will more likely know the generic name.
4. Know the signs of over-medication and the antidote or other treatment. For example, if you take Coumadin, what do you do if you accidentally take too much?

Tips

• If you are going to be out and about most days, consider getting a “pill organizer” and put your days worth of pills in it each night.
• If you are only going to be gone a few days, you do not need to travel with all 30 days worth of your precription, leave extra pills at home with the exception of a few extra “just in case”

Warnings

• Some medications, such as most types of insulin, must be refrigerated. This must be planned for ahead of time.
• Always carry your original prescription bottle with you, especially if traveling abroad and going through customs.
• In many places, it is illegal to carry unmarked pills, this can be especially important if you are prescribed scheduled narcotics

Things You’ll Need

• Prescribed medications in their original bottles with labels
• optional pill organizer

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world’s largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Travel With Prescription Medications. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Traveling has become increasingly complex in these times of uncertain international security. It is almost always best to travel light, so that you can avoid unnecessary delays, and get to your destination most efficiently.

Steps

1. Get a small bag. The bag should be lightweight and easy to carry. It is helpful to have a bag that can be carried as a backpack, or as a shoulder bag depending on the circumstances. It is also handy if it has wheels. It is quite common to have to walk long distances, climb stairs and have to do many things at once, all while you have your bag with you.
2. Determine the climate conditions of your destination. Check the weather report, so that you know what type of clothing to bring with you. For example, if the weather is going to be warm, then there is no need to bring a heavy jacket. If it is going to be sunny, then bring a hat, etc.
3. Plan your wardrobe so that everything matches with everything else. This does not have to be monochromatic or boring. Rather, it suggests a minimalist approach to fashion. One skirt and a single pair of trousers can be matched with a t-shirt, a fancy blouse or a tank top to make six different outfits–plenty of clothes for a week journey. You can get fancy with a scarf, bandanna, hat or other uniquely “you” wardrobe piece. Also, be sure you have appropriate clothing for area you are visiting, and for holy sites if necessary. If done right, you might be able to get away with one load of laundry rather than ‘darks’ and ‘lights’.
4. Bring enough clean underwear so that you can get through at least half of your journey’s time without doing laundry, up to 10 days time. After that, you will have to do laundry anyway. This also goes for socks, if you will be wearing those daily. And, bring laundry supplies, if you are planning on doing laundry. (Note: just put enough dry detergent in a ziplock bag for as many loads as you plan to do–don’t bring the whole box.). Alternatively, if you are not moving much you can pack 3 days worth and regularly sink-wash them, allowing about a day for them to dry.
5. Bring at least two pairs of shoes that you can walk in comfortably. In the event that one pair gets wet, or your feet hurt unexpectedly, you will be incredibly grateful that you have that extra pair of shoes. You can wear one and carry the other. I also suggest bringing a fun or fancy pair of shoes, in case you want to go someplace like a club, a fancy dinner, or the opera. You never know who you may meet!
6. Consider your packing space carefully. Put items inside of other items, like those Russian nesting dolls. Roll clothes into small rolls to reduce wrinkling.
7. Pack your dry toiletries in the same bag, and your liquid and gel toiletries in another same bag. If you are going to be flying, then your liquid and gel toiletries must fit into a 1 quart/liter ziplog bag, and no one of the bottles can be more than 3 ozs.
8. If you have special supplies or equipment that you need to have with you, invest in high quality travel versions that fit into a smaller bag. Another alternative is to have these items sent ahead of you to your hotel or home stay where you can meet them later. This sometimes takes a bit of planning, but it is much easier than carting items around with you.
9. Keep your hand lotion, water, sunglasses, ear plugs, snacks, lipstick (or chapstick), toothbrush, floss, hair brush/comb, a change of underwear, pen, stickee notes, and any special medicines and necessary items you need in the top of your bag or in a separate hand bag, because you never know what may happen when you travel. As well, carry any valuables with you in this bag (e.g., camera, computer, jewelry, etc.)
10. Keep your ID, money, credit cards, in a security pouch. Keep some small currency in your pocket for little purchases (rather than pulling out everything each time). Carry photocopies of your ID, visas, and credit cards with you but in a separate compartment from the real ones (the idea being that if you lose one, you still have the other). Copies can also be scanned and kept on a USB thumb drive (possibly encrypted). Consider ‘buddy packing’ where your travel partner keeps your important photocopies and you keep theirs.

Tips

• Always know where your next bottle of water is coming from.
• Learn about where you are traveling to determine if you need to bring anything special that is difficult to find where you are going (such as bug spray, sunscreen or tampons).
• Find out from your airline if there are weight limits to carry on and checked baggage.
• Always have extra quart size ziploc bags (for various uses) and a plastic shopping bag in case your clothes get wet and you cant dry them before you pack again.
• Carry a bag of nuts. You never know when you might be on a long train ride with ridiculously expensive food. Nuts are good for you, non perishable and they satiate your hunger.
• Bring a small bottle of Dr. Bronners soap and seal it in a plastic bag. It can be used for soap, shampoo, toothpaste and laundry detergent.

Warnings

• Avoid bringing things that you “might” need, simply because you really like them. If you know that you are going to be hiking across Central America, and camping in the outback, then you probably are not going to need that fabulous Betsy Johnson empire mini dress. Take a photo of it, and bring it with you. You can look at it while you are in the outback to remind you of more glamorous times that you will revisit when you return. If your bag feels heavy while you are carrying it out of your house, then you have too much stuff.

Related wikiHows

• How to Pack for a Trip
• How to Travel by Air
• How to Be Comfortable on a Long Airplane Trip
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Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world’s largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Travel Light. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.