Tips, Advice, & How-To’s

Preparation

• How to Travel with Friends Without Wanting to Kill Each Other - Tips so that you can remain friends after you return.

• Why Travel Light? 10 Reasons to Pack Less - Reasons why packing and traveling light is the way to go.

• How to Pack and Travel Light - Know why you should? Then do it.

• Checking With the CDC before Leaving - Why checking the Center for Disease Control’s website is a prudent thing to do.

• Know Your Vaccinations Before Traveling - A guide to the most common vaccinations and preventive measures recommended prior to travel abroad.

• Don’t Be Feckless or Reckless, Use a Checklist – A guide on why and how to use a checklist as you pack for travels.

• Alternative Travel Terms - Some useful words, phrases, terms, and neologisms pertaining to alternative travel.

• Lose Your Preconceived Notions - Before planning a trip, forget everything that you’ve ever heard about the destination, and discover it for yourself.

Insight/Musings

• What Kind Of Traveler Are You? - There are many terms for the way each of us travels; neologisms and other expressions.

• I Believe That I Can Consider Myself A Traveler Now - When do I become a traveler?

• Minimizing Regrets by Traveling – Traveling as early as possible, to avoid possible future regret.

• The 48 Hour Jaunt – Traveling for brief periods, such as on weekends, to cooperate with a 9-5, M-F career.

• Satisfy Your Indulgences Abroad – Perhaps you should get that mani/pedi while traveling?

• See It Twice; Once Shouldn’t Suffice – Why you should give every destination a second chance.

Couchsurfing

• All About CouchSurfing: The Complete Guide - When you aren’t traveling, yet missing the feel of being abroad, why not host a friend or new acquaintance in your home from abroad?

• Giddy Nonetheless: Can’t Travel? Bring Destinations to You - When you aren’t traveling, yet missing the feel of being abroad, why not host a friend or new acquaintance in your home from abroad?

• Meeting the Locals Via CouchSurfing - How my trip to Warsaw was enriched exponentially by meeting some natives via CouchSurfing.org.

• Surfing My First Couch in Warsaw, Poland - A recap of how I lost my CouchSurfing virginity.

• How to Get Rich Hosting a Couchsurfer - All about the value a CouchSurfing host could receive from their guests.

• My First CouchSurfing Hosting Experience - The summary of my first time as a CouchSurfing host.

• CouchSurfers Can Be Bad Influences - I never knew Couchsurfers could be so fun!

• Gift and a Curse: Making Friends Abroad - How couchsurfers become great friends, but now I am compelled to visit them again, rather than traveling to new places!

En Route

• Four Items That Could Get You a Pat-Down from the TSA – A few items that could be discarded in carry-on luggage.

• 3 Tips for Traveling with Pets - A few tips for taking your pet on your next trip.

• Encountering The U.S. Customs and Border Protection – An experience with the U.S. C.B.P.

• The Best Programs to Speed You Through Airport Security – Expedited security programs from various countries, and how they stack up to each other.

• Talking to Airline Agents: Calm or Anxious? – Sometimes it pays to procrastinate and worry about being late!

Purchasing (Fares, Rooms, Etc.)

General

• How to Travel as Inexpensively as Possible - Ways to maximize mileage and minimize costs.

Flights – General

• How to Book Cheap Flights - Use these suggestions to virtually guarantee the cheapest fare possible.

• Which Airline Alliance Should I Join? - Things to consider as you navigate the pros and cons of each of the “Big 3″ airline alliances.

• Which Frequent Flyer Program Should I Join? - Factors that should be considered before choosing one program over another. Which program is best?

• The Mileage Run - What is it? How can it help me earn rewards? How can I construct one? An introduction to the creative art of mileage running, along with the proper methods to build your own.

• Finding Destinations By Deals, Rather Than Deals By Destination – A different approach to traveling on a budget.

• Airline Industry Terms - Some useful words, phrases, terms, and neologisms pertaining to the airline industry.

• Airport & Flight Terminology - Some useful words, phrases, terms, and neologisms pertaining to flights and airports.

Flights – Kayak.com

• How to Use Every Option to Find the Ideal Flight - Guide to all the flight search features and options available on Kayak.com to help you find the perfect flight at the best price.

Flights – Flyertalk.com

• Get in the Know: Navigating FlyerTalk.com - Guide to using the foremost frequent flier forum to obtain inside deals on airfare, mileage runs, and program points.

Accommodations – General