To make your trip as smooth as possible take the time before you leave to perform some preventative measures. A little time invested will enable you handle the unexpected curve ball thrown your way. The following travel tips and tricks should have you well on your way to a stress free vacation or business trip.

•  Before leaving home, add important telephone numbers into your cellular phone. Enter the telephone numbers for your hotel, airline, car rental agency and travel agency. This way if you have any delays or problems, coming or going, you can easily place any necessary calls.

•  If you’ve missed your flight or connection, call the airline directly instead of standing in line for a ticket agent.

•  When making a hotel reservation be sure to clearly state the type of beds that you want, i.e., king, queen, etc. Confirm the type of bed that is on your reservation. At check-in request a room that does not face traffic or is near elevator or vending machines. If you are a member of the hotel’s rewards club, check to see if the hotel offers a late checkout.

•  Afraid you might lose your cellular phone? Don’t wear a watch. This will force you to check your cellular phone for the time which will alert you more quickly if you misplaced your phone.

•  It is easy to misplace a purse if you are bringing along a carry on. The carry on may feel like your purse at times and make it easy to forget you should have two items over your shoulder instead of one. If you are afraid you’ll lose your purse, wear a waist pack instead. 

•  Print out a local map, review it ahead of time and bring it with you. It will save stress.

•  Call the airline ahead of time to make sure you are earning frequent flyer points.

•  Download pictures from your digital camera before trip. This way if your camera gets lost during your trip, you won’t lose any other precious memories.

•  If taking a picture of your hotel room is a vacation tradition, snap a picture of your room before you unpack a thing. This way everything will still be neat, tidy and in place in your room.

•  Have a medical condition or allergy to food and traveling out of the US? Prior to leaving have someone who is fluent in that language write down your allergy and problems/questions that may pertain to it. Such as, “Are there nuts in this item?” or perhaps you may need to state, “I need immediate medical attention for …” Be sure to have the English translation written next to it

Wishing you a safe and problem-free vacation!