Top Time Tested Travel Tips to Try

We are not professional travelers, but here are some things we have found that work for us and a few things to avoid.

• Make kids carry their own snacks and toys and books in a backpack. It makes them feel good about themselves and it is that much less that you have to carry. No one like a cranky kid.
• If your kids needs a car seat and a stroller and a diaper bag, don't go or leave them home.
• Don't bring too many bags, 2 per person should be the limit on the outbound trip. One check in and one carry on. We used to carry both of our bags on the plane, but we tired of fighting for space and carrying the bags so we switched to wheelie suitcases and checked them in.
• Use a luggage strap as extra protection for your checked luggage, attach it to the handle with a wire tie. Buy the same color strap for all your bags so you can identify them quickly.
• Keep a spare pair of socks and underwear in your carry on bag in case your luggage is delayed.
• If it can leak, it will leak, put it in a plastic bag.
• Bring snacks for adults too. No one like a cranky adult either.
• Pack clothes that have seen better days and discard them along the way. It leaves room for souvenirs. If you want to be altruistic, you could donate them, but then you should probably clean them first and not have packed such rags.

Here we have converted an old tee shirt into garland. and made a headband for my head. The flannel pants weren't making it home either.

• Most large cities have hop-on hop-off bus tours, use these to rest up after the inbound flight, to get your bearings and pick out what sights you want to see close up.
• Most cities have some sort of discount card, you can check out sights than you might not have felt were worth the price otherwise. Some include transportation, but do some simple math, not all are worth the price.
• Don't buy fragile souvenirs on the first day of a trip.
• Don't buy heavy books in the beginning of the trip.
• If you see something you want, buy it. You may never see it again. But didn't you just say...
• Duty free is a good deal if you know your prices or you didn't pick up that item when you first saw it.
• You may be on holiday, but your manners (if you ever had any) should not be.
• Check your passport expiration date 2 months before you leave. Every country has a different requirement for how long your passport needs to be valid.
• Leave copies of your passport with someone back home and keep a copy with you in a different place than where you keep your passport. 
• An overnight train could save the cost of a night in a hotel, but check the prices first.
• It doesn't hurt to learn some phrases in the language of the country you will be visiting. You won't be mistaken as a local, but they will see you tried and will get a laugh at your pronunciations.
• Thieves will know you are not a local, but you just have to be less of a boob than the next boob.