Shel Horowitz’s Monthly Frugal Fun Tip, November 2007

You might be starting to plan a winter vacation or holiday trip (or summer vacation if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere). When it comes time to pack, here are a few things you might not think about:

• An Ethernet cable: some hotels charge for wireless Internet access but don’t charge for cabled hookup.
• CDs or an iPod with car-stereo adapter for your rental car (we’re very fond of audiobooks for long trips–we get them out of our local home library and bring them with us).
• In your carry-on bag and not checked luggage:  a spare pair of undies and socks, prescription meds, eyeglasses, exposed film (are you still using film? I’m not), snacks for the plane in a see-through container and not containing cheese or jelly or liquid–in short, anything that’s hard to replace and would be a major inconvenience not to have. Also any electronics that are too breakable to trust to baggage handlers: camera, computer, etc. Why the undies? In case your bag doesn’t arrive with you–which has happened to me at least six times, and to many other people I know. Some relatives were once without their suitcases for three days when their luggage didn’t make the connection from London to Copenhagen and the bags had to be delivered to their cruise ship at its next port of call–in Estonia!
• Appropriate shoes for all activities, and especially for walking. You may also need beach and dress shoes.
• Adapters for anything you’re likely to run down, e.g., camera and laptop and cell phone.
• International adapters if you’re traveling to someplace that uses a different electricity standard.
• Cell phone that works in the country you’re traveling to (but check prices on calls before you go! We often don’t bother and buy a local phone card instead because it would be too expensive to actually use the cell phone). Note that many U.S. cell phones are not compatible with European infrastructure.
• Swimwear and workout clothes, even if you’re not going to the beach. Most hotels have pools and fitness centers; many have hot tubs.
• Paperwork on all reservations for hotel, air, rental car and/or bus/train, contact information for friends you intend to meet, etc.
• Passport, driver’s license, international driver’s license: the originals, plus a photocopy in a different part of your luggage, and another photocopy at home with a trusted friend.
• Any special medical or comfort (neck pillow, eyeshade, etc.) equipment and instructions.
• Stuff to do during down time: books, long-term writing projects (I’ve written chunks of several of my books while on vacation), games, whatever.
• An outer layer that will keep you comfortable at ten degrees F below the lowest temperature predicted.
• A portable dictionary if you’re going someplace with a different dominant language. (I also recommend listening to language tapes ahead of time.)
• Maps.
• Clothing that’s flexible in purpose, appropriate for formal and informal uses, comfortable, and very easy to care for–ideally something you can rinse out at night and have ready and dry the following morning.

You can find a whole lot more on frugal travel in my 280-page e-book The Penny-Pinching Hedonist: How to Live Like Royalty with a Peasant’s Pocketbook. Preview it at the Frugal Fun website and purchase it (for the princely sum of $8.50 U.S. on our order page (click on the colored links).

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