Sink plugs and other traveling essentials

Though it might be nice to travel with my cowgirl boots and electric curling iron, I know there are bigger benefits to packing light: speed and mobility. If I can carry my own bag easily, I can be out the airport door and in a taxi or shuttle before other passengers have finished loading their baggage carts. This means I use the same tote-able bag holding just enough stuff for a week - no matter where I go or how long I plan to be on the road. After a week, I head for a laundromat, a good spot to meet locals. In places where hotel laundry services are cheap - say, Mexico or India - I treat myself by sending my dirty clothes out.

Regardless, there’s always a lot of stuff drying in my hotel bathroom, hand-washed in the sink using freebie bath and shower gel. And I never leave home without a rubber sink-stoppers because you never know when you’ll need one.

- Susan Spano

In the good old days, airlines used to give long-haul flight kits even to economy-class passengers. I always found the contents - lotion, socks, toothbrush and toothpaste, earplugs, sleep mask, etc. - invaluable, so now I make my own. Besides the familiar stuff, it contains eye drops, nasal spray, scented hand wipes and dental floss.

On a long flight, I eat dinner fast, then head for the restrooms bathrooms while everyone else is still chowing down. The toilets toilettes are usually still clean and there’s no line, so I can spend as long as I want.

Susan Spano

I love my rolling backpack because it has lots of pockets, but I hate trying to remember later which pocket I shoved something into. My system borders on obsessive-compulsive, but here’s what I have to do: Each pocket is labeled on the inside for the items that go in it.: The jewelry and passport must go in the innermost pocket; the dirty underwear goes in the outermost;. rReading material gets its own slot; electronic accessories (cellphone charger, extra batteries, battery charger) get their own place. And then I never vary, even when I’m in a hurry.

- Catharine Hamm

Red-eye flights are my friend; with a little Tylenol PM and a pillow (I take a little one), I can be in Washington, D.C., in time for rush hour. But I also can’t stand to sleep without washing my face, so I usually shove a handful of makeup-removing towelettes, cut in half - some brands I’ve tried include Oil of Olay, Clearasil and Dove - in my carry-on bag. These are especially handy if you’re staying at cheap hotels that don’t believe in washcloths or if you ever happen to be a guest at my house, where there is a perpetual shortage.

- Catharine Hamm

Ever since an insane innkeeper’s wife in Portugal took my passport hostage for four hours, I always carry a photocopy of it to leave at the front desk of a hotel. Also, before you travel, make a computer scan of your passport, birth certificate and any other important documents and e-mail them to yourself at a web-based account (such as Gmail or Hotmail) that you can access on the road.

- Robin Rauzi

Check with your credit card company to see whether you’ll be slapped with a surcharge for purchases in a foreign currency. Banks offer so many credit card programs that they can usually switch you to a new card with the lowest fee. The key is to call at least six weeks before a trip so there’s time for any new credit card to arrive.

- Robin Rauzi

The best souvenirs are things you’ll use often at home:. A key fob//not keychain? No, fob//,. a warm scarf,. a pair of shoes. I bought a striking briefcase in Croatia that often draws admiring comments. And every time I explain where I got it, it reminds me of the wonderful week I spent in Dubrovnik.

- Robin Rauzi

When flying with a spouse or friend, leave a seat open between the two of you. For example, book 12A and 12C, leaving the middle empty. Except on full flights, the seat usually stays vacant, giving you extra room. When it’s not, you can usually persuade the middle passenger to take either the aisle or the window seat.

- Chris Erskine

Another plane seat strategy: Book two aisle seats when flying with a friend or relative. You’ll both have the convenience and legroom of available when you sit on an aisle seat, and you’ll be able to converse easily with your companion.

- Rosemary McClure

When you’re traveling with children younger than 4, take taking their regular car seat aboard flights. It’s is safer, and they feel more secure//about what? It’s like having a trusted blanket// and are more likely to sleep. Note that airlines often require child seats to be positioned in window seats, so book your seat accordingly. Have a bungee cord handy once you arrive; lash the car seat to your rolling suitcase and off you go.

- Chris Erskine

On business travel to a big city, it may be best not to rent a car. Given the high cost of rentals and parking, the cost of taking a cab is often comparable. You can get more work done this way and will feel less stressed. It can also save you 30 minutes or more each way by not having to rent or return a car. But always have a map printed out //on hand rather than printed out??//printed out so you’ll know where you are around town.

- Chris Erskine

Stash a few Ziploc plastic bags of varying sizes in your suitcase. They take up no room, and they’re great for separating your dirty underwear and socks from your clean ones, your shoes, wet washcloths, that leaky shampoo bottle.

- Vani Rangachar

I never leave home without a compass. I have several:, one that I stash in my car, another on my keychain and still another in my carry-on bag. They’ll help orient you when you climb out of a New York City subway station and the map says you need to head north or when you’re on a country road in Ireland on a cloudy day.

- Vani Rangachar

I always have a gear kit ready to go, so that’s one less thing I have to pack when getting ready for a trip. It contains a spare toothbrush, toothpaste, eyeliner, mascara, ibuprofen and other medical things//medications or things like tweezers?//likebandaids first-aid cream.

- Vani Rangachar

On a trip to visit my family, my nephew asked me, “Are those the only pants you have?” That’s because my travel wardrobe is monochromatic, black on black on black, with a few splashes of white or blue. Not only do I look chic, but it makes it easier to pack and mix and match tops with pants, skirts, shoes, etc.

- Vani Rangachar

My husband calls me a packing Nazi,//not sure what this conveys...austerity? inflexibility? Certainly not holocaust tendencies?// and I am. But I learned a valuable lesson on a three-week trip through Switzerland, Poland and Turkey. I was traveling with only a carry-on, and fell in love with two rugs in Turkey. I bought them, but had no room in my bag to take them home. So I had to troll the markets of Istanbul to find a cheap bag big enough for them in. Now whenever I go anywhere, even to visit my mom, I stick in an empty fold-up tote for those souvenirs I absolutely must have.

- Vani Rangachar

Other packing strategies: Sseparate clothes with plastic dry cleaner bags. This will help avoid wrinkling. Use luggage space wisely, filling shoes with socks or other small items; if you’re running short of space, wear your jacket onto the plane. ; cCarry on all valuables so you can keep an eye on themit.; nNever put valuables into in checked luggage. Label your luggage with a business address, if possible; keep your home address private.

- Rosemary McClure

Anyone who travels a great deal probably has enough of those little hotel soaps, shampoos, emery boards and cotton balls to stock a spa. Even if you don’t use them, you’re paying for them, so tuck them into your suitcase. There are nonprofit organizations at home that will be happy to have them for their clients. Although hotel-issue shower caps leave my hair hopelessly smushed, I take them too - to wrap around leak-prone containers in my luggage.

- Beverly Beyette

If you take long trips with frequent hotel changes, packing and unpacking can be a nightmare. Eagle Creek travel outfitters has come to my rescue with its Pack-It system of folders and cubes (not to be confused with those plastic compression bags). The folders are oversized Velcro-fastened mesh and cloth envelopes with a removable board on which to fold clothing. The cubes are great for smaller roll-up items such as lingerie and T-shirts. I just slip out whatever I need each night. And wrinkles are minimal.

- Beverly Beyette