In his book, Easy Travel, Mike Connelly shares some pointers on making travel easy:
DOCUMENTS Make sure you have all documents: passport, visas, tickets, etc. You should always check the expiration date of your passport. Many countries won’t let you enter with less than six months left on your passport. Don’t forget to buy travel insurance. Medical bills can be very expensive, especially in the United States and Europe. Finally, you should make copies of all your important documents and credit cards and keep them in another bag.
PACKING My advice is—always travel light! I hate to carry heavy bags. Just take the minimum. There is an old saying: Breakfast in Berlin. Dinner in Delhi. Bags in Bangkok! So, don’t pack anything important in your check-in bag; put important things in your carry-on bag. You don’t want to arrive home without your house keys. Another tip—don’t use expensive cases. People don’t steal dirty old bags. Finally, here’s a good little tip—tie a sock or brightly colored string to your bag. Why? So you can quickly see your bag on the airport carousel.