Few things are as stressful as traveling. Whether you are traveling for business or pleasure, the idea of packing everything you need into a small suitcase and leaving home for an extended amount of time can be overwhelming. Follow the advice in this article to help you turn your travels into an enjoyable experience.

During your trip if you’re staying at many different hotels, you can rest assured there is an easy and cost effective gift you can give your friends as a souvenir. Collect all of the little samples such as shampoos, body washes, body lotions and coffee packets that hotels give out, put them in a basket and give them away as gifts to your friends. It makes a nice gift because it gives a taste of culture from different hotels and is cost effective to you for making a friendly gesture.

To help relive stress, it is important to take a vacation from work. Going on an annual vacation will give you something to work hard for and it will give you a light at the end of the tunnel. It is important to reward yourself and there is no better reward than a vacation!

Do not inadvertently recline onto someone. Always check to see what the person behind you is doing, and politely ask if you can recline before doing so. Reclining your seat without warning results in spilled drinks, broken laptops, and injured passengers, so you may want to make sure that they aren’t doing anything important.

Compare and contrast multiple flight options using a mega-search website like kayak.com. Sites like kayak.com save you a lot of time by pulling intelligence from the biggest travel sites into one convenient location. More importantly, it can save you a lot of money by making sure you get the best price possible for your tickets.

If you’re running out of space in your luggage, try rolling up socks or stockings and stuffing them inside shoes. Anything you have that’s hollow – coffee mugs, shoes, boots, etc. – can be used to stuff things inside to give yourself a bit of extra room in your luggage.

When traveling with a baby, bring a whole bunch of extra large ziplock bags with you. You never know when your little one will have a blow out and it is nice to put it into something that will keep it locked away from anything else. Plus you do not want to put wet clothes in with everything else.

When traveling overseas, stay away from food that is not served hot. Standards for preparing food are not the same in other countries and could make you sick. In particular, stay away from cold sauces and desserts. These foods are often a few days old, meaning that bacteria has already begun to grow on them.

There are cheaper ways to sleep when to travel to a new country than than the typical hotel. Try to find people renting out rooms in the towns and cities you will be staying in. Not only is this much cheaper than a hotel, but this provides you a great opportunity to really experience the culture of where you’re staying.

Use your work address or a business card in your suitcase tags if you are wary of strangers getting a hold of your home address. With the increase in identity theft cases, many people want to protect their identities whenever possible. By using your work address on your luggage, you can protect your identity while still making it possible for you to be reached if your bags are lost.

Never underestimate the power of a small medicine kit while traveling. Include an over-the-counter anti-diarrhea medicine, antibiotic gel or cream, anti-itch cream, stomach acid reducers, pain relievers and Band-Aids. You never know when tiny medical irritations may strike and it is better to be prepared. You may even be able to help out a fellow traveler!

Check over your homeowner’s insurance policy and your credit card insurance policy to see if your baggage is covered during travel. If it is covered under either of these policies you can exclude it from your travel insurance policy to save a bit of money and may make the claim process easier.

A great travel tip is to never fully unpack if you’re staying at a hotel room for a small amount of time. It might get annoying having to get everything out of your suitcase but it’s a great way to make sure you won’t lose anything by leaving it behind.

A great travel tip is to keep your hotel room information to yourself when you’re traveling abroad. If you mention where you’re staying, a potential thief might hear you and they’ll know exactly where it is that you’re staying. It’s best to keep quiet regarding your hotel room.

A great tip when you’re traveling to a third world country is to be aware of what transportation to take once you’re there. Sometimes taking a taxi might be your best option because it might not be safe to walk. Getting on the bus is also a viable option in these countries.

Make a note of where you parked your car so you know where it is when you come back. The airport can be very large, as you will want to know where your automobile is at all times in the event of an emergency. Simply take a few minutes to jot down your row and section number.

Avoid hefty baggage charges by shipping your luggage ahead of you when traveling on domestic flights. It’s a great way to save money; just be sure to book your flight well in advance and have a safe delivery site.

Whether you are taking a family vacation or a solo trip, traveling away from home can be a stressful event. There is always so much that needs to be taken care of before you leave, and if you are like most people, there is always something that you need that gets left behind. By applying the advice in this article to your future journeys, you can turn stressful trips into enjoyable memories.