We always hold traveling up as this great opportunity to visit new places and to meet new people. And while it is exciting and fulfilling, it can also be incredibly stressful if you’re not properly planned for it. Check out this article and read up on some travel information that you should really know about.

When booking a hotel room, don’t be afraid to negotiate. While many hotel clerks aren’t able to move too much on price, there may be other perks they can offer, such as meals or parking. In some cases the desk staff isn’t able to offer discounts or packages unless the guest specifically asks about them.

If you choose to purchase travel insurance before going on a trip, you would do well to buy it from an independent source. Let’s say you book a cruise and are offered travel insurance from the cruise company. Since you are essentially buying protection against the cruise line’s own mistakes/accidents, it makes more sense to purchase your insurance from an outside source than to rely on the potential cause of your future claim as your insurance provider.

Keep a photo journal of a beloved stuffed animal When traveling with kids, make great memories and an awesome souvenir by taking pictures of your child and the stuffed animal doing fun things throughout the trip. At home, you can collect all the pictures and make them into a photo adventure book to remember your trip.

If you’re going on a cruise, pack a highlighter in your luggage! There are tons of activities that go on during the cruise and most of the time you’ll get a nice little newsletter that details what’s going on and where. You can use your highlighter to mark which ones you want to do, and save yourself some headaches.

If you are traveling by airplane, be sure to bring along your own headphones. Most in-flight entertainment systems today require that you wear headphones. You may be able to buy them in-flight, but it will be at a greatly inflated cost. Headphones are also a great way to create ‘white noise’ to block out your neighbors and/or the plane noise.

To avoid high exchange rates in foreign countries, stop at an ATM for your bank when you disembark from your flight. Large banks get much better exchange rates than an individual, so pulling money out once you get there is a hassle-free and inexpensive way to get the currency you need.

If the cleanliness of the hotel you have chosen is a concern for you, use a clean T-shirt as a pillowcase. While you may not be able to fix the sheets, you can at least stay clothed. Your face is what you need to protect the most, so always have a clean shirt on hand!

Always try the local cuisine when you visit a new destination. Part of a country or localities culture and lifestyle is in the food. You can’t completely experience these places without trying all that their food has to offer. Seek out the experience of locals and ask for their favorite lunch and dinner spots, then make several of those must-do’s of your list.

If you plan on visiting the National Parks often, it would be best to invest in a National Park Pass. While the initial outlay is $50, they are valid for a one year term and give you open access to all national parks.

To avoid jet lag and getting sick while flying, make sure to drink plenty of water. Staying hydrated while you fly will increase your energy levels and combat fatigue. You can always ask for water on board, but it is often easier to buy a large bottle of water after you go through security.

Exchange your money at your bank before you leave for your trip. Large financial institutions often have the best exchange rates, and changing your money before you arrive ensures you can avoid long lines at the airport currency exchange or even worse, being left at the mercy of less-scrupulous exchanges which prey on travelers who need local currency fast.

If you have the option to do so, use a business card as your luggage tag to avoid revealing your personal information. Many unscrupulous people out there are looking for opportunities for theft or other devious schemes. Knowing you are going on a trip means that gaining your personal info from luggage offers a potentially empty home.

While they can be bulky to pack, sleeping might be more pleasant on your own pillow. Traveling can mess up your sleep pattern so having your own pillow brings a bit of comfort to a strange location. If you are driving this is easy to do. When flying, try bringing it in your carry on, as you may want to sleep on the flight as well.

Use the airline miles you have accumulated to save the cost of the flights to a destination. There is really no good reason to save them if you are looking to make some travel plans, but look into the conversion of cash to airline miles. If your flight costs less than $300 you may want to go ahead and pay for them with cash.

Check the web for rentals by owners. You may be able to get a great price on an entire house for what you would pay for a hotel. It will allow you the comforts of home while on vacation. You should even consider getting a couple or two to go along and split the cost of the house.

When going on a car trip, make sure that you treat it like any other drive and wear your seat belt. Also make sure anybody traveling with you wears theirs too. Things can still happen on a trip that can harm you or other people while driving. Road safety doesn’t take a vacation.

Now that you’ve finished reading this article, we hope that you now understand some of the finer points of traveling. Hopefully, you can absorb this information and use it wisely, so that you can leave your worries behind and achieve the excitement you seek, on your next vacation to some exotic location.