Make sure your baggage has identification both inside and outside. Do not use your business card. Only your name, business address, business phone number should be on the outside of the bag. With a business card, it notes your company name and your title. By having the business card, it reflects a professional traveling and most likely "nice things" in the luggage. By noting your business address and phone number, if the baggage is lost, there is someone the airline may contact to get your destination information. If all identification is eliminated on the outside of the bag, the airline will go inside for identification. A good idea is to enclose of a copy of your itinerary inside your luggage.

When visiting a foreign city, carry a matchbook or postcard with the name and address of your hotel, which you can show to taxi drivers or when asking directions. This is particularly important in countries like Greece, where the alphabet is different.

There are not many countries where the people aren't absolutely delighted for you to try out their language. If you use just the word for "thank you", they'll be impressed. If you know more about their language, even if you are not fluent, you'll find yourself learning more about the real people, not the ones shown to us in movies. They are exactly as curious about us as we are about them.

Rather than using flimsy locks on your baggage that can be opened with a bobby pin, why not use electrician ties. They are extremely tough. (Larger ones are even used instead of handcuffs by many police forces!) They can be purchased at home improvement stores, will hold the zippers shut and if they have been cut off you know that someone has riffled your bags. They are also available in various colors that will help in bag identification - while making it less possible for airport personnel to have spares in their pockets to replace any tie that they cut off.

Place a dryer [fabric softener] sheet in your suitcase. This will keep your clothes smelling fresh while you travel!

INSIDE of every bag you bring, carry-on or checked, place your name, address, phone number on a card inside a small ziplock bag. You wouldn't believe how many of those nametags fall off the outside of bags. If the airlines find your bag, they will search the inside for ID.

To help people help you during an emergency in a foreign land, type (and preferably laminate) a small card, on which you mention your age, blood group and other relevant medical details. Most important, a number to contact - a global cell phone or the number of the hotel you are staying at. Carry this at all times in your wallet. Mothers can write details of children with them on the same card.