Traveling

Finding your Hotel
If you're traveling in a large American city – and especially if you're taking public transportation such as subways and taxis – carry a brochure or card from your hotel. Especially if your English is weak, a card with a printed name and address will be all a taxi driver needs to get you back to your lodging.

Airport Check in & Security
Negotiating the airport always takes more time than you think. And if it doesn't, be happy that you've planned for it. Sometimes, the airline's check-in lines are much longer than the security lines. Do everything to reduce your time in line – check luggage curbside with a skycap (if possible); check in on-line (if you have access to a computer and printer, and don't have checked luggage); see if an airport hotel offers airline check in for guests. It's not about the time at the airport – you'll arrive early anyway – it's about the reduced frustration of standing too long in line.

Checked Baggage
Pack lighter. Several airlines have recently reduced their allowable weight per checked bag from the previous limit of 70 pounds down to 50 (22.6 kg). To be safe, keep all bags below the 50-pound weight limit, even if that means checking two bags instead of one.

Travel Luggage
A great tip from the Changes In Latitude travel store: Include one or two collapsible bags when you pack for a trip, so that you’ll have plenty of room on the return trip for souvenirs or other purchases you acquire.

Quality Hotel Restaurants
The hotels of Las Vegas have become known for their high-quality restaurants and their celebrity chefs. Elsewhere across the U.S., hotel restaurant food has generally been considered just about average. According to The Wall St. Journal, that’s changing this fall, with the opening of high-end hotel restaurants in several U.S. cities. The Journal cites (along with several other restaurants) Buddakan, The Pier at Caesars, Atlantic City; Craft, W Dallas Victory; Simon LA, Sofitel Los Angeles; L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, Four Seasons Hotel, New York; and Osteria de Tramonto, Westin Chicago North Shore Hotel. To us, this is a welcome trend in fine dining in major U.S. cities.

Pack a Compass
Who hasn’t stepped out of a train station or subway and been overwhelmed by skyscrapers and look-alike streets radiating in every direction. All you want to do is find the museum mentioned in the guidebook, but can’t begin to figure out which direction to start. We always travel with a tiny, inexpensive compass, and can quickly orient a map or guide to the street layout. Just knowing that you need to walk north but are actually facing west can ease your journey considerably.