How to Have a Shock-Free Travel

Vacations and business trips are always much more enjoyable when you anticipate and avoid any unpleasant surprises. Betsy Wade, the former New York Times columnist on travel, shares some of the biggest travel hassles and the steps to take to avoid them and enjoy your trip to the fullest.

Locate your passport

Find your passport and look at the expiration date. If it expires within the next 12 months, get started on renewing by mail. You can renew as early as you like. If it expired, in the last two years, file immediately. Passport renewal and application forms are available at most post offices. Renewing your passport by mail is quick and efficient. Its also $60 cheaper and considerably less stressful than requesting a rush at the last minute. The National Passport Information Center can be reached at 877-487-2778. For the latest updates on dangerous destinations, check the US State Department's Web site at www.travel.state.gov.

For short flights

Short trips will not have food service. Other flights may charge for food. The number of amenities will likely be even less if you have short connecting flights. Take along food that will travel well, not spill and can be eaten cold.

Find out about inoculations

Yellow fever, dormant in the US since the 1920s, suddenly claimed an American life in 1996. If you plan an exotic trip, check with a travel clinic. You might also check with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Even if you plan only a few domestic ventures, ask your doctor about your personal record of inoculations. If it is lost, assume that your shots are 10 years out of date and start over. At a minimum, the childhood vaccinations- diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough, should be boosted.

When packing, include your sports shoes and bathing suit

Fitness facilities are more common than ever, even in small hotels and on ships. Many travelers work out in a health club with more machines than some land-bound clubs. You can easily build a fitness itinerary by accessing popular hotels and resorts over their Web sites, where fitness centers are described in detail. Some even include pictures of the equipment and facilities.

Nonsmoking facilities

If you are sensitive to smoke, ask for a smoke-free hotel room and a smoke-free rental car. Some car rental companies and the American Lung Association have cooperated to replace cigarette lighters with plastic plugs bearing a red no smoking sign. This is a preference your travel agent or rental company should enter on your personal record, so it will be requested ever time. If you are a smoker, be sure you know what you are getting into. With a few exceptions, most places ban smoking completely.

Driving in New Places

Consider renting a vehicle with a computer navigation system. These cars are now more common, particularly in the Hertz and Avis fleets, although they cost more. Ask your travel agent to add this coive to your basic profile, too. Most of these cars have display screens on the dashboard showing maps and arrows, plus a voice-prompting system. The devices take advantage of the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) to tell you where you are. They are well worth the extra cost.

Create a 3"x5" Card to save your wits in an emergency

Write down your doctor's home number or beeper number, the same for your dentist and the number of a neighbor you expect will be at home. If you do not know what to dial to reach your long-distance company, add that number to the card. Clip to the card photocopies of your eyeglasses prescription, important medical information, the front two pages of your passport and your credit card numbers. Do not carry this in your wallet.

Tickets too good to be true usually are

If a ticket price quoted in a tiny newspaper ad seems way too low, it is. You may get into a bait-and-switch situation, where you could be burned by a fraudulent consolidator. To be safe, ask your travel agent to sell you a consolidator ticket or a bargain fare. The markup the agent will charge is a small premium to pay for dealing with someone you know and can trust. Also, pay with your credit card for added consumer protection.