I concur with the gentleman who suggested the roll-up space bags--I also find the quickest and easiest way is to first lay on them with your tummy--but since I have difficulty getting down and up off the floor, I place them on a desk or table and bend at the hips over them. Any remaining air can easily be squeezed out by a final rolling. These bags are especially good in the winter for compacting sweaters and underwear anytime. They are not good for jeans, so save them for squishable items. I store my bags with a dryer sheet inside between trips.

Another thing we do is to wear our bulkiest shoes. If there is a need for sneakers on a trip, we wear them--even though it takes a little time to take them off and on at security. This frees up a lot of room in our suitcases--my husband wears size 13!

On a recent trip where we did not check any luggage, I used two smaller toiletries bags--one with "non-terrorist" items, and the other with both of our quart-size plastic zipper bags of our 3 oz. gels and liquids in a side pocket of our carry-on. When we got to security, I handed my husband's quart baggie to him, took out mine and popped in my hand cream and lip gloss from my purse, and we were set to go. I always carry a couple extra quart bags.

My tips come from numerous trips over the years visiting my daughter who lives in North Carolina. We live north of Seattle--and now that there's a grandson, I go more than before.

When I traveled to Hawaii, I found my ticket for 400$ durring the winter season from a student travel agency in my city instead of online. When I travel to Europe, I try to find tickets through local agencies that are known by many people. Try to buy your tickets a couple of months in advance in order to have the best price.

I've found daily pill containers to be great for separating my earings. They are small enough to place in my carry-on luggage, so I don't have to worry about airport theft. Some are also clear enough to see what each pair is without opening the top.

I'm in the Air Force, and I fly at least 4 times a month for work, and usually more than that. Plus I often travel away from my home base for weeks at a time. I think I've picked up a few handy tips to share.

Packing - get some "space bags" to pack your clothes in. Make sure they're the kind that close like a Ziploc bag, so you don't need a vacuum while you're on vacation. I got a package of 1 large & 1 small at Target for $12. I fit 3 weeks worth of clothes in both of the bags, and had at least 1/3 of my suitcase empty for mementos. Tip-the bags say to roll them up to squeeze the air out, but it's much easier to just lay them on the floor and then lay on the bags with your tummy.

Carry On - always take the minimum 'I need' items with you in your carry on in case your luggage gets lost. I take a change of underwear, socks, a shirt and small toiletry 'must haves'. Also, always take your perscriptions, jewellry, cameras, laptop, etc in your carry on. Anything that you'd really hate to have stolen out of your checked luggage, take it with you or leave it home.

Flying - ear/sinus blocks are common, and incredibly painful. It can feel like your upper teeth are about to explode out of your jaw, like your eyes are being stabbed from behind, or like your ears are going to rupture. I've seen people get ruptured eardrums from an ear block..it's awful. Always always always fly with some decongestant tablets (I like Sudafed PE) and some no-drip Afrin. If you're the least bit stuffed up, take the decongestant about 1 hour before you land. If you get a blocked ear, try pinching your nose, shutting your mouth, and trying to breathe out your nose. It will pop your ears and help to equalize the pressure. If you need fast relief, start squirting the Afrin up your nose, and inhale it when you do. Put your head between your knees to keep the med in your sinuses and not down the back of your throat. It may take about 15 minutes for the Afrin to provide some relief. Also, the next day you might be really stuffed up, especially if you used more than 2 squirts per nostril. I think it's worth it to get rid of the pain, so I take as much as I need to get rid of the blockage. If you have little kids, you might consider pre-emptively giving them childrens decongestant before you land so they aren't hurting when the airplane is descending...but that's up to you if you want to medicate your kids when it's not strictly necesssary. I personally would, because a baby can't say "mom, my sinuses hurt", but that's just me. I've also heard that a really mentholated cough drop helps; and also dabbing a bit of peppermint oil under each nostril. Make sure if you use the oil that it's safe to put on your skin - lots of essential oils are unsafe for direct contact.

Australia - I've found what is possibly the cheapest way to get to Oz from the US. Find a cut-rate fare to Honolulu (I use suntrips.com). From there, book 1-way flights on JetStar (jetstar.com) to either Sydney or Melbourne. The fares average $300 each direction to/from Honolulu. I live in Oklahoma City, and I was able to get round-trip tickets that cost $944 total, vs $1200 from just LA to Sydney.

Sorry this is such a long comment, and happy travelling!

I travel extensively for business and pleasure. For either trip, I always pack a 10X15" Fedex soft fedex envelope and a label preaddressed to home. In this way, when my suitcase is too full or will soon be too full, I can mail extra stuff (usually laundry) home. My neighbors find it extremely entertaining that I mail my husband the laundry while away.

I also pack two brand new novels that requires no deep thought. One for the airport delays down and another for the airport delays. Sometimes the first novel gets mailed home with the laundry.

Before my first trip to Europe, I scoured ever piece of information I could find on the cities we were visiting, especially MAPS. Knowing where I was going, when the museums and key points of interest were open, etc made the trip so much more fabulous. We were able to spend our time enjoying the beautiful cities and all they had to offer instead of spending our time figuring out how to get around, where we were going, how their public transport worked, etc. It also made it seem like our vacation lasted MUCH longer as I was immersed in learning the culture and cities before we even go there.

I just arrived in Siena Italy (Tuscany Region)and I will be here for three months. To make the most of my limited budget AND learn the culture AND fit in just a little bit better, I decided to take an Italian language course for one month. First, this is tremendously helpful because the course is for beginners and I am learning helpful phrases that will assist me while I am here. My classes are just a few hours every day, M-F so there is still plenty of time to explore. Second, as a student of the school, they set up accomodations for me with an Italian host family. So I have a room and breakfast and dinner with the family. For one month accomodation and meals, the cost is about $1000.00. Considering the cost of food and hotels here, this is a great deal. Not to mention I get to practice my Italian every night at dinner! The cost of the school for one month is also affordable. It is about $1000.00 dollars. The great thing is that as soon as I got to Siena, I had some sort of "structure". All of the staff at the school (Saena Iulia) are so helpful in answering any questions I have. The locals definitely seem to appreciate that I know and understand a little bit of their language even if it is just for ordering a cappucino!

Disney on a budget? We did it...I would say one of the best things we did to stay on our budget was taking all of our spending money and dividing it by 8 (the amount of days on our trip) and placing it in labeled envelopes according to each day of our trip. In the morning we would take out the envelope for the day and that is ALL we could spend. (including food). When it was gone we were done spending for the day...if there was extra we would place it in the next days envelope. In the end we did not have huge credit card bills that we would have to spend months paying off when we got home!

On long trips (2 weeks), we pack a duffle bag to put our 'dirty clothes' at the end of the vacation. The duffle bag is inexpensive and light weight. Unlike suitcases which are heavier, we don't worry about the duffle bags exceeding the airline weight limit on checked items. Any souveniers and items that might get easily damaged are packed safely in our suitcases.

Wear slip on slip off shoes and don't wear a belt if you are going to be going through airport security. Put your metal in your purse or bag and have that ready to slop on the conveyor belt. Buy your toothpaste, mouthwash and other liquids in small sizes so you can carry them on and not have to check your luggage if you don't want. Trial sizes are below the threshold for security screening purposes. Trial size could be called non-terrorist size.

When traveling with kids and having a connecting flight, leave at least three hours between connections because inevitably the airlines will delay your first flight. At the airport when you have to wait, there will be things to do and see that will be fun for the kids. So don't rush, plan on spending this day in airports and on planes and just accept it. As tempting as it is to say Heck with the Journey, get me there, sometimes it truly is about the journey. Oh, and Benedryl Lots of bendryl. And crayons. Crayons and books. And extra candy for yourself when the flight is delayed but you're already on the plane.