Water

I drink a ridiculous amount of water when traveling. I get dehydrated very easily, and this can get expensive. Airline regulations prohibit bringing bottles of water through security, and bottled water can easily go for $3 or $4 in the terminal )then keeps on going up if you have layovers having to buy it each time. What I do is bring an empty, strong, thick plastic bottle (gatorade bottles work best). There are usually water fountains around, and if not I've had restaurants fill it for you.

If the water is safe to drink at your hotel, then keep filling it up. You'll be surprised at how much money you'll quickly save.

Oh, and just a useful Germany/Austria tip, they love sparkling water, so you have to ask or keep an eye out for 'water no gas'

Maps pt2

In a previous post I mentioned about using google calendar to arrange your itinerary. Another useful tool is google maps. With custom maps I like to first mark off the cities I'd like to travel to, then research how to get there (train, plane, driving) along with costs, timetables, directions. This is especially necessary if you rely on public transportation, and need exact change or bus routes, and don't want to wait all day for a bus.

On my vegas trip, I found a bunch of cool places I wanted to visit (Zion National Park, Monument Valley, Antelope canyon, Flagstaff, Grand Canyon) I marked it on a map, and that helped me figure out driving distances, where I should stay, what roads, even side attractions that were on the way.

Once in the city if there is a lot to do mark off the locations so you can concentrate specific days to seeing sites in a close geographic location. I also like to make notes on how to get in between those spots if there is a close metro to avoid walking so much.

Then, I can just print it out and bring it with me.

Maps

Hotels always have the best travel maps. When you arrive at your hotel/hostel they'll usually have them out. If not ask. It usually has all the tourist stops on it, points you back to the hotel, and sometimes public transportation stops.

This is the ideal route if you are winging a trip and not sure of your way around, or what to do.

Photography

I'm not big into souvenirs, I'd much rather have a few nice photos to hang on my walls then some goudy nik-naks .

I've long ago discovered that you don't need very expensive cameras to travel with. First, you read about so many horror stories of camera gear getting stolen, or dirtied, or batteries dying. Second, the quality of your photos often depend on your familiarity with the camera and your knowledge of photography. Megapixels only matter if you plan on doing large prints (or severe cropping) and zoom length is rare to use (usually you can walk closer to get a better shot).

I travel with 2 cameras, both Sony.

The first is a standard point and shoot. It's small, good for fitting in your pocket for nights out at the bar, or for moments you are looking to be less conspicuous as a tourist.

The second if a Sony H9 camera. This has a larger megapixel size that I use for landscape shots that I might want in a higher resolution. I capture all my photos in the highest resolution so I don't have to keep switching and accidentally shoot in the wrong mode, so the smaller camera works wells with smaller file sizes.

Both cameras are incredibly cheap (you can get the latest H-series for $350, but I would get earlier models).

An advantage to using the same model is having interchangeable batteries and memory cards in case one runs out of space. Or if it breaks and you need a new camera you'll be able to reuse some pieces.

Travelogues

Reading travelogues are a great research tool for travel planning, and travel inspiration. It's a useful way of reading someones daily experiences with a specific trip if you don't know someone who's already been to a destination. Let's be honest anyway -- most experiences you or your friends find unique has been done a thousands of times by others. So you can usually find entries very similar to the one you are looking into.

When I'm considering using a tour group I like to read travelogues from past participants, to get their feedback, and see how much of the descriptions are marketing BS. For these types of, using websites such as http://www.travelblog.com can help for searching, but one of the more disappointing aspects is that there are a lot of unfinished travelogues, or poorly detailed.

Many of the big tour groups (like contiki, GAP) have forums on their website with either outright links to the travelogues, or message posts with snippets of information. I believe these sites are missing out on a large marketing piece by not hard linking each of their trips with these blogs.

Two captivating sites I visit frequently are
http://www.wherethehellismatt.com
http://www.davechallenger.com

Travel Journals

Keeping a travel journal is one of the best things I've done when it comes to traveling. I can't remember why I started doing it, but immediately after my first trip to Europe I purchased a mole skin book, and kept a day by day record of my travels.

http://www.moleskineus.com/moleskine-books.html

When I go back and read some of my entries, it reminds me of many small experiences that I otherwise would have forgotten. It's also useful to record restaurants, sights, and hostels so if I return, or someone asks for my advice on, I can remember.

It also makes for a great present for anyone about to go on their first trip. I've given to a few people and they all loved the idea.

Of course, now my book is about 2/3 of the way through. I can't wait for it to finish, but I'm also paranoid about losing it, having it get stolen, or wet. I'm all about digital backups and such, and have tried scanning in pages, or typing them out so I could have a backup, but it's easy to get lazy.

I'll later post my process for recording each entry.

Planning your itinerary

Google calendar is a useful tool to plan your itinerary while traveling. It's primary usefulness comes in the ability to quickly add, move, and delete your schedule to see how everything all fits in.
My first steps when planning is to find a range of dates that I can take vacation. Once flights are booked I mark down those anchor dates. Then starting high level (what countries will I be in during these date ranges, then what cities, then what plans will be for each city. If it's a hectic day with lots of things planned, I'll even go into an hour by hour schedule, especially for things you had reservations for.

I'll also the week before or after I'm traveling add extra things that I'd like to do but aren't a priority in case something changes (like bad weather / good weather, etc)

Cargo pants = amazing

I got a great deal on a flight to Ireland ($480 round trip, direct EWR<->DUB). The bad news was it was supposed to rain non stop the whole 5 days I was to be there. I didn't have much water-proof or water resistant gear, so I went to a sporting good store and found the North Face convertible pants. they are lightweight, seemingly wrinkle free, water resistent, and they look presentable either as pants or shorts. You can get them online for $65, REI has a comparable product for $5 less.

From Ireland - trip #3

From now on, with the exception of dress pants, they will be the only pair I travel with.

Buying a backpack vs suitcase

I've only used a suitcase on one vacation, when I flew to Las Vegas for a wedding, and was planning a couple extra days driving around the South West US. First, because I was bringing a suit and needed a clothes bag, and second, because I knew I'd be renting a car and wouldn't need to walk long distances to hotels via public transportation. For every other trip I've used a backpack or duffel bag.

I find it so much more convenient to have a backpack. It's easier to go up and down stairs with, and when you need to cover long distances.

When purchasing a backpack, here are some tips:

1) Make sure it is waterproof!
Since most backpacks are intended for hiking/camping they should be, but check. When I was in Australia the hotel staff carrying our luggage from the boat to our island dropped ALL THE LUGGAGE into the ocean. My pack was completely submerged, yet when I opened it up my contents were bone dry. Unfortunately my friends were not so lucky.

2) Before you buy it, make sure you can collapse the pack in such a way that there are no loose strings, lines, or belts.
Most important is to make sure that the hip belt can be reversed around the backpack and fastened to form to the backpack. I purchased a Gregory backpack and it had plastic hip moulds that would not allow you to do this. It can get snagged on an airport conveyor belt. Avoid it.

3) It should have multiple access points.
Having access only from the top means you have to take everything out to get to the bottom, which not only gets old real fast, but becomes a nightmare if you packed it tightly, and now when you toss everything back in nothing fits. A good backpack should have access from the top, front, and maybe bottom.

4) Personal preference, but I like backpacks that have a sleeping back compartment. First, in case you actually end up needing to put a sleeping bag there, but second it's a great spot to place dirty clothes, or your day bag. Then, on the way home it's empty and you have room for souvenirs.

5) Size.
I have a MASSIVE backpack -- one of the biggest, a KELTY Red Cloud 6650 at 109L. I feel like an amateur walking around with the huge thing when everybody has much smaller ones. Don't go that big. I have yet to find the best size.

First post

I've traveled across 4 continents and 9 countries over 8 different trips, and I've learned so much through research, trial and error, and talking to people that I wanted a forum to share with others. I would put my travel style and the tips you'll encounter on the budget travel side, but just barely. Sometimes I stay in hotels, and if there is a something cool, yet expensive I want to experience while traveling, then money won't hinder me.

I get about 4 weeks vacation a year at work, however I can't take it all at once. I also just can't commit myself to leave my job to travel for an extended period of time, so that leaves me with about a 2 week vacation every 8 months, with usually 1 or two smaller 5 day trips in between. This, I feel is the normal single-ish/young-ish travel, and so I'm hoping this advice will go towards a wide audience.