a) Definitely remember that if you think,"I might need this," it should stay. As the main article says, they probably sell it there. If you do without it, it's not going to ruin your trip anyway.

b) Part of the fun of travelling is shopping for stupid souvenir clothing anyway. Forget duplicate shoes, etc., and pick up your "Budapest Pumas" or your "Gucci loafers from Rome" while you're on your trip. You'll pay less (even with the pathetic US dollar) and you'll have a much better reminder than a dumb poster you're too old to hang on the wall or a bad "PRAGUE GOLEM" Tshirt that has no local color.

c) If you're travelling back and forth between the same place on business, stash the tailored clothes somewhere at the remote location. Most hotels (Ritz and Four Seasons definitely, the rest, you can always ask!) will give you enough space to store a week of clothing if you stay there each week, or even less frequently. If this doesn't work -- don't carry dirty clothes home. Pay the $1.50 for a dry cleaner to wash and iron your shirt, put it on a hanger, and store it for you until you come back. They'll usually keep items up to 30 days.

d) You don't need that technology. Converge. Your Treo, a big SD card or two, and a headphone adapter is a suitable iPod replacement, and with Kinoma, you can put videos on there as well. This is important when trying to explain to Germans why Jackass is so funny.

e) When you shop, keep size in mind. That d70 is a sweet bloody camera, but the sd400 will fit in your pocket and you won't even notice. And that SD card? Works in the Treo as well. The oft-discussed fisher bullet-style space pen is an excellent substitute.

f) Anything with a cord is a nightmare. If you travel frequently, expect them to break at least once a year, and budget accordingly. Those Shure E5cs, yup, they'll break. Buy the E2cs or E3cs, because $100 or so a year is ok, but $500 just makes you feel stupid. Same with all those compelling usb phone chargers -- they're all made like junk, and when you extend and retract them a couple times a day every day, they're going to break inside a year, too. Don't spend more than you need to.

g) If you have to buy a roll-aboard, measure it in the store. Don't take the salesperson's word for it. I have a near-useless $800 Tumi bag that won't fit in the overhead bin on any Boeing thanks to my gullibility and lack of prior research. It's not even a great bag for checking, because it makes so many compromises as a "roll-aboard". Check the pockets -- it's usually better to have fewer big pockets than more small pockets, because you can configure your big pockets the way you like with Eagle Creek accessories.

h) Learn to hand-wash some things. Ex-Officio makes this underwear that scares the hell out of my wife. It's sold at REI (among other places, I'm sure) and the card states something like,"17 days, six countries, one pair of underwear." They're boxer briefs (essential for long trips involving walking) that are made of some sort of microfibre and treated with an antibacterial agent, for what that's worth. What's important is that you can take them off, wash them in the sink at 10pm, and when dried correctly (see i below), will be dry enough to wear by 8am.

i) When you hand-wash items, roll them in a towel, and then twist the towel as hard as you can, or as hard as you think the clothing can take without tearing or deforming.

j) Check the weather before hand. If it's never going to get above 60 degrees, leave the shorts at home -- they've just become a "might need". For that matter, many other cultures frown on shorts as casual wear (especially on women, the savages) and you'll do better with a couple pair of light khakis.

k) Hotels do laundry and dry-cleaning, and they return it nicely pressed the same day. You're going to sweat, so make use of this and change (and shower) a couple times a day on your summer trips.

l) You don't need a computer if you're travelling for fun. You just don't. Every place you're going has a cyber cafe, and if it doesn't, it can wait until you get back, because you're someplace too cool to spoil by interacting with people back here on the Intardweeb anyway.

m) Find and pay whatever you have to for a Patagonia MLC and LBC. With one of each of these, you're set for everything but long treks on pavement where a rolling bag would be better. These are the perfect two bags for travel. I lived for a month in France and Italy with my MLC.

n) Be stupid and buy whatever guide books strike your fancy before leaving. Better to spend too much up front than miss that The Last Supper is in Milan. Don't plan on learning everything while there, but feel free to rip out the best pages from the various guidebooks and build your own. Mark things on maps, etc. These books are perishable -- make them your own.

I have lots more that I should probably gather together and post on my own blog eventually, but these just came off the top of my head. Hence the mixed "vacation" and "work" habits. Sorry for eating up half the page.