While many travelers save up for a year-long RTW trip, some of us plan multiple getaways each year. It might be to visit Napa Valley, Paris, Bali, Rio, Chicago, and Vancouver. Or it might be to visit family, all over the country. Wherever your multi-trip travel plans take you, here are some tips to make your travels go more smoothly. You'll thank me when your travel problems are only things you can't control, including that flight full of people heading to the clown convention, or the whole family getting food poisoning .

Be Prepared!

1. Have specific clothes for travel - and keep them in one place (ideally, in your suitcase). This can facilitate speedy packing and save time looking for those zip off pants/shorts (ha!), your favorite walking shoes, or your best dress. If you’re looking for a suitcase to suit every need, click here for large versatile suitcases.

2. Have your prescriptions filled and an extra script on hand, including your doctor's contact information. This can save running out - and if something happens when you're traveling, the pharmacy can honor your original prescription. Bring extra contacts, if you wear them.

3. Annual travel insurance is a great idea - it can cover all of your trips, for the whole year! With this type of insurance, you aren't limited to the number of trips you take. It can cover cancelled flights, lost luggage, and medical emergencies. We cover our homes, our cars, and our health - and always, our travel.

In the Air

4. Pack plenty of healthy snacks (or meals). You'll be glad when you see your seatmates wrestling with the plastic covering their dubious meals and flimsy silverware. This is a great start to any trip - being healthy and...

5. Hydrate! Not only drinking lots of fresh water, but slather your skin with unscented lotion (you don't want to smell up the whole plane). Your skin will thank you for it!

On the Road

6. Music! We make mix playlists of our favorite current songs - ones that the WHOLE family likes. We can look back at certain playlists (or cds) and remember that drive through the Grand Canyon, or meandering along the coast of Maine.

7. More healthy snacks! If you're in a car, you can pack a cooler - much easier than in the airplane. We pack all kinds of delicious snacks, including dips, trail mix, veggies, and fruit. While we travel, we also explore local beverages (Peach Nehi! Vernor's!) and fruit - perfect for stocking the cooler. When you're traveling for an extended period of time, you need to be extra careful about eating right.

Being there

8. We rent homes, while we travel. I don't mind hotels for short stays, but for longer ones, we prefer to be in a home or apartment. We also find more locals, when we're in a home. You can also meet locals with social hospitality sites like Tripping. Living like - and hanging out with - locals really makes a trip special.

Rental apartment, Chicago's Magnificent Mile

9. Find special things to do. The point of travel is to get out of your normal life, and explore how others live. Attend concerts, visit the library, shop at the grocery stores and markets, play and learn where you can. 

Coming Home

10. There's always a letdown, after a trip. The laundry is piled up, you're trying to get back into normal life, and you just WISH you were traveling again. The bonus of having many trips planned? You're excited about another trip (and another, and another). This is what we do - punctuate our lives with many trips - both short and long; local, regional, nationwide, and international. It makes life that much more exciting - and we always have a home base to come back to.