It's time for my reminders on the planning you need to do to make your travel easier. Today's installment: the things to do before your trip:

• Plan your transport to your destination and while you are there. Will you walk to the beach? Take a bus or cab? Rent a car?
• Identify a few things you wish to do and make reservations or buy tickets as needed.
• If you are traveling in a foreign country, decide if you'll change currency in the US or at the airport, or if you'll just use an ATM on arrival. It's worth it to compare fees for these options.
• Call your credit card companies and your bank and let them know you'll be traveling and where. Otherwise, they are likely to put a fraud hold on your card. Also, always leave at least one credit card at home. If your cards are lost or stolen, you'll have one card you can still use while your other cards are replaced. Also, always leave a copy of your passport with a responsible party not traveling with you — just in case.
• Make a list of chores you need to accomplish before you leave: mail and newspaper stop, asking neighbor to watch the house, cleaning perishable items out of the fridge, etc.
• Make arrangements for pets if needed.

Then, you need to pack:

• Make a list of exactly what you need.Try to do this over a few days. You'll be amazed at what you forget at first (deodorant? shoes?) Once you settle on a list, save it in the computer. You can use it in future years.
• Before you put anything in the suitcase, lay everything out in one space. Once you see everything laid out, start subtracting. Unless you are an experienced packer, you can probably get rid of about a quarter of what you plan to take. Seriously – you don't need it all. These people don't know you and you are unlikely to meet again.They won't care if you wear the same sandals three days in a row.
• Never put anything in checked baggage that you couldn't bear to lose or that you couldn't survive without. .
• Always have a carry-on that includes basic clothes for at least a day or so. You can always pick up toiletries, but you don't want to spend your first day on Maui with no bathing suit.
• If traveling abroad, pack medications in your carry-on in the original bottle with your name (that matches your passport) on it.
• Read the TSA regulations on what you may place in your carry-on. You don't want to lose stuff at the checkpoint. Double-check your carry-on, purse, backpack, etc.
• If you are traveling as a family, mix the family member's clothes in each suitcase. that way of one is lost or delayed, everyone has something to wear.
• If you are traveling to several destinations (or stopping en route), have separate bags for each destination. That way, you don't need to unpack everything in each place and if you just have an overnight stop on the way, you don't need to dig in every suitcase to find pajamas.
• Unless you are traveling in the deep wild (like when I went to Antarctica), you can always get something that you forgot or that you find you need. Yes, you may pay a bit more, but life will go on. You don't want to carry your medicine cabinet around Europe on the outside chance you might need an ace bandage.