Travel Tips

See also Road Trip Tips and Camping.

Temperature Conversion

Easy C-to-F conversion guide, courtesy Valdis Krebs and Bob Blakely:

• 10=cold (jacket)
• 20=cool (nice)
• 30=hot
• 40=hellish

Packing

Must have items:

• Outlet Extender. Great for airports.

Others I've seen recommended:

• Sink plug. For doing laundry in your hotel room.

See also:

• Sue Gardner's, User-Centered (Agile!) Packing

Leaving Town

Holding mail

• Must be for at least 3 days, but no more than 30 days.
• Must submit request at least one business day and no more than 14 calendar days in advance.
• Can do so online as long as your zip code is one of the ones that offer this service.
• Otherwise fill out Form PS8076 in person at your local post office or call 1-800-ASK-USPS (1-800-275-8777).
• Once back in San Francisco, best to call the hold mail facility (415-643-3721) the day before you plan to pick up your mail to make sure it's delivered to the Geary post office (at 21st Ave).

Traveling Internationally

International Electric Adapter Index

When traveling internationally, it's a good idea to register your trip with the State Department in case of emergency.

Currency exchange at Travelex (in the U.S. Bank building, next to the Castro Theater):

443 Castro Street
San Francisco, CA
415-552-3108

Electricity: "Staying Plugged in while Traveling."

International Cell Phones

I have a Google Pixel on Project Fi, which has great international rates. Barring this, the easiest thing to do is to unlock your cell phone and buy a local SIM card.

Transportation

RashmiSinha tweeted about Seat Guru, which helps you identify the most desirable seats on a plane.

Driving

In Canada, you need a Non-resident Inter-Provincial Motor Vehicle Liability Insurance Card, which you can get for free from your insurance company.

Cheap Fares

Start looking about two months before trip, when sales start appearing.

For domestic flights, there's Hipmunk and Kayak.

A good way to fly cheaper to continental Europe is to fly to London, then find cheap round trip fares to final destination. For fly/drive deals, see Auto Europe and go-today.com. Also, it can be cheaper to fly to JFK (NY) and then to European destination rather than flying direct from other states.

• http://cheapflights.co.uk/
• http://www.lupustravel.co.uk/
• http://www.airtourscancellations.co.uk/ (for extremely last minute flying)

Amsterdam is second to London in this regard.

• http://holidayspot.nl/ (in Dutch)
• http://travelbrokers.nl/ (in Dutch)

Icelandair offers free seven day stopovers in Iceland for anyone heading to or from continental Europe.

Underbid on Priceline 20 percent less than the lowest airfare you find.

John Breslin recommended RyanAir, a super cheap airline in Europe (based in Ireland).

Lodging

TripAdvisor has worldwide listings and user ratings. I used it to find a place to stay in Sedona for November 2005.

Hotel tips (many from this piece):

• Clear your cookies after visiting travel site. (Sites will drive prices up based on what you saw before to panic you into buying.)
• Call in the afternoon during regular office hours on Fridays or Saturdays (most folks plan trips earlier in the week). I have had many poor experiences with evening staff who didn't know anything, gave me misinformation, or were generally rude and unhelpful. People are checking in and out in the mornings, so it's harder to get folks to help you then.
• Call hotel directly versus national number. More latitude to negotiate. Hotels pay up to 30% commission to online travel sites, so ask for 20% discount.
• Independently owned hotels more likely to offer discounts
• Request a corner room (tend to be more spacious). Don't ask for upgrades when other customers are within earshot.
• Ask to waive WiFi charges when checking out. (More likely than when checking in.)

BiddingForTravel.com has advice on successful Priceline.com bidding.

Hipcamp is awesome for private campsites.

Web Sites

• Smarter Living
• Digital City