Traveling by airplane, train, car, or bus can be stressful, especially if plans must shift or change due to cancellations, delays, or illness. Our vacation travel tips will help you minimize the stress!

When the holidays or vacation travel approaches, our best vacation travel tips will save you money, time, and stress. In the end, getaways are supposed to be pleasant!

For decades, we have been traveling in trains, in cars, on planes, on short travel, and for long trips (with a respite during COVID-mandated lockdowns, of course). Using our years of experience, we have gathered a few of our best vacation travel tips to keep you happy and healthy.

Know what COVID restrictions and rules are in place

In airports, airplanes, train stations, trains, and most other forms of public transportation, you will need to follow government- or state-mandated coronavirus precautions, which can vary greatly from state to state and country to country. This can be confusing, adding to any stress. To help minimize the stress, we’ve created a checklist for vaccinated travelers to guide your travel planning. The tip on that list will help you enjoy your time.

Know how to travel without stress

No matter how you slice it, travel is often stressful – more so now than perhaps ever before in a post pandemic world. Even travel you are looking forward to can be more difficult. Always bring your patience and flexibility A-game on any trip these days. Delays happen. Flight cancelations happen. Hotels are overbooked. Freeways jammed. Gas, expensive. People around you may seem more on edge – even angry. Airlines seem more packed. Hotels seem to be offering less and less for more and more money. You need to learn how to do all the little things necessary to minimize travel stress, like verifying your departure time and rental car before you leave for the airport, prepacking your luggage days in advance, having a plan and stuff in your carry-on to help you and your family be more comfortable should delays or cancellations happen, and triple-checking any possible entry or stay requirements at locations you are visiting. Above all, breathe deeply and work to stay calm. Always be nice and kind.

Know how to keep from getting sick when traveling

Coming down with some sniffles, or worse, while you are on a trip – be it on vacation or while visiting family or friends over the holidays — is a nightmare. Getting sick while on vacation is a nightmare that could be made worse if you test positive for COVID and can’t travel at all or even get on your return flight. The best vacation travel tip we can offer you is to take precautions, like knowing how to fight germs in public places, to how to deal with migraines while traveling. Bottomline mantra for travel today: Always be prepared. Certainly, traveling while protecting yourself and others from COVID requires an additional level of preparation.

Know how to keep valuables and yourself safe when traveling

Getting passports or money stolen, suitcases rummaged through, or finding out your credit card has been stolen or your bank account hacked is no fun. This can often create the start of a long, painful ordeal – such as the need to get a police report if you don’t have ID to get onto a flight or into a hotel. And those are just a few of the safety concerns travelers need to be aware of. You need to know what NOT to do when traveling as much as you need to know what to do when traveling.

Do I really need travel insurance?

Yes, yes you do! With all the constant changes in travel and travel risks of getting sick (perhaps even testing positive for COVID when traveling) you need travel protection that includes excellent medical evacuation options, travel insurance options and advisory services if you have emergency needs or questions. Though there are many options, we rely on Global Rescue to protect us should the need ever arise. In addition, travel operators, from hotels to airlines, have varying degrees of cancel policies that are changing constantly, so check these in advance – and do a print-out or screen shot so if they change while you are gone, you know what they were when you booked.

We care about the topic of travel insurance so much we dedicate an entire section to it to answer your every travel insurance question.

Know the 3 Ps of travel – Planning, prepping, and packing

Our 3 Ps of travel – planning, prepping and packing – cover all the best travel packing advice. The best vacation travel advice we can give you is to plan ahead. Putting off the packing and planning won’t make it less stressful in the end. Figure out in advance the best ways to pack your gear – we swear by our Eagle Creek Packing Cubes – and then pare back to 1-2 pairs of shoes, and clothes that can mix, match and layer. How many times has the weather turned cooler than expected and we have literally put on about everything in our suitcases?

Looking for other best vacation travel tips not covered above? Then we are very sure our travel tips section will answer your questions. It is filled with the best travel advice for the holidays, family travel, business travel, road trip adventures, or your next vacation, all from our decades of international travel experience.

Download Stay Healthy While Traveling for free

Members of our Subscriber Club can download Stay Healthy While Traveling for free. 

Not a member of our Subscriber Club yet? It is easy and free to join. Just click on the button below. In addition to full access to our free travel book and recipe library, you will receive a monthly newsletter full of travel inspiration from award-winning travel writers and photographers.

Join our Subscriber Club