by Judy Lin

Created on: September 28, 2007

Being in a transatlantic relationship means traveling at least twice a year. When your relationship is five years old, like mine, that's a lot of airline miles and a lot of traveling. Of course, I also make many small trips, overnight or slightly longer, as my family lives an inconvenient-yet-not-disastrous-distance from me, and my line of work also requires attending a few conferences once or twice a year. I am, to put it mildly, a well-seasoned traveler, adept at finding tasty vegetarian options and figuring out the confusing array of rules and regulations for pets (two cats), no matter what the country.

And so, tips for traveling:

1) Packing: pack interchangeable clothes. Make sure every shirt goes with at least two pairs of pants and vice versa. While it is adviseable to pack as many pairs of underwear and socks as the number of days you will be staying in the place, pants and shirts are usually okay with being changed every three days or so. You do not need a new outfit every day, and bringing one will only make your arms hurt more as you schlep your suitcase to and from the airport. For longer trips, I would advise that you bring as many clothes for one week and find a laundry facility.
I usually bring one small suitcase stuffed to the brim with clothes and toiletries, and one backpack. The backpack will contain my map, wallet, passport, and tickets (I keep these in one of the main compartments, because it is far too easy to filch something from the small compartment where these things usually go), i.e., any sort of paperwork that I might encounter. Those are the essentials-usually I bring a book, my camera and laptop, a journal and a pen, chewing gum, and, if I'm traveling with my cats, a newspaper and a little Tupperware of kibble. If there is a chance that you will miss a connection of some kind, a toothbrush and travel-sized tube of toothpaste are good to have, too. To facilitate going through airport security, I compartmentalize everything so that it's easy to remove and replace my computer.

1a) Exercise and workout clothes/equipment: I usually just squish a pair of running shoes into the suitcase. If you need a more extensive workout-that is, if your workout consists of yoga/pilates type things, or anything that requires special equipment, look into guest memberships at nearby gyms. Most major cities will have at least one gym; and most gyms are desperate enough that they'll gladly give you a guest membership, especially if you pull the "I'm kinda

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