Likkle Tips that Make YOUR Trips Great!

[Brian@Chicago]

1. Pack a small cooking kit with a cheap, sharp knife (leave it behind for the next travelers), some simple spices from home and a few simple utensils. Look at REI's camping gear and figure out what you need. Can openers and knives are the things you can never find when you need them. Take your own.

2. Stop smoking. It will kill you.

[brasi]

Tip#2
Pack a pair of shorts, underwear, and fresh tee shirt in your carry on bag. If you lose your luggage, you will have at least one fresh outfit to change into until your bags arrive at your location in Jamaica.

Tip#3
Pack a few snacks in your carry-on as well, especially if you are arriving late at night. This could save you from having to stop, or BETTER...from going hungry all night upon your arrival.

[irieworld]

bring a flashlight--power outages are not uncommon. Print a negril map and bring it with you along with a big stack of singles for tipping. I remember wondering if my bank thought I was going to a strip club with the number of singles I pull prior to a trip. Ziplocks come in handy for just about everything from leftovers to keep phones dry when on the beach.

[Marko]

all super duper suggestions..........the biggest one is bringing a roll of $1's.......so key

makes sure your medications are in your carry on.......and not in your checked luggage
this can save you a lot of problems in paradise if the luggage is lost.......
and make color copies of your passport and carry them versus the real thing when out and about in Negril.......
you can save yourself a multitude of problems having the copies on you at all times.......

Cool Runnings, Marko

[CJGirl]

Lovin all da tips!

[jeannieb]

Brasi and Irieworld: You beat me to what I was gonna say. Pack extra clothes in carry-on and take a flashlight.

[jeannieb]

Are we the only one who don't take US 1's? We pay almost everything in JA $.

[Sam I Am]

I always calculate my budget for the trip and figure out what my daily food/drink/taxi/fun budget is. Once in JA, I change all my money to J's and split it up into daily groups... so for example if my daily budget is $60 US then I split my cash into groups of about $5040 J's. I paper clip each group together and put them in the safe. THen each day I just grab a daily group and hit the beach/road. That way when I run out of money on a given day, I know I am done for the day. If I have money left over, it rolls over into the next day. This way I never overspend early in the trip and run out of money/go over budget. If there is a special occasion (concert/fancy dinner/spa treatment), I allow my self to "borrow" from a future day if the event is early in my trip. This may sound way too planned out, but I am on a strict budget and this way, I dont have to try and do math/think/reason once I am in vacation mode (aka drunk).

[cinnni]

Couple of things I've found useful as well. You know those plastic travel q-tip containers? Well they work perfect for holding enuff cigs for the night and tucking inside my bra and they don't get wet from sweat. I don't like to carry a purse so it works perfectly.

Colored washcloths for sweat rags so they don't get mixed up in the hotel linen.

Ziplock baggies for just about everything.

I also bring the 1's for tipping. Much easier then trying to find small Jamaican bills.

Laminated conversion cheat sheet.

Oh and last year I found a cheap shower thingy that hangs on the shower rod that has like 6 pockets. That was super nice.

Anti chaffing powder for those of us who have thighs that rub together (men can use it in a certain area too ) I have some called Monkey Butt and it worked great this year!!

I'm sure there are more but can't think right now.

[RockRobster]

Here are some things I have found useful in many, many trips to JA and elsewhere:

1. Bring an extra pair of sunglasses.

2. Pack a first aid kit. I pack a comprehensive kit, as I do a fair bit of athletic activities whilst on vacation. In the kit pack SUPER GLUE(2-octyl-cyanoacrylate, if you can find it). My son can testify as to super glue's usefulness as a liquid suture...twice!.

3. Pack at least one flashlight.

4. Color photocopy of your passport.

5. Have a folder/dossier to keep all your travel docs and info. Having a single location to go to for any documentation is very useful.

6. Consider having health info on a jump drive if you have medical conditions. I have one that has all my MRI, CT, surgical notes and a summary of all surgeries/hospitalizations. I'm carrying some hardware inside, so having a way to show it to a health care provider in an emergency is essential.

7. MEDICAL EVACUATION INSURANCE. I can't stress this enough. A bad ski accident in Switzerland and a bad car crash on Nevis have taught me the value of being able to be repatriated to a US hospital in your hometown at no expense. I suggest looking for a policy that includes repatriation to your hometown rather than the nearest US medical facility. MedJetAssist is my personal choice...

8. Get an unlocked GSM phone if you travel worldwide. You can buy a SIM card in any country and avoid the international roaming fees and have a local phone number.

9. Alka Seltzer. The original without acetaminophen. Not only is it useful for an upset tummy due to overindulgence, it is essentially the same ingredients as commercial re-hydration salts.

10. BRING YOUR ATM CARD and have sufficient funds for your vacation and unexpected occurrences. We always move a couple of thousand into the checking account right before vacation, so we can access funds quickly and in sufficient quantity. And, we have family members that are able to assist instantly. If your budget is so tight that an unexpected $100 charge will ruin your vacation, maybe you should rethink your vacation.... I have seen too many instances of tourists having insufficient funds or the inability to access funds during emergencies. I'll never forget the American couple who spent all their money...I mean ALL of their money...and couldn't pay the departure tax in Mexico. They resorted to begging for the funds from other tourists in the departure line. They hadn't brought an ATM card....