Amy, my travel hero (of lets-drop-everything-and-go-to-Tokyo- for-the-weekend fame), gave me a lot of helpful tips for traveling.

Well, I say helpful, but that's really jumping the gun, isn't it? Because until I've actually gone on my trip, I won't know for sure. It could be all her advice is just a bunch of irrelevant, useless blathering designed to set me up for major catastrophe while she laughs loudly from her safe, air-conditioned apartment in Texas. Not that Texas is particularly safe, being that its given birth to Shrub, but moving on...

To the point - I am recording Amy's tips here so that I can review them periodically while on the road. Not that this is an objective measure of the validity of her ideas, which were meant in total good spirit anyway, and not that I don't trust you, Amy, but...well...here's the tips!

Amy's Tips

• Don't scrimp on the things that matter. For example, if you have $10 for food for a day and the theatre costs $20, go to the theatre. You can always eat when you get back home. You have the rest of your life to eat. You don't have the rest of your life to see the Bolshoi ballet.

• Take a clothesline for washing/drying clothes at the hostel. I pointed out that this means your clothes might be stolen. "And?," Amy said, "And? If someone steals your used, ratty underwear, trust me, they need it more than you do. You can always buy new underwear."

• Take a small flashlight that stays on. This allows you to sneak back into the hostel at night without aggravating the visiting rugby team. Other recommended items for hostel travel: small hand towel, silverware, tea bags, food and water.

• To lighten the load, throw away your clothing as you go. Or in other words, don't take clothing you don't mind throwing away (or having stolen and then thrown away by someone else). Ditto with paperbacks...read them, give them away.

• Allow yourself at least one night in a nice hotel. Take a vacation from the vacation. Get a room with a bathroom where you can shut the door and have all the naked time you want.

• Mail souvenirs home. Because, well, they take up space. (That's it guys, no presents!)

• Always carry enough cash for a cab back to the hostel when you get lost. (Notice she said when, not if). Don't be too proud to call for a cab either. Especially if its almost dark. (Duh, but you know, this will be something I will screw up. We should start a running pool for how often I will get lost while on my trip.)
  
  And, finally...

• Visit cemeteries. You can really tell a lot about a place by the way they treat their dead.

Okay, Am, post if I missed anything. And thank you for letting me expose your travel wisdom to the world. (You know I love you and guess what...you're stuck in Texas so you can't kill me until I visit. Ha.)