Travel is unpredictable, and sometimes the worst does happen.

Send me your travel horror stories when something’s gone wrong…

For me I think it was being held at machine gun point by Mexican police as they went through my stuff looking for what they could take (luckily I only had about $11 dollars on me so they didn’t get too much!).

I had visions of me spending the rest of my days in a Mexican jail cell.

Reply with your horror stories to michael@mobalphone.com or leave a comment below

1. How To Take 200 Books On Vacation With None Of The Weight

If you love to read on vacation, but hate all the extra weight carrying books adds to your luggage, then you need the Amazon Kindle.

It is a new handheld computer that can store 200 books, and has a screen specially designed for reading from.

Check out the Amazon Kindle here >>

2. 25 Places To Visit In America For Free

Why spend money on things when you can get them for free? Here are 25 attractions where you can go and abuse the facilities and not have to pay a penny (unless of course you happen to live on the otherside of the country and need a flight and hotel!).

Check out the 25 places to visit in America for free here >>

3. The World’s Sexiest Beaches

I’m not quite sure what makes people think beaches are sexy — sounds like a dubious perversion to me — but they do, and they’ve listed them for you.

If the idea of a beach gets you hot under the collar too, you should check them out.

Check out world’s sexiest beaches here >>

4. 8 Healthy Travel Tips

Sun, sea and sand can all be great, but only if you don’t over indulge. Follow these tips to make sure you stay healthy on vacation

Check out 8 healthy travel tips here >>

1. The sneaky way to hide your passport

Since we often stay in places with no safe, we hid our passport in the bottom of a kleenex box - in plain sight!

Rebecca Rose

2. How to get a back-up copy of your passport

Always bring a color copy of your passport with you when traveling abroad. Keep it separate from your original passport so that if you lose one, you will always have the other.

The copy is easy to keep with your carry on things so you can use it as Wendy suggests…to fill out immigration forms for the country you are visiting. If you lose your original passport, some places will accept a color copy until you can get a replacement.

And having a copy of the original will ease the pain of getting a replacement because all the necessary information is on your copy.

Robin Smith

3. A safer way than email to store your passport copy

It’s probably not a good idea to send yourself an e-mail copy of these important numbers and documents.  E-mail isn’t very secure… this information could easily be compromised and intercepted.

I always carry one of those little USB flash drives that can be password protected, and for an added layer of security the information can be encrypted. The idea is the same.  Go to an internet café etc and pop in the USB flash drive.

By the way, I use one of the U3 USB flash drives that enables me to access my own browser with all my familiar bookmarks/favorites etc.  It’s like signing on to my home computer and makes my use of time in an internet café far more efficient.

Thanks,

Bud Shuler

4. Why you need to be careful when you see “luggage sale”

Beware of luggage sales. Many luggage vendors are looking to unload heavy luggage as people are opting for much lighter luggage due to the new weight restrictions on almost all airlines.

Ask “how much does it weigh” before you lay out the cash.

Remember, US flights have a maximum weight for checked bags of 50 lbs. Anything over will cost you.

Shelly

5. Why you should check in as early as possible 

Checkin on line if you can & choose a seat as close to the front of the plane as possible.

This means that you’ll be one of the first off at the other end. Once off the plane, walk fast to immigration.

Hopefully, you’ll get there near the front of the queue, saving ages of waiting time.

Al Scott