1. If your previous vacations have been with escorted groups, consider doing a freestyle one this season. Pick a compatible companion or two, pals in good physical shape (as you are), and who share the same interests. This is much better than being herded around in lock-step crowds to meet tight tour schedules. Do what you want, when you want, where you choose.

2. Travel lite, with one wheeled carry-on, and if necessary, a back pack. Dragging big suitcases through airports, train stations and cobbled streets is a real drag. Before you leave home, put everything you’ll absolutely need on your bed next to your carry-on. Then put away half of the stuff and leave it home. Take only wash’n’wear clothing, and every night while traveling, bring the day’s dirty laundry into the shower with you. Wash it, squeeze it dry and let it hang until morning.

3. Personal security is a must! You don’t need to be paranoid or frightened all the time, but simple rules can help you relax while traveling. When in cities with reputations for pickpockets and other thievery, carry only the amount of money you’ll need for that day. Keep it zipped in inside pockets, along with wallet, passport and other valuable papers. If you carry a purse, make it a small one with a strong shoulder strap, and always carry it secured under your upper arm. If you’ll do some city street shopping, carry casual cash in a handy pocket, and don’t make a big display of flashing money from wallet or purse.

4. Do some homework before you leave home. Learn some of the simple languages of the lands you’ll be visiting. You may want to invest $50 or $100 in a small digital translator, so you may practice while flying to your destination, and then be able to use your skills with hotels, restaurants, street vendors, taxi drivers, as well as to just ask simple questions, such as, “Where’s the nearest john?” The natives will appreciate your efforts, and may even lower their exorbitant prices down to merely ridiculously high.

5. Just because you’re a tourist, don’t believe you must eat all of your meals in restaurants. Unless you’re on an expense account, and someone else is paying, big and small restaurants in high-tourist-traffic areas are the most expensive everywhere. Do you need to shell out $200 a couple, including tips, to eat with silver and fancy tablecloths? That same money could get you up to a dozen casual breakfasts, lunches or dinners, if you buy the ingredients at local food stands and shops where the natives get their family groceries. And, if you know enough of the language to shop like a native, so much the better.