The Backup Info Sheet

Take a copy of all your important documents when traveling

A photocopy of all your important travel documents is the message in a bottle you send to yourself in case you get into trouble and lose them

The first precaution you need to take in case you lose some or all of your vital documents and cards is not to lose them in the first place, which is why you carry everything but a day's spending money in your moneybelt. » more

Just to be on the safe side, however, you're also going to make a backup info sheet.

First, make a photocopy collage that includes the following:

The information page of your passport (not the front cover!)
Your driver’s license and International Driver's Permit
Your student ID or teacher ID card
Your health insurance card

Second, write on this sheet:

Your credit card numbers ("code" them somehow—and don't forget that annoying little three digit extra code printed on the back),
The serial numbers of your traveler’s checks,
The phone numbers (see below) for the issuers of your ATM bank cards, credit cards, and traveler’s checks—if you lose any of them on the road, you’ll need to call it in immediately.

It will also help to jot down the addresses and phone numbers of the local U.S. consulates (or whatever your home consulate would be) in the cities you expect to visit. (More on losing things.)

Calling in lost credit cards, ATM bank cards, and traveler's checks

About those card and check phone numbers. As you probably know, all credit cards, ATM cards, and such have printed on them a standard toll-free number (800, 888, or 877) you can call for customer service. This number will be useless to you when traveling in Italy—or anywhere outside the U.S. and Canada, for that matter—because you can't call an 800-number from aboard.

However, most cards will also have a non toll-free number with some local area code that you can call collect from abroad. If it's not written on the back of the card or somewhere on the card issuer's web site, call the toll-free number that is on there, navigate the annoying "push 1 for..." system until you get a live person, and ask her. Be sure this is the number you jot down on your backup info sheet. (More on dialing the U.S. from Italy.)

Keeping your backup info safe

Make as many copies of this backup sheet of paper as there are people traveling in your party, plus two.

Copy #1: Carry the main copy with you in a safe place—separate from the original documents! (Since I carry my passport, credit cards, etc. in my moneybelt, I keep the backup info sheet copy in my leather belt with the hidden zippered compartment.)
Copy #2: Take one of the "plus-two" copies and tuck it away inside the lining of your bag, or somewhere else secure and not obvious (and, again, separate from both the original documents themselves and from the other copy you have with you).
Copy #3: Leave the other "plus two" copy with a family member or friend at home (along with a copy of your itinerary), so that, if call else fails, you can always call them for help.
Copies #4, 5, 6, etc.: Give everyone in your party one of the other copies. Have them do the same to you with copies of their backup info sheets. That way, if one person loses theirs, the others will have a replacement.

Tips & links

Useful links & resources

Packing links

GEAR, CLOTHES, & BAGS

Gear & clothing: REI.com, eBags.com, Backwoods.com, Travelsmith.com, LLBean.com , Magellans.com

Luggage: eBags.com, REI.com, Backwoods.com

Electronic converters: REI.com, Travelsmith.com

Paperwork links

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES

State Departments & Foreign Offices:
U.S. State Department (Travel.state.gov)
British Foreign & Commonwealth Office (Fco.gov.uk)
Canadian Government's Department of Foreign Affairs & International Trade (Voyage.gc.ca)
Australian Government's Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade (Smartraveller.gov.au)
Ireland Deaprtment of Foreign Affiars (Dfa.ie)
New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Safetravel.govt.nz)

Passport/Visa expedite service: RushMyPassport.com

Foreign consulates in Italy: USA (Italy.usembassy.gov), U.K. (UKinitaly.fco.gov.uk), Canada (Italy.gc.ca), Australia (Italy.embassy.gov.au), Ireland (Embassyofireland.it), New Zealand (NZembassy.com/italy)

Embassy finder: Embassyworld.com, USembassy.state.gov

U.S. Customs: Cbp.gov

ISIC cards/study abroad info: Ciee.org

TRAVEL INSURANCE

Trip insurance: Squaremouth.com, Insuremytrip.com, Travelguard.com

Travel health insurance: Squaremouth.com, Insuremytrip.com, Medexassist.com, iamat.org, Medjetassist.com

How to pack it all into a carry-on

Lay out everything you think you’ll need to take and consider the pile.
Put away any item that’s not really necessary.
Take what remains, pack half of it, and leave the rest at home—you won’t need it.

Pack for ultimate mobility, versatility, and necessity. Make travek an exercie in simplifying your material needs.

When in doubt, leave it at home. Whatever you forgot or discover on the road you need (sunscreen, bathing suit, sandals) you can also just buy it in Italy—and have a nifty extra souvenir of daily life to bring home (I often come home with odd, foreign brands of toothpaste).

Speaking of which: you shoudl have a little space in your pack for accumulating souvenirs.

If, as you travel, you find yourself running out of room, stop at any post office to ship home the personal items you've found you didn't need, or just before flying home, mail your dirty laundry to yourself. This way, you can carry your new purchases instead of entrusting them to the Italian postal system.

» more

How to tell if you've overpacked

If it doesn’t all fit in one carry-on sized bag plus a daypack, you have overpacked.
If you can't lift your bag over your head and hold it there for 10 seconds, you have overpacked.
If you can't shoulder your load and walk five times around the block without breaking a sweat, you have overpacked (and should probably also hit the gym—all the walking you'll do makes travel in Italy an aerobic workout and you need to be ready).

Trust me, you'll be thankful later when you easily shoulder you bag and zip off to your hotel while the guy who sat next to you on the plane gets a hernia just trying to get his luggage out of the airport.

Cardinal rules for travel clothing

Nothing white
Nothing that wrinkles
Clothes you can layer
Lots of pockets
Very few

Remember: Clothes take up the most room in your luggage, so be stingy with what you take. Take a maximum of 2–3 each of pants and shirts that can all mix and match toegther.

Believe me, it's easier to do a bit of laundry in your room every few nights than lug around a ton of extra clothing.

Only your immediate traveling companions will know you've been wearing the same outfit for the past three countries.

Socks, T-shirts, and underwear—the clothes that ripen quickly—are the easiest items to wash out and dry overnight.

Make sure you use a moneybelt

Keep your all valuables in a moneybelt: one of these large, flat, zippered pouched you wear under your clothes.

A moneybelt is like a wearable safe for your passport, credit cards, bank/ATM cards, driver's license, plane tickets, railpass, extra cash, and other important documents.

In your wallet, carry only a single day's spending money—maybe €40–€60. (Replenish this as needed from your stash in the moneybelt.) » more

Assorted packing tips

Some bags have zip-away straps and waist belts that convert the pack into a more respectable soft-sided suitcase for waltzing into your hotel lobby.
To keep the bulk of your bag under the carry-on requirements, layer any thick sweaters and coats and such to wear on the plane (you can strip down once seated).
Label your bag: Whatever sort of pack or suitcase you choose, be sure to put a slip of paper with your name, home address, and destination inside each piece of luggage as well as attaching a sturdy luggage tag with a concealed address window to the outside (some criminals peruse visible luggage tags at the airport, collecting the addresses of people leaving on vacation).
Get as many tiny travel locks you have zippered compartments on your pack and daypack. Make sure it is one of the special combination locks that have a red diamond-like symbol meaning they're TSA-friendly (baggage screeners carry a secret code and a special back-door key so they can open the lock if they feel the need to paw through your valuables and dirty undies).
Note that the TSA is considering once again will allow you carry small knives in your carry-on bag. However THIS RULE HAS NOT YET BEEN PUT INTO EFFECT (despite some early news reports to the contrary). For now, you will still need to pack any knife in your checked luggage. Here are the official TSA regulations.
Split up your stuff. If you're traveling with others and plan to check your luggage, distribute everybody's stuff throughout all the bags. Have your traveling companion pack some of your clothes and you pack some of his. That way, if the airline loses just one bag, both of you will have something to wear until it turns up.
Many bags come with zip-off daypacks, which is an excellent idea (or bring a small backpack). Keep in it your first-aid kit, sections of your guidebooks you stripped out for the day's use, tissue packs, water bottle, journal and pen, pocket knife, and umbrella.
Let's see. Besides a waterproof bathroom bag for the toiletries I think that's it.