Be prepared. Along with your passport, carry your driver's license as well. Your passport adds legitimacy to any emergency banking transactions that might need to be carried out while you're away, it establishes your identify at hotels worldwide and is the best way for others to reach your family should you become ill or injured on the road. Your driver's license becomes your second piece of photo ID, it adds further credence to your passport and, most importantly, it stretches your transportation possibilities in a pinch. Need to get from one place to another in North America and no flights are available? You've got all the documentation necessary to rent a car and you're on your way with as little fuss as possible.

Extra photos help...

Two passport photos don't take up any room in your wallet but they could come in so handy when you really need them. Replacing a lost passport, membership card or senior ID becomes an awful lot simpler when you don't have to go off in search of a photographer's shop to begin the process.

Yes, there are credit cards, cash cards and travellers checks, but a small stash of backup emergency funds in American dollars can't hurt when you travel. Journeywoman suggests using a vitamin bottle with a few pills still in it so that your container looks and sounds authentic. Roll up your cash, store it in this secret container and then forget about it. It can generally be left in your hotel room, hostel dorm or carried in your backpack without fear of thieves making off with it. We call this our "Just in Case Money".

If you're a mother travelling with a baby, be sure to pack formula and water for five or six extra feedings. Ditto for your diaper supply. Don't assume that you will always complete your travel plans in the time expected. Under these circumstances it certainly pays to carry more and be prepared. Think ahead, too, to any extra medication you or your child might need along the way.

One never knows when an easy one hour inter-city flight will have to be replaced with an adventurous 10 hour train ride. While soft drinks and snack foods are usually readily available at all train stations, you might not be satisfied with the concept of junk food sold at inflated prices. Instead seek out a supermarket and stock up with bottled water and healthy choices that will make your journey infinitely more pleasurable.

Our Journeywoman Network http://registration.journeywoman.com/index.cfm now includes 1,000's of women in over 100 countries who are savvy travellers. We're probably travelling on the same flights, dining solo in the same restaurants, ushering our offspring through the same train stations and yet we have no way of recognizing each other. Before setting off on a journey, simply tie a bit of orange ribbon to your backpack and/or suitcase and let's see what happens. Perhaps when things don't go as planned, we can join forces to get through the unforeseen circumstances that often present themselves as we travel.