Rating: 
Summary: A Great Travel Resource
Review: "Smart Packing for Today's Traveler" is a super informative travel reference guide, especially helpful for (but not limited to) business travelers. The book has tips galore on selecting the right clothes and luggage, being prepared for any weather condition or social situation, and (very important) how to pack less and still get by. Susan Foster has a background in the sewing industry and definitely knows this topic well. Even frequent travelers can learn a few tricks from the "Customizing Your Wardrobe" section. Illustrations enable the most hard-headed readers (like this reviewer) to understand her valuable concepts.A bonus is that "Smart Packing for Today's Traveler" is not exclusively about packing. The last 50 pages promote comfortable, healthy, and safe travel. The section describes travel insurance, useful gadgets, and information sources. "Smart Packing for Today's Traveler" is a great travel resource and I look forward to using her techniques on future trips. Reviewed December 2002 by Charles McCool on LowerAirfares.com
Rating:
Summary: A Great Travel Resource
Review: "Smart Packing for Today's Traveler" is a super informative travel reference guide, especially helpful for (but not limited to) business travelers. The book has tips galore on selecting the right clothes and luggage, being prepared for any weather condition or social situation, and (very important) how to pack less and still get by. Susan Foster has a background in the sewing industry and definitely knows this topic well. Even frequent travelers can learn a few tricks from the "Customizing Your Wardrobe" section. Illustrations enable the most hard-headed readers (like this reviewer) to understand her valuable concepts. A bonus is that "Smart Packing for Today's Traveler" is not exclusively about packing. The last 50 pages promote comfortable, healthy, and safe travel. The section describes travel insurance, useful gadgets, and information sources. "Smart Packing for Today's Traveler" is a great travel resource and I look forward to using her techniques on future trips. Reviewed December 2002 by Charles McCool on LowerAirfares.com
Rating: 
Summary: Never too well-traveled to learn new tips!
Review: I am an experienced traveler, yet I learned many new tips from this book to make packing for travel so much easier; especially in this new era of packing light. It's filled with the basics for my less-traveled friends who ask me for advice - I just tell them "buy this book" and you're set! A big PLUS - the extensive illustrations - if you're in a hurry one picture is worth a thousand words - or a thousand miles.
Rating:
Summary: Never too well-traveled to learn new tips!
Review: I am an experienced traveler, yet I learned many new tips from this book to make packing for travel so much easier; especially in this new era of packing light. It's filled with the basics for my less-traveled friends who ask me for advice - I just tell them "buy this book" and you're set! A big PLUS - the extensive illustrations - if you're in a hurry one picture is worth a thousand words - or a thousand miles.
Rating:
Summary: Finally travel instructions that make sense and save cents.
Review: I have been a traveler for 30 years and each time I pack, I make the same mistakes and end up with a sore back from toting to heavy a suitcase, until I read Susan's book. Her packing tips are foolproof..and I admit being the fool! However what helped me the most was her checklists. For example on page194-95, she gives the reader lists of important documents like one's medical history and information on drugs that you take daily and reminds you to make copies of all you take to leave behind with your support person, in time of emergency. Her emergency takealong medicine chest list worked for me and for once I got on the plane feeling competent on my way to Bali that I wouldnt need to see a Doc unless it was a fourstar emergency. Simple as it may seem, Susan's instructions on in-transit creature comforts, page176, saved me so much grief up during my trip. I trashed my vanity and showed up for an international flight sans makeup..and for the first time, I had sense to use lotion, waterspray and lipbalm instead and emerged energized at the end of my flight. Thanks Susan. If you can do it, I can do it. Fly like a Pro that is...
Rating:
Summary: Everything You Need to Know and More
Review: I have been doing what a travel writer lives for - traveling. I packed for a three-week trip to France (one week in Paris, the balance in Provence) in a 22" roll-aboard bag plus a small tote. Using all my best tips from Smart Packing, I had everything I needed or wanted and easily traveled by plane, train and very small car. It works! ~ Susan Foster When I was getting ready for a trip to Seattle a few weeks ago, we were told that the dress would be business casual. Well, since I am working from home, I needed to figure out what would be acceptable. I tend to overdress for all occasions and this time I decided to do research. After reading through the wardrobe sections, I decided to go a step below business casual and it felt right. So, are you planning for a cruise? Part III: Customize Your Wardrobe is going to save you so much time and you will have more fun shopping for the clothes you will actually want to wear. The words: "less is best" is pretty foreign to me. I pack enough for three weeks at least. Just taking a backpack would be horrifying to me. Yet, this is what some people learn to do while traveling. Whether you are traveling light or taking it all, this book has something to offer. I went with the "One Week Trip, Casual Business Wardrobe" idea. Susan has divided her book into four main sections: 1. Plan Your Perfect Trip - Planning for weather, travel fabrics, packing perfectly, etc.
2. Pack Smart - Airport Security, choosing the right luggage, checking or carrying bags?
3. Customize Your Wardrobe - Business, Cruise, Adventure, Resort, Sports, selecting clothes for your kids.
4. Travel Safely in Comfort and Good Health - Things to do before you leave home, worthwhile travel gadgets, money matters and travel insurance. Some of the helpful tips included: How to use a paper shopping bag to make unpacking easier. Great idea.
How to layer clothes so they don't get wrinkled.
Tips for not getting your luggage stolen when going through security.
Saline Nasal Spray - Helps you not to get sick from being on a plane.
Tips for traveling with infants and younger children
Take-Along Medicine Cabinet
Resource Guide - Lists of online sources for travel clothes, accessories/luggage, publications, organizations. Smart Packing is more than a packing guide, Susan will show you how to travel in comfort and style. Without this book, I would have felt so lost. This book gave me the confidence I needed to go shopping for the right clothes and taught me a thing or two about packing for a business trip. I still pack too much, but hey I have wheels on my luggage. On the way home, they made me move some items to another bag because I went over the 50 lb limit. Um, oops. Yeah, I went shopping. ~The Rebecca Review
Rating: 
Summary: Tells you what you probably already know.
Review: I have travelled a little, and I found this book really just stated the obvious. For example, she tells the reader to find out what the weather will be like in the place he/she is visiting in order to choose the right clothes. Half way through the book I was still hoping to find some new information I could use. There are a few handy tips for space-planning and access convenience, but overall, not the resource I was hoping for.
Rating:
Summary: Tells you what you probably already know.
Review: I have travelled a little, and I found this book really just stated the obvious. For example, she tells the reader to find out what the weather will be like in the place he/she is visiting in order to choose the right clothes. Half way through the book I was still hoping to find some new information I could use. There are a few handy tips for space-planning and access convenience, but overall, not the resource I was hoping for.
Rating:
Summary: THE book for planning your next trip!
Review: I LOVE this book!!---especially the illustrations that show how to choose versatile clothing items that can be recombined into multiple outfits. They really helped me to visualize all the possiblilities, so I could pack fewer clothes and still feel I was wearing "something different" every day of my trip. And there's no better way to lift my spirits on a dreary day than to leaf through the section on "packing for a cruise" and daydream about taking a wonderful vacation. If you only buy one book about traveling this year, make it this one!
Rating:
Summary: pretty good, but a little disappointing too
Review: I was excited to see this and planned to order it--but read a library copy first and that is plenty. I like Susan's tips, some are new to me, but, like a lot of packers, she tends to pack a lot of gadgets. I question the wisdom of that. I DO like her advice to check your bags. I do, including my laptop (in the middle of a big bag) and have had almost no problems. I resent people who ask for help hauling their bulky, too heavy to lift, items into an overhead bin (which Susan points out is unfair), and people who arrive with what seems like a household move worth of carryons and hog all of the space--and hold up boarding and getting off the plane. One thing she does not mention is that a good place to look for great bags at cheap prices are stores like Marshall's and T.J. Maxx. Do your research on the net and then look for the bags you want there. Savings can be huge, and I have been happy with the bags I buy there. This is really a very good book, but if you travel a lot, you probably have already worked out what works for you--and some of her wardrobe tips get mighty complex.
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