In honor of the start of Lance and I's house swap, I thought I'd post on the (mostly boring) topic of traveling.
While there are surely lots of people that fly more than me for business, I have a fair amount of travel with small children, which is where most of the below suggestions are coming from.

Let's start with the packing...

1. Take the fewest number of luggage pieces possible, even if that makes each heavier.  Having 2 pieces versus 4 to haul around by myself, especially in an airport that has no available luggage carts, while also trying to coral 2 small kids, has saved my sanity on many occasions.
   
   (Example of what happens when you fail to follow the above rule.  This is what I was hauling around by myself across 8 countries during my last trip to Europe)
   
   
   
   
2. Since you're packing heavy pieces, make sure you're aware of you're airlines' weight restrictions.  the internet should come in handy there to find out how heavy a suit case you can take.
   
   
3. Weigh your luggage by weighing yourself and then weighing you holding the luggage. I understand that that seems obvious but I've traveled with many people that couldn't figure out how to weigh a suitcase on a household scale.
   
   
4. Since you're packing heavy, put most of your light stuff on the bottom of the suitcase and put some heavy things on the top.  That way you can weight balance at the airport if they tell you you're over the weight.
   
   
5. Speaking of the airport... when you hand over your luggage, give them the heaviest one first, that way you can potentially take something heavy out of it, and put it in a lighter suitcase.  For anyone that ever checked 12 suitcases at one time before, and ended up paying $100 overweight fee for the LAST ONE (when all 11  lighter one's had already been sent off), this is a VERY handy recommendation.
   
   
6. Put all your sun tan lotion, make-up and any liquids into sealable plastic bags, unless you like your suitcase covered in exploded shaving cream or lipstick, in which you should ignore this tip. 
   
   

Now onto the traveling itself....

1. The number one rule of sane travel is DO NOT RUSH!  If you setup your schedule to where you don't have to hurry, it'll be much easier to deal with when things go wrong.  Most people around me flip out when they miss their connecting plane or luggage, but oddly enough I get to where I'm going just as fast (or slow) as them, except I get there without a heart attack. 
   This rule is 1000 times more important when traveling with children, as they will usually adjust their mood according to yours.  Hence if you're stressed 'cause you're rushing and trying to get through security FAST, they will stress out too and flip out half way through the metal detector.  If you take your time and explain what you're doing and which airports you're going through etc, the whole travel experience will be more like an adventure, than a stressful headache.
   
   
2. If traveling with children, take no more carry on pieces than you might possibly be able to carry yourself. Meaning, when I travel with my 4 year olds twins, I don't let them take one carry on each (in addition to my one laptop bag) because I couldn't carry 3 pieces AND hold two 4 year old hands at the same time.
   
   
3. If traveling with children, take TWO changes of clothes for them, and one for you, including socks and underwear.  Don't ask why - just do it.
   
   
   
4. Check the weather for where you're going (yes, I know this is obvious, but I ALWAYS forget to do just that) and make sure you have something long sleeve in your carry on in case the plane gets freezing cold.
   
   
5. If traveling with children, put something special, like their favorite stuffed toy or book or something in their carry on.  it'll be a nice surprise and a great distraction when you have to wait in line.
   
   
6. If traveling with children, before the trip, buy TWO new, small things for EACH of the kids ... like a coloring book and action figures and put it in YOUR carry on. This will come in handy for long flights 'cause you'll be able to whip out a new surprise half way through or I've also used it to calm down/distract other kids on long flights before.  It will also help with boredom or melt-downs after they've played with everything else they brought.
   Additionally, you can use the "I have a surprise for you once we get to ____" (fill in the blank airport name), which will make them much more excited about making it to (fill in the blank airport) without a melt down.
   Why two surprises you ask?
   Let's just say I have extensive experience with getting re-routed overnight and all of a sudden, an 8 hour trip turns into a 24 hour trip, during which the "I have a surprise for you once we get to____" trick has been proven INVALUABLE.
   
   
7. If traveling alone, get yourself a good noise canceling headset.  I don't actually have one myself, but used a good pair during a first class flight and it made a night and day difference.
   On second though.... if traveling with kids, get yourself a good noise canceling headset.

Lance, I'm insanely jealous you're going back to my little island....



...while I'm stuck here in Dallas.



And no, there is no way I'll let you guest blog on here as you cannot be trusted anymore than I should trusted with your blog. 
Lastly, please don't forget, whatever mischief you decide to execute in my house, will be paid back ten fold in your house (evil grin)