• TRAVEL LIGHT - Before packing, put all the things you want to take in one pile, and all the money you think you'll need in another—then halve the first pile and double the second. But do be sure to bring broken-in footwear. Nothing ruins a holiday like blisters.

• PLAN -  Get your vaccinations, stock up on medications and buy travel insurance. Buy a guidebook but don't be enslaved by it. Leave room in your schedule for whims, and build in "relax days." Try to spend at least two nights in every new bed. but don't overplan.

• CUT THE COSTS - Activities and group tours are generally cheaper if booked at your destination. Inca Trail tours booked abroad can cost $4000 plus airfare; similar treks booked in Peru go for $400. Advance booking is sometimes necessary—but shop around.

• STAY COOL ON ARRIVAL - Many airports greet you with a sea of would-be touts, guides, drivers and porters, all of them eager to rip you off. Stay cool, be patient, wave them off until they move on to other prey, then start looking for a taxi. Accept that everyone spends too much in their first days in a new country. Think of it as an entry tax.

• PREPARE FOR POVERTY - The squalor you'll see can be shocking, but you'll soon get used to it. Do good, but don't give to beggars on the street; give to Doctors Without Borders or Transparency International, and spend your money at locally owned companies.
  

• BE SAFE - The most dangerous threat you face in developing countries by far is traffic. So buckle up and hire a good driver. Otherwise, use common sense. If you see lone women and children walking around, it's probably a safe neighbourhood. Make photocopies of your ID, bring one copy and leave another back home. Most scammers, touts and hustlers will go away if you ignore them, but be prepared to shout at them. If you get seriously sick, go to expat clinics rather than local hospitals. If you have a big problem, call your embassy first. Above all, don't worry so much. Most of your fear is simply fear of the unknown.

• MONEY MATTERS - Bring a small stash of US dollars, a credit card and an ATM card. Traveller's cheques aren't worth the hassle nowadays. Even where ATMs don't exist, you can get a credit-card cash advance at banks in major cities. Touts on the street will offer you ridiculously great black-market rates for your dollars. Their scams are legion; walk away. But be much nicer when bargaining for souvenirs and taxis. Smile and tell your would-be driver, "No, we just want a ride in your car, we don't want to buy it." Bargaining should be fun for both sides.

• STAY IN AMAZING PLACES - Aptly named Freak Street in Kathmandu has $1 hotel rooms. Uganda's stunning Mweya Lodge, a five-star safari lodge surrounded by elephants and lions, costs less than $100. Go for character—sprawling colonial-era mansions-turned-hotels, treehouse lodges in Namibia, jungle camps in the Amazon, surfer resorts in Indonesia. You'll meet interesting people and get plugged in to the local scene.

KEEP IN TOUCH - Bring an unlocked GSM phone and get a cheap SIM card when you arrive. Bring your digital camera: you can go to Net cafés to upload or burn your shots to CD. Pick up snail mail at poste restante, get English newspapers at business hotels. You'll marvel at how small and interconnected today's world has become—but also at how vast, exotic and wondrous it remains.