First, thanks to all the mechanically inclined gentlemen who stepped up in response to my last column and proposed ingenious fixes for our temperamental automatic garage door. One suggested inserting a toilet paper roll to focus the eye. We went that route, and voila! We could trust the door to stay down when we went abroad on the European vacation of a lifetime.

Amazing how simple life can become with some practical advice. In that spirit, I am paying it forward this month with equally practical advice mostly missing from the travel guides, and gleaned from our mostly wonderful trip.