In addition to the general tips listed below, click here to read Don Freiday's Birder's Guide to Field Trip and Birding Tour Survival.

• Relax. Be flexible. You are presumably traveling to see new places, new habitats, new fauna and flora. But the weather may not be cooperative, the birds and animals may not be evident, and the pillows in the hotels may be lumpy. That's the way travel is. Cherish the good, shrug off the bad.

• Don't worry about leaving something at home. There's almost nothing you could forget to bring that you can't buy at your destination, at least in North America. And if you did forget some locally-unavailable item, somebody back home could probably send it to you.

• If you are traveling with a tour, try to stay with the group. Generally, you'll see more this way than you will if you wander off on your own, because there are more eyes in the group and also because the tour leaders are probably going to be with the majority of the group.

• Try not to bring superfluous credit cards, unnecessary keys, valuable jewelry, and other things that you really can't afford to lose on a trip. Things get lost more easily in a strange place than at home, and searching for lost objects can be very stressful and time-consuming.

• If you are traveling with a tour, keep in mind that leaders will try to accommodate special needs or interests, but unless the needs or interests are expressed, the tour leaders won't know about them. Don't be afraid to ask questions. And if you have special expertise in some relevant subject, don't hesitate to share it with the group.

For tour itineraries, to register, or for more information contact:

NJAS Eco-Travel at: (908)-204-8998
9 Hardscrabble Road
Bernardsville, NJ 07924
or email travel@njaudubon.org.

If you are not a member and would like to become one, consider Joining New Jersey Audubon Society.