Listen to this song of the road.

Listen to this song of the road

Music is everywhere when you travel. It’s the soundtrack to your vacation, too often unacknowledged by, ahem, the people who write about travel. But there’s a trick to making the melodies work, and it involves developing an appreciation for music, knowing how to listen with a minimum of conflict, and connecting a song to a place.

How to handle a vacation disaster.

What to do when Mother Nature tries to ruin your vacation

Mother Nature vs. your vacation — you’ve been there too? But she doesn’t have to win. That’s worth remembering, even with Kīlauea about to engulf the interesting parts of Hawaii’s Big Island in slow-moving lava. And even with all those summer vacations that are up against the possible calamities, including earthquakes, hail storms, hurricanes, tsunamis, tornadoes, and wildfires.

Here's the best vacation advice from Christopher Elliott

My best vacation advice? There’s no need to do it all

Want my best vacation advice? Don’t try to do it all at once.

Otherwise, you could end up like me: babbling incoherently after two straight days of driving through Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota. I’m not making that up. If you try to push it when you take time off, you could end up wishing you stayed home.