Travel tips?

• I like bringing snacks for the cabin crew, sometimes in return they give me complimentary flight meals / snacks, but even if not they seem to appreciate it. Nothing fancy, <$5 snack is plenty. Pretz sticks seem to be a favourite.

• People are coughing on flights / shops / restaurants, and in generally have gotten way sloppier. Bring an N95 mask and hand sanitizer gel / wipes.

• Bring a photocopy of your credit card numbers (no need for pin, code or dates) and phone numbers, passport etc, in case they get lost. If you're traveling with a child without the other parent, bring a consent form just in case.

• Have the address and dates of your hotel booking handy when going through immigration, that seems to be a common question.

• If you bring anything back, have receipt and fill the info, down to the cent. Usually immigration waves me over if they see you're prepared and can back numbers up.

• If your phone is eSIM compatible, they're so much easier to get cheap phone / data now.

• [Opinion] taxis are a tourist trap. I would never willingly go into another taxi again if any ride share or local similiar companies are available.

• [Opinion] Short term stays or hotel booking sites, on the other hand, don't seem worth the risk. A lot of hotels have discounts when booking through them directly with better last minute cancellations, and will give you the nicer/better rooms for it too. Use reviews to figure out which floors or wings have newer rooms and request through the direct booking.

• When seeing a bunch of cities, make sure the attraction at a particular city will actually be open / not under renovations on the day you arrive.

• Bring at least two pair of shoes in case your main pair gets wet, go with the most confortable ones.
• Take a look on the weather beforehand and bring appropriate clothes.
• If possible, bring snacks to avoid expensive airport food.
• Do you really need to bring that device? I normally just go with my phone and an extra electronic device for killing time (to avoid my phone battery to get drained), normally it's my 3ds because it also counts my steps and I like to keep the record.
• Pack more socks and underwear that you think you need, the opposite goes with pants.
• ALWAYS bring cash.
• You can survive a cheap uncomfortable airplane seat, but you will regret a lot more staying in an uncomfortable cheap hotel.
• Things you'll always need to be caring around: your phone, wallet, passport and deodorant.

Small ones:

• Bring a 3 outlet splitter so you can share an outlet if you're in an airport where they are scarce. (Not sure about international options, but this is a common problem in smaller US airports)

• If the curtains don't make a good light seal where they meet in the middle and you want it darker, use one of the hangars with clips to clip them together.

• Around 1-2 weeks before the trip, I meal prep high fiber meals. Like burrito bowls or rice and beans with more beans than usual. Absolutely liberating and frugal to just not be hungry for an entire day and pretty much only have to eat the next day after a single meal in the morning. Don't do this if a dinner reservation is a part of your trip right after arrival as it might kill the experience.
• Cities are further than they appear on the map. Even on the Nozomi it still takes a few hours between major stops like Osaka and Tokyo. The shinkansen is fast, but not that fast compared to a plane (which is offset by waiting at the airport). Also Australia is big. Takes around 3-4 hours of flight to clear the continent from the east coast cities to Asia.
• If you're taking public transport, double check how to actually get the transport card, pay for paper tickets or if you can actually tap your credit card in (check for international fees). In places like Perth Airport there's quirks like the T3/T4 domestic terminal not having a store to get a card to actually take the train to the city (which itself needs a bus ride or if you can spare a walk to get there)
• Triple check your airline's luggage rules if you're packing a bunch. Singapore Airlines lets me bring 2x7kg carry-ons in business class compared to Cathay's 1x10kg.
• When traveling alone in business class, many long-range widebodies have the single window seats staggered so row numbers sometimes matter for privacy or space reasons. I have weird facts like these in my head like booking odd numbered rows on Qantas 787s and even rows on A330s where the console separates you from the aisle and the seat is closer to the window. I use AeroLOPA to see the actual business class seats when planning out long haul trips.
• If I don't know what to eat on the plane, I generally pick the stews or closest to a stew. They hold up best given how they are prepared, and from my own meal prep experiences.
• The laksa in the SilverKris lounges are nice.
• Qantas has way better lounges internationally than the infamous toasted sandwiches on Australian capital city airports. At least you can drink enough alcohol to offset the cost of lounge access while still being allowed to board. And when you're spoiled by the lounges at Changi or The Wing at Hong Kong, everything else feels like a downgrade given similar fares.