Your flight can still be impacted – even if you are nowhere near a troubled area. This is the travel ripple effect that can send shockwaves through the most well-planned trip. When a flight is cancelled, it doesn’t just impact the first destination, it cancels every subsequent flight that plane was to make throughout the day.

So what can you do? At this point, gathering information is critical and the In-Flight Insider has some valuable tips that can help you salvage your trip before it breaks down:

1. Be proactive – with the looming hurricane make sure to have alternative travel plans.
2. Schedule flights early in the day, so even if there are cancellations, you have more flight options to choose from.
3. Be prepared to stay longer than your trip lasts - Take extra clothes, extra medication and other necessities. And if you check your bags, keep essential items (such as your medication) in a bag with you onboard.
4. Know what is and what is not covered with your travel insurance in case your flights are canceled.

Following these simple steps and staying well informed can transform a nightmare travel scenario into a successful trip where you know your options and strategies beforehand.

The service describes itself as the world’s largest online news source where one can browse and read more than 1,500 newspapers and magazines from across the planet.

This is a subscription-based service with access to periodicals in 70 different countries. Each one of these publications is presented as exact digital replicas, which are zoomable and flippable.

Access to this extensive media library extends to just about every mobile device under the sun that is able to capture the Internet. PressReader is one of the latest releases that brings a new PressDisplay App to the iPad.

This virtual library of late-breaking information is now available to you long before these stories ever hit the newsstand – and the best part is that you can set up each account to send you only the information or publication you want to read.

Topics of interest, no matter how broad or specific, hit your inbox instantly so you are never out of touch whether you on a flight, at the airport or even in a cab. You are plugged into the news that matters to you the most – no matter what’s going on around you.

And some of us are just trying to go paperless. Now there’s stylish answer to the dilemma from Paperless Post—e-notes on elegant e-paper with customizable e-velopes, monograms, paper colors, and font styles. It’s the closest thing there is online to going to the stationery store and ordering personalized note cards.

One of the fonts I found even looks almost like my own handwriting (one of the notes I sent to a friend above). It’s also fun for the recipient to click on the envelope and see it open. The website is easy to navigate, and Paperless Post is gracious enough to offer a few introductory uses of the service before you begin paying.

Now U.S. Customs and Border Protection has come up with a program named Global Entry that allows travelers to bypass the line with an “express pass” that significantly expedites the process.

Anyone can apply—no minimum number of trips required—but you will have to fill out a comprehensive application, pay a one-time fee, and, if the application is accepted, undergo a background check and an in-person interview with a CBP officer. The process, you might say, is frontloaded.

But once you’ve been accepted, it will be clear sailing. You’ll present your machine-readable passport and fingerprints for verification at one of the automated customs kiosks available at 20 international airports throughout the country and answer declaration questions as prompted by the kiosk. If you have items to declare you will then be directed to a CBP officer. If not, you’re done.

Particularly for people who travel frequently on business, the time saved in the long run will more than repay the hours spent completing the application process.

In the course of my career I’ve spent more than 20,000 hours in airplanes. For a long time I was flying to Europe every week—sometimes twice (and even three times) a week! So I had to learn how to bounce back and stay fresh both mentally and physically. Here are the top 5 ways I’ve found to ensure that you’ll arrive at your destination feeling your best.

1. Eat light (that’s not too hard on a plane these days) and don’t drink anything carbonated (its called “jet-belly”).
2. Keep your brain and body hydrated by drinking at least one 8-ounce glass of water for every hour of flying time. I know its not always easy to do, so sometimes I use powdered vitamins to make the water taste better. Note, the pilots are always mindful to keep hydrated when they are flying to prevent brain fatigue. I have found that when you mentally feel better you are able deal with the stresses of travel much easier. Finally, making sure your body is properly hydrated will also keep you more flexible and will prevent your muscles from potentially cramping (think of how the athletes prevent dehydration and drink lots of water for the very same reason).
3. In general its best not to drink any alcohol when flying, but if you do drink, try to keep the alcohol to a minimum—it’s also very dehydrating and your body metabolizes it differently in the air than on the ground– remember the old saying that 1 drink in-flight= 2 drinks on the ground.
4. One of the things that has helped me immeasurably over the years is that I never think about jet lag or how many time zones I have traveled.  I change my watch after take off to the time zone of my destination and I set my mind to the local time. I try to get in sync with where I am right away. Unless you have to make a call home or there are business hours/meetings that you need to be mindful of, forget about what time it is back home. Thinking about the time you’ve lost in flight is a good way to ensure that you will be exhausted and jet lagged.
5. Get some sleep on the airplane if you can. If you take “something” (any prescription or herbal remedy), make sure you take the proper amount and don’t mix medicine/s with alcohol (for obvious reasons) otherwise you will surely feel groggy. With some sleep you will feel more rested and if you are flying overnight to Europe, it will help you to reset your internal clock to the time of the place you’ll be visiting.

Most of us pack our shoes in the bottom of our suitcase (my shoes are always squeezed into my bag), which means that everything else we pack is squashing our shoes. It would be nice to help them hold their shape, but most shoe trees are heavy, so we tend to leave them at home.

I have found the perfect travel friendly solution. Dasco makes shoe trees in solid foam that weighs next to nothing but keeps your shoes in shape. They’re also lightly scented to ensure that your shoes—and the clothes they’re packed with—are always smelling fresh. And they come in several sizes (S, M, and L) because, as we all know, one size never really fits all.

1.   The end of a vacation is harsh enough. I think that there is nothing better than to come home to a “stocked” clean house and fresh sheets. Take care of all those  errands that are tempting to put off like going to the dry cleaner, grocery store, and shopping for essentials. Its so much easier to come home (and off Cloud 9) when you know that you don’t have a huge TO DO list.

2.   Make sure you leave food that will keep in the freezer, refrigerator, or cupboard so that you have something in the house to eat if you arrive late at night, if your flight is delayed, or you’re just too exhausted to shop. Also, toss anything before you leave that will expire in your absence. Personally, I always leave milk in the freezer so that I can (sounds weird, but it defrosts perfectly) and have it the next morning in my coffee.

3.   If you can possibly arrange it, give yourself a buffer (a day is good) before you have to go back to work, or at least plan a day without major meetings or other important events on the schedule. You may think you’ll be rested and ready to go, but, in reality, most of us need that day to relax and get back in the groove. To combat what I call “post-vacation blues” have something planed (a day or two after your arrival) thats fun, that you look forward to so it doesn’t feel so back-to-work.

4.   Make sure your home stays safe and is cared for and looks occupied in your absence. Coming home to a break-in will erase any relaxation you felt from your trip.  Be discreet about your vacation plans—that means not posting the dates of your trip on your Facebook page (where more than just your friends can see you pictures), not allowing newspapers or mail to pile up in front of your door, and, if possible, putting a light on a timer, leaving a car in the driveway, and asking a trusted neighbor to check on the house from time to time.

5.   If you drive to the airport and leave your car in long-term parking, remember to back into your space in case you have car trouble. I know this might sound a bit silly, but I speak from experience. I once returned home after a long trip to discover that my battery had died, and because I parked between 2 cars the emergency crew couldn’t jump-start it because they couldn’t get to the hood! On the one hand, the chances of this happening may be slim, but on the other hand, how much effort does it really take to back into a parking space?

These durable, laminated, fold-out pocket maps have been completely indispensable to me in my travels. They’re brilliantly designed, easy to read, extremely accurate, and available for so many cities and regions across the USA and throughout the world that it would be impossible to list them all here.

In addition to the city and regional maps, which are indexed to special sites, restaurants, shops, hotels, transportation, parks, and more, there are also specialized metro and museum maps of major cities. Carrying a Streetwise Map is almost like having a reliable, compact guidebook in your possession at all times.

I have at least six of them and use the one for New York City, even though I live there, whenever I’m looking for a particular destination in an unfamiliar part of town. You can buy them online, but they’re also widely available at hotels, newsstands, and other outlets.

I am always on the look out for a good adapter to keep in my bag at all times, and this one is a great combination. The World Connect Travel Adapter works in more than 150 countries and has prongs that slide out to accommodate virtually any two-pronged appliance, such as a hair dryer, a travel iron, or a camera.

The USB charger plugs right into the adapter lets me charge all my mobile devices including my iPhone and iPod anywhere in the world. Years ago I was always traveling with a whole bagful of plug adapters because I was never quite sure which one I was going to need. Now I know that with this one compact, lightweight adapter/charger I’ll be set wherever I go.

MedjetAssist membership services that go far beyond most of the benefits provided by travel insurance providers, platinum card programs and even other evacuation services. MedjetAssist actually allows their members to choose which hospital will be their final destination in case of an emergency (as long as that member is more than 150 miles from home).

Whatever the reason you find yourself in a far-away hospital, MedjetAssist will handle all the details to get you to your chosen medical center with no extra charges – just the nominal annual membership fee.

It doesn’t matter if you have a pre-existing condition or a long-term illness – MedjetAssist is always there for you, so you have a health advocate at your service, should things take unexpected turn when you are far from home.

It sounds too good to be true, but publicist and travel writer, Geoffrey Weill swears by this service after suffering a badly broken leg in the Peruvian Andes. MedjetAssist was there for him when he needed them the most and got him to a hospital close to home that he could trust.

“Any traveler who doesn’t take advantage of the program that takes such exquisite care of injured travelers should truly stay home,” said Weill after his ordeal.

As a longtime professional flying both for commercial airlines and on private jets, I’ve been trained to take my own travel health and safety very seriously.

I believe that taking precautions and minimizing risk is the best way to take the worry out of travel. Personally, I hope I never have to use the MedjetAssist services, but I will never again leave home without it.