After years of traveling, I still find myself filling my mental notebook with 'should haves" and "next times."

My husband, Tom, and I spent 2 1/2 weeks in Europe recently, mainly in Albania and Southern Italy. It was a memorable trip, filled with exploring new cities, meeting new people and spending time in Naples with old friends.

We did many things right. Not much went wrong, but, as always, there were a few things we'd do differently.

In no particular order, a few lessons from the road:

• Take a stash of travelers checks as a backup in case you need emergency cash. I actually do this, but many people don't, based mainly on misinformation about how and when to use them.

It's true that ATMs and credit cards have pretty much eliminated the need for travelers checks, but electronic systems can fail, and travelers checks can save the day if you need cash in a hurry.

This happened to our friends as we were trying to buy train tickets in Naples. None of the ATM machines in the station or surrounding neighborhood was working. Ticket agents couldn't process credit-card payments, and the automatic machines were rejecting cards. "Only cash," we were told.

The tickets were expensive — $100 for us and nearly $200 for our friends. We had enough euros to pay in cash, but our friends didn't. Luckily, they had travelers checks and were able to exchange them. The rate wasn't favorable, but it was better than missing the train.

Most banks and credit unions still sell travelers checks.

Another reason to carry travelers checks or a backup stash of cash: More U.S. travelers are reporting problems using their credit cards in automated ticket machines, such as those at many train stations, that accept only "chip and pin," cards with embedded microchips that are used with a pin number to authenticate transactions. These are becoming commonplace in Europe, but U.S. banks so far are not issuing them.

• Think ahead about what you might do if your flight is delayed or canceled.

Our flight from Rome to New York's JFK airport was delayed four hours, then rerouted over Greenland. That meant we missed our connecting flight to Seattle. While we were waiting in baggage claim to clear customs, an agent handed us pre-printed boarding passes for a flight scheduled to arrive in Seattle at 11 p.m. the next day.

We took our chances on getting something better by going into the terminal to rebook with an airline ticket agent. It worked. We got on an earlier flight out of La Guardia, something a computer wouldn't automatically authorize because it was a different airport.

• Some hotels appear to be adopting the airline model of charging "a la carte" for services normally included in the room price.

I'll be looking for another hotel in Naples now that my favorite, the Hotel Pinto Storey, has started charging extra for air conditioning (9 euros, or $11 at an exchange rate of $1.22) and an absurd $25 a day for Wi-Fi, on top of the $104 nightly rate.

It goes without saying that hotels are better values in smaller towns than in big cities. We paid 50 euros ($61) a night for a spacious room in the Hotel Villa Sorriso in rural Ariano Irpino, near the town where my grandfather was born. The price included free Wi-Fi and a large buffet breakfast.

• Next time, I'll budget more for transportation. Even with the euro dropping in value against the dollar, the cost of driving and taking the train is soaring.

A one-way ticket on the Leonardo Express, the fast train that runs between Rome's Fiumicino airport and Termini, the central Rome train station, now costs 14 euros ($17) if you buy it at a machine or newsstand, and 15 euros from a Trenitalia desk near the train.

High-speed Eurostar trains have cut hours off what used to be long rides between cities, but the price for convenience is high. We paid 44 euros ($54) each for the one-hour trip between Naples and Rome.

Rental-car costs have risen in Europe as they have in the U.S. The kickers are the cost of gas (about $9 per gallon) and highway tolls. A 100-mile trip on one toll road cost 10 euros ($12).

All-day passes for buses and subways (buy them at shops or newsstands) are sometimes worth it.