As the sun begins to thaw our weary bones, many of us are starting to make grand travel plans: booking flights, reserving hotel rooms and mapping out the best routes to the most popular destinations.

Up in the Stater lab, we all have destinations we’d like to visit: Daytona Beach, Florida; the Great Barrier Reef; Iceland, Ireland and Argentina; Santorini, Greece; Italy; Amerstdam, Rome and Prague. Not that these trips will be happening any time soon for some of us, but we’re dreamers up here.

Nonetheless, most of us will venture out of Wayne at some point in time in the near future, heading to destinations not so far out of reach and when that time comes, traveling smart is imperative.

Whether you’re heading to the lake for the weekend or heading to Colorado for a week of hiking, there are things you can do to prevent needless injury—to you, others or your belongings.

Watching for travel alerts and warnings is incredibly important, especially if you’re traveling into an area with civil unrest. Traveling in those types of areas isn’t recommended, but if you’re doing it, at least pay attention. Civil unrest isn’t really a factor when traveling through the continental US, but the warnings can include weather alerts—which can be life-saving if you’re planning to backpack through the Rockies and a snowstorm is imminent or you plan to peruse the beaches of gulf Texas just as hurricane season starts up.

Bring important documents in case of emergency. These include proper ID, insurance cards and—if needed—a passport. Again, when traveling in the US, the latter isn’t needed, but if you’re boarding a cruise ship, it very well could be a necessity.

Carrying cash can be dangerous, but not all places accept cards, so be prepared to have both options available. Using a prepaid card or a card that will reimburse you if it’s stolen is a great option.

There are countless other tips to make travel easier, but these few are just enough to get you started. Now it’s time to start planning.