Most of us are pretty far removed from nature, relying heavily on technology, chemicals, and anecdotal information to solve our most common problems when traveling. It’s often the case when we’re presented with routine travel annoyances like mosquitoes that we turn to the store, dishing out cash for the latest remedies for ancient ills. Nature on the other hand has given us a brilliant set of physical laws that you can hack to save money and time when you, say, bump up against a hot sleepless night in Morocco.

Deter Flies With Bags Of Water

The first time I noticed plastic bags hanging from the thatched roofs of small kitchens in Boracay, the Philippines, I was perplexed. Even more so after I was given the explanation that these bags filled with water keep flies away. It works since the bags of water refract light and magnify the movement around them, giving the flies a false sense of motion (and potential things swatting at them) keeping the pests away.

Kill Bed Bugs With A Hot Car

Bed bugs are hopefully a problem you’ll never run into while staying at hotel or hostel but if you do happen to wake up with their itchy bites, you’ll want to kill any stowaways that might have hopped a ride on you backpack. Notoriously hardy, bed bugs can’t survive temperatures higher than 45 Celsius (115 F) for more than a few hours. Cars left in direct sunlight during the summer months can easily reach temperatures over 48C (120 F) even if the weather is much cooler outside. Leave your packed luggage in the back seat or trunk if you have any suspicions upon returning home.

Have A Wet Blanket So You’re Not One In The Morning

Soaking a blanket in cold water, then ringing out the excess, is a method of keeping cool at night attributed to the ancient Egyptians (and aptly called the “Egyptian Method”). Seems this trick, which helps cool you by drawing heat away from your body through evaporation, is still in use in modern Egypt. I was recommended several times while I was there by locals to spritz a bit of water on my blanket, sheets, or pillow to avoid tossing and turning due to the heat.

Get What You Want By Not Losing Your Cool

Despite the contemporary notion that keeping your cool ices getting your way, current research from Stanford suggests that slightly raising your temper might help you win more arguments. Getting what you want with airline representatives, overzealous touts, and hard bargainers can often be as easy becoming (or pretending to) be slightly agitated. The key term being slightly; otherwise you flip your advantage – a page out of the Art Of War that’s still relevant today.

Add Those Conspicuously Missing Dollar Signs

Ink may just be stains on paper our eyes detect using visible light but how those stains are drawn have a huge impact on our wallets. Exactly why adding dollar signs to the prices on menus makes us spend less isn’t quite known but I suspect it might have to do with making costs more “real” in our minds. We don’t associate the number “7” with “7 dollars” (or whatever your home currency). Try writing things out $7 or $7.00 on your next trip and see how your simple travel budget fares.

Extend Battery Life By Beating The Heat

The batteries that power your gadgets produce heat as a byproduct of the chemical processes that give your iPhone and other electronics energy to function far from an outlet. Keeping those batteries cool can extend each charge since heat works against efficiency but this is especially true if you travel with a laptop. Setting your laptop directly on your warm thighs shaves precious minutes off each charge. A case between your body and computer is one of 8 ways to extend batteries on each charge.

Other Ways To Bend Light To Shape Your Traveling World

Light and temperature are two fundamental aspects of our universe we’re so accustomed to we often neglect their presence – and uses. Considering light is vital to taking better photos, critical to the picture editing process and traveling against the weather can often help you save on airfare. Hot weather’s appetite suppressing effects can be simulated by consuming spicy foods for busy travel days where dinner might be a late one and capsaicin can help you burn calories on the road.

Some people focus their cooling efforts on their feet (plentiful blood vessels and relatively large surface area) which is an efficient way to make use of a tiny room fan or a few ice cubes when a fresh breeze is scarce. There are of course many other ways to manipulate thermodynamics and light to make the world work for you and I’d love to hear some of your best tricks. Feel free to drop your hottest advice (sorry for that pun) in the comments below!

[dollar signs photo by: Zabowski]