ETIQUETTE dictates, at least in frigid France where I've been travelling over the festive season, that you may keep wishing others a Happy New Year until the end of January. After that, it's time to get on with it. So that also surely leaves time to roll out some New Year travel resolutions such as those below, that I've been gathering over the holidays.

Bonne annee!

I will avoid Heathrow hell It's one of the worst places in the first world of travel, and a facility whose reputation sank even lower during London's recent heavy snowfalls that trapped thousands of travellers inside the airport. Crisis-prone Heathrow - which imbues new meaning to the word "terminal" - is one of the most depressing airports in the world, a rambling place full of crotchety staff who appear to not want to be there anymore than the beleaguered travellers do.But avoiding Heathrow can be a tricky task especially since if you're travelling with the flying kangaroo, which calls Terminal 3, a glorified shopping centre, its Heathrow

TIP: Consider flying into alternative European airports via other hubs such as Frankfurt or Paris (the latter which also has its moments), to which plenty of carriers fly from Australia. If you're travelling to Heathrow consider booking your flights through a travel agent since if you get stuck there you will at least have an expert someone back home to help extricate you.

I will not give in to hotel temptations
Hotels love to fill their rooms with enticements in the hope they can draw even more revenue from you during your stay.

In my case they tend to repeatedly succeed.

The mini-bar price list at the French hotel from which I'm writing this column lists a humble can of Coca-Cola as costing the equivalent of nearly $12, only a few dollars cheaper than a Heineken.

After having been laid out to dry by laundry costs on a previous trip to Europe last year I packed more socks, underwear and t-shirts for this latest trip, albeit running the risk of have to cough up for excess baggage on the way, what with shopping purchases (a traveller just can't win). But in 2011 I want to tackle the last frozen frontier of travel discipline: the devil's fridge that lurks behind closed cabinet doors in nearly every hotel and motel room.

TIP: There's often a lock on hotel mini-bars these days. Give it to your more disciplined travelling companion (if you have one) and ask them to keep until check-out; or simply stock up on goodies from the nearest convenience store.

I will beat jetlag
After a break from long-haul travel, having spent recent years concentrating on travel in the Asia-Pacific region, I've made a few recent trips to Europe. And I've been reacquainted with just how rotten jet-lag can be, robbing you, as it does for at least a few days of the elation of being in a new and distant place.

So my spirits were lifted when, according to a recent report on ABC radio, explained that US researchers have discovered a molecule with the most potent effects ever seen on the body clock.

Dr Steve Kay from the University of California San Diego says that when "a glowing gene from fire flies" was put it into a human cell line the human cells in the test tube glow on and off every 24 hours.

"So we're able to take a library of chemicals and screen for individual chemicals that affect the biological clock in these cells and that's how we found a single chemical, a compound we call "longdaysin", because it massively slows down the biological clock when it's applied to cells " Alas, Dr Kay says "longdaysin" itself is only a research tool, but he hopes that in about 15 years it may be used in drugs to help people adjust to "new time regimes".

TIP: In the interim, as we await that miracle cure for jet-lag, stick to the tried and tested advice of limiting food and alcohol intake on long-haul flights. On arrival at your destination take in some sunlight and stay awake as long as you can to adjust to the radical time change.

I will learn some of the local lingo
Many travellers from the English-speaking world, including those from Australia, holiday overseas under the rather presumptuous, arrogant belief that anyone and everyone should speak their language.

But it remains one of the best pieces of travel advice to learn at least a little of the local language before you travel to your destination as the locals will appreciate the effort and reward you with friendliness and kindnesses.

In France, a country fiercely protective of its own language, there's a great appreciation of those who at least make some effort to speak in French.

TIP: Buy an old-fashioned phrase book and read-up on the basic words before you leave, remembering to carry it with you at all times during your travels; if there's time enrol in a crash-course in the language of the country you're visiting.

I will travel more in my own backyard
As the Australian dollar rises inexorably against the US greenback and the Euro more and more of us are, understandably, being enticed overseas.

In fact, about seven million of us head overseas each year to the increasingly severe detriment of the domestic travel in industry. Certainly, many of my favourite travel experiences have been dinky-di ones.

That said, the embattled Australian travel industry does need to lift standards and overcome the perceptions in its own market that a holiday in Australia simply does not represent value for money or quality, especially when compared to what's on offer in Asia.

TIP: Don't leave seeing your own country until you achieve grey nomad status. Leave your passport and phrase book at home for a jet-lag free holiday in Australia. It's eminently possible, after all, to visit destinations like Uluru for a weekend since it's only a three-hour flight from most Australia's capital cities