Recently I spoke with Amyee, a spokeswoman from AAA, the organization infamous for its roadside assistance.

Amyee stressed that AAA doesn’t just help stranded motorists - they also help their motorcyclists and RV-ers members in the event of a roadside emergency.

In fact, RVing is all the rage amongst celebrities. Just last week, Amyee spotted Tommy Lee near South Beach in his RV. So should his RV break down, AAA could be right there to help him get his Winnebago up and running. Lucky her!

Well, since the rest of us don’t always have smooth-sailing trips like rich celebrities, here are a few tips from Amyee for your next trip:

1. You can head to aaamaps.com to plan out the details of your trip: mileage, rest stops, points of interests, recommended hotels, restaurants and so on. It’s free (some features are for members only).
2. Complete a full car check-up before heading out on the road. This includes your car’s: brakes, tire pressure, appropriate tire traction (important for winter!), windshield wipers, fluids, lights and heater.
3. Bring your cell phone, charger, important numbers and a car emergency kit, along with your other belongings.

• Be Prepared - Car Travel

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! One of our traditions over the years has been to get our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. I’m sure you’re also busy getting your house ready for the holidays.

Remember to be especially careful when hanging lights and other tall decorations! According to The Home Safety Council, most of us who use ladders at home often don’t follow proper safety practices. Their recent survey of 1,000 U.S. adults found that:

• 52% work on uneven ground when decorating outside
• 47% reach further than they should when decorating around windows
• 38% decorate after dark
• 36% stand on the top two steps of ladders
• 36% string lights while they are plugged in and using an aluminum ladder (which conducts electricity)
• 22% drink alcohol while decorating

A little reminder to think before decorating this year!

Just in time for the holidays - WhatHappensNow.com’s Travel section is now up and running! Check out our newest sections:

• Help - Air Travel
• Be Prepared - Air Travel
• Help - Car Travel
• Be Prepared - Car Travel
• Articles - hotel, security, packing tips…

Have a travel tip of your own? Post it in the comments!

TomKat’s wedding in Italy may not have been legal under Italian law…

So…Before you tie the knot, make sure it’s legal - find out about marriage license expiration dates, when to change your name, wedding insurance and other things to know.

While you check out the new holiday decorations in your neighborhood in the next few weeks, keep an eye out for anything suspicious.

When I spoke with police officers across the country, they really stressed that tips from citizens can really make an important difference in investigations.

So if you notice something strange, don’t take the time to judge it for yourself - call it in and report it to the police - let them decide whether the info is of use or not.

Got your own piece of advice or great story you’re itching to share?

Well, now’s your chance!

In the spirit of the holiday season, e-mail us the best piece of advice you’ve received - the one thing that someone shared with you that got you through, made a difference, changed your life.

We’ll “pay it forward” on New Year’s Day and post all of the advice we receive. And, we’ll pick the five pieces of advice we think really make a difference and those five people will get to choose from great prizes!

Learn more…

When I mention WhatHappensNow.com to other people and talk about the past interviews and articles I’ve written, often I’ll be asked to name the best piece of advice I’ve heard.

Without a doubt, the best piece of advice is: to keep a home inventory.

Why is a home inventory so important? If a fire damages your home or if a burglar steals your stuff, you’ll need to describe the stolen or damaged items in full detail in your insurance claim.

If you don’t have a detailed record of the belongings in your home, you may not be able to remember what you had in the first place and then you won’t receive money for your lost items!

So take an hour or two, grab the video camera and get started!

A reader sent in this great tip about a free password-generating software program available online:

A good program out there for password management is Any Password.

It generates better passwords than standard text ones and it lets you create folders to organize passwords in categories. You can also use the password generator to create usernames for certain sites such as banks and credit card companies.

Thanks for the great tip!

Have any tips of your own you’d like to share? Comment below or e-mail me!

Is now up and working!

Feel free to comment away! You can also send me an e-mail with your advice and stories.

Thanks for your patience!

I keep hearing about more and more cases of identity theft from my friends and family.

My friend who recently moved to Denver noticed fraudulent charges on her account only a week after she arrived! She thinks her credit card numbers were stolen after purchasing items online on her home computer.

With all the latest spyware and virus technology, it’s necessary to practice identity theft prevention at home.

Why? Often your home computer doesn’t have the firewall and virus protection that your work computer might, so it’s important to make home computer security a regular routine.

Here’s a few tips I’ve put into practice:

• I try to remember to run my virus-scanning and spyware software at least once a week. Make sure that it’s activated and up-to-date, too!
• I now use my credit card instead of my debit card when shopping online (you’ll only be held responsible for $50 worth of fraudulent charges with a credit card).
• I’ve updated my banking and e-mail passwords to now have letters, numbers and symbols (i.e. K34!$25M) for extra security.

While the tips won’t be foolproof, at least they give me a little extra peace of mind!

Have your own ID theft tips or stories? E-mail me!