Travel dilemmas: What I did wrong in 2017, and my 6 resolutions for being a better traveler in 2018

I have to get better at this travel thing, I told myself for about the millionth time on my last trip of the year, and now I am making the resolutions - a compact with myself, as it were - to be a smarter traveler.

In 2017, I tallied a record amount of travel, some of it personal, some of it L.A. Times-related, but most of it in service to the professional organization of which I was president. Much of it was tainted by shortsightedness, by the "I should have thought of that" moments that unfold in slow-mo in your mind's eye, usually while the mini-debacle is happening.

Here is some of what I learned and what I will do in the future:

1. Pay attention to airline connect times

The broad rule for