Never leave your hotel without having the hotel name, address, and phone number (in the local language). If you see a postcard with a picture of the hotel building, take that with you too. Your hotel can write down the name and address of your destination in the local language to show to taxi drivers.

If I'm buying train tickets from a person, I always write down the names of the stations at my origin and destination with an arrow (or double arrows for a RT), the times under the names of each city, the date, and first/second class. You can draw a picture of a seat map to indicate whether you want to reserve an window or an aisle seat, etc.

If you can find a little menu translator booklet, that can be handy, especially if it explains the dish in stead of just giving literal translations such as "forest style chicken" or "grandmother's veal."