New Cool Find of Today: article - Pack Light for Geek Travel

A great article on Wired "Pack Light for Greek Travel"

It talks about what to pack and how to pack, including all the accessories needed, in todays world of multiple gadgets and restrictions.

Swiss Army knife reinvented

Update: There is recently been an upgrade to the model of Swiss Army knife with the USB. The Victorinox Secure SDDhas been released in 128GB and 256GB models in March while the larger 512GB version will debut sometime later this year.

Do you own a classic Swiss Army knife?
Even if you do not have one handy most people know what the classic version includes, what they do, and what it looks like. The basic models include a blade, scissors, nail file with a screwdriver tip, tweezers, and a key ring. There are now a whole lof of various models that SwissArmy is offering. From everyday to garden, outdoor, and executive versions. While a lot of these have cool features and are great utility tools, the one that caught my eye recently is the Victorinox Flash Flight 8GB Ruby. As the name indicates it comes with a built in USB flash drive that is available from 2 gb to 16 gb and is removable, LED mini white light, and a retractable ball point pen. These utilities make it one of the few travel friendly sets that might make it through the airport security.
There is a different version of this model available that also has the flash drive, mini light, retractable ball point pen, but also includes the classics (Victorinox Flash 2GB Ruby).

New Cool Gadget Find of Today: Brugo Mug

Has this happened to you? You are about to enjoy a hot delicious beverage. It smells good and feels warm on a cold evening. Than you take a sip. And ouch. It is freaking hot. And you just took a big gulp of scorching hot liquid that is burning off all the taste buds on your tongue. ... It happened to me, about 2 weeks ago. It was at a local coffee shop and we were in from a cold night and really wanted to warm up. Oh I did. My tongue felt burned and tingly for next couple of days, but it got better :)

This leads me to the new cool gadget find of today - Brugo mug. It is designed to eliminate scalded lips. And/or tongues in some case ;) The mug has a "tip and cool" feature that transfers too-hot liquid one gulp at a time to a Temperature Control Chamber and cools it down to drinkable 150-170 F degrees. Once the beverage riches that temperature, you then switch the Brugo into "sip" mode and drink it directly.

So when you get your coffee, tea, or any other very hot beverage, that is inside a foam or such container, you can then transfer it to the mug for easier transport and resealing, and also now to avoid scorching yourself while on a trip.

Travel gadgets go green

Video below is from Smarplanet.com. It shows some of the newest gadgets that make your travels a bit more green. I especially liked the filtered waterbottles and the water clock. These two are great to have with you on any trip as they both utilize a resources that is readily available in a lot places around the world, tap water. Fill up the water bottle with the twater straight from tap, and as you drink the filter at the top of the water removes impure particles. The great tip in the video is to take this type of water bottle to the airport where you can drink it, emty it out, before the check point, store it away, and then fill it back up on the other side. Awesome! Bedol Water Alarm Clock is the other travel gadget that uses tap water. There is no need to plug it in or use the batteries, it works by converting ions in the water to electricity. And it is great to transport as it is lighter without any water in it.

Which ones are your favorite and/or find most useful?

Gadget Guy Reviews: The Best Travel Gadgets of 2010

From PeterGreenberg.com:

"It's gift-giving season and that means the latest crop of travel gadgets are in the news.
But with all the hot items out there, who's got time to test out products and compare reviews?
Have no fear, our gadget guy Phil Baker is here with his annual column that looks at the best gadgets of the year, based on the scores of products that he's tested, reviewed and used during the year. ..."

Gadget Guy Reviews: The Best Travel Gadgets of 2010

Travel Gadgets slide show by Lowfares.com

Today I came across a slide show list of travel gadgets posted on Lowfares.com: Travel Gadgets: Digital Luggage Scale and More  This list caught my eye as it lists a few of the items that I have posted about previously and really like as travel gadgets. First one on the list is the digital luggage scale. In my most recent posts, (Travel tech blogger without a gadget, til now) I mentioned that I finally got one of my own and it is one of the best peace of mind travel gadgets that I acquired. The list also lists earphones as good travel gadget. In one of the older posts, Noise canceling headphones - life saver for travelers?,  I listed many benefits of having these around on a trip. I love music. Especially when it helps me tune out and get things done and also enjoy some great sounds. Gorilla pod is another of my fav travel gadgets that appears on the list and that I have used and can say is a great invention for traveling with smaller cameras. On our most recent trip, it was great being able to snap pictures of the two of us without necessarily having to ask for pictures from strangers with questionable photography skills and we could also make many takes without being annoying :)
An interesting gadget that I saw on the list was the Bottle Armor. It protects a bottle of wine or other glass bottles while traveling. Bottle Armor is made of durable leak-proof nylon with a layer of protective padding protects bottles in your checked luggage. It even includes a corkscrew and is reusable. As someone who has experienced many times trying to wrap that bottle in anything possible so it would survive the trip home, I think this might be good travel take-along when going on wine trails, picnic, or a party and bringing a bottle to a dinner.
Though I don't know about the Lucha Libre mask travel tag and the silk travel pouch. Mighty a bit of a stretch there for cool travel gadgets...
What do you think?

Travel Gadget Gift Guide

from Travel Channel

Ideas For Holiday Gifts

http://www.travelchannel.com/Places_Trips/Travel_Ideas/Getaways/Holiday_Getaways/Travel_Gadget_Gift_Guide

A much needed gadget when flying or cruising

In late October, I went on a 2 week vacation in Greece. It is a long way from home, so we needed to pack quite a bit of stuff. We also had to purchase some additional suitcases and borrowed one as well. Once all packed, we realized that the suitcases seemed a bit large. And as anyone traveling on long journeys knows, flying today with suitcases is a math game. So we checked the luggage weight limit for our airline and tried our best to determine the weight for the larger ones. However, we had to do it using some workaround methods as we did not have a luggage scale handy. You might be thinking here is this person that blogs about all the cool travel gadgets and such and he does not have a luggage scale. That is correct. That is until this weekend. On our first shopping trip back, I purchased our own portable luggage scale. We are not foreseeing another oversees trip for at least a year, however after going through the hassle and nervousness of not knowing exactly how much some of the luggage weighted up to the point of check in, I want to be sure I have one of these gizmos handy and ready to go.

P.s. the way we measured the luggage at the time is with the regular bathroom scale. First I measured myself and then measured myself holding one of the bags. Ingenious :)

How do you weight your bags? Any tips on which scales you have used and did well?
Do you have any interesting stories about luggage and airlines?

Travel Gadgets: Handy Gizmos for Stress-Free Travelling

By: Anna Clare

There are so many things about travelling that can cause stress, that sometimes we wonder why we bother leaving the house at all.

For one thing, there's the packing. Stressing about whether or not there’s room in your suitcase for everything you need on your trip can be a real headache – and if you go over your baggage weight limit, you'll either have to pay the airline an excess baggage fee, or leave a few things behind.

But we say: Stress not! There are some excellent travel gadgets and accessories that can significantly reduce the stress of going on a trip, and we’ve selected a few of our favourites that can help you have a happier holiday.

Trace Me Luggage Tag

One of the things most likely to spoil your holiday is losing your luggage. Spending your entire trip wearing just the clothes you arrived in is painful enough, but knowing you’ll never see your precious suitcase contents again is deeply distressing.

With the Trace Me Luggage Tag you can greatly reduce the chances of losing your luggage forever. The Trace Me Luggage Tag is strong and durable, and contains an individual serial number and 2D bar code, linked for life to your registration details on a secure data storage system used by law enforcement agencies, airport baggage handling organisations and lost property services worldwide.

If your luggage goes astray, a simple scan of the Trace Me Luggage Tag will identify it as your property. Registering your Trace Me Luggage Tag is quick and easy to do online, and there are no recurring fees or subscription charges.

Travel Charger Adaptor

If you rely on mobile phones and other gadgets to stay in touch while travelling, the Travel Charger Adaptor is probably the most useful travel gadget you will ever own.

The Travel Charger Adaptor combines adaptors suitable for use throughout Europe, North America, Africa, Australasia and the Far East, as well as featuring a handy USB power socket for charging MP3 players and other gadgets that you would normally charge through your computer.

Digital Portable Luggage Scale

Airline baggage weight limits can be very confusing – they differ from one airline to another, and when you check your bags in at the airport there's always that little nagging worry that you’ve exceeded the limit and will have to leave something behind or pay an excess baggage fee.

With the Digital Portable Luggage Scale, you'll never have this worry again. This handy travel gadget can handle up to 50kg – before you leave home, simply attach it to your case, wait for the beep, and read the weight. If you're over your baggage weight limit you can remove a few things and leave them at home, or pack them into your hand luggage instead.

The Digital Portable Luggage Scale can then be carried in your hand luggage so that you can check your bag weight again on the way home – which is very handy if you’ve stocked up on souvenirs and duty free goods during your holiday.

Paper Toiletries

Camping and backpacking holidays are lots of fun, but without a car to carry all the equipment in, you need to be quite strict about what goes in your luggage. Bottled toiletries can be heavy; even travel-sized bottles, if you carry enough of them, will weigh you down and make walking uncomfortable.

The best solution to this problem that we've seen is a fantastic range of paper toiletries that are ideal for travelling light. The range includes paper shampoo, paper shaving foam and paper anti-bacterial soap - simply remove a sheet from the small, lightweight pack, add water, and lather up.

Paper toiletries are also ideal for carrying in your hand luggage on flights; they're not liquid, so they won't break any no-liquid regulations when you go through security checks at the airport.

Portable Solar Charger

The Portable Solar Charger is another travel gadget that's ideal for camping trips, when access to an electricity supply might be restricted.

The Portable Solar Charger contains a Li-Ion battery which is charged by the sun during the day. Once charged, the Portable Solar Charger can charge your mobile phone with enough power to talk for two hours, or load your MP3 player with power equivalent to six hours of listening time.

The Portable Solar Charger comes complete with cables and a selection of adaptors, making it suitable for a huge range of mobile phones as well as many iPod models.

About the Author
Anna Clare is Website Manager at ShinyShack.com, one of the UK's leading sources of unusual gift ideas and suppliers of travel gadgets.

(ArticlesBase SC #917524)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ - Travel Gadgets: Handy Gizmos for Stress-Free Travelling

New Cool Gadget Find of Today: Wind!

Need a charge for your phone when you're on the go? Several new gadgets aim to harness the power of the wind and transform that energy into juice for your phone, camera or MP3 player.
As mentioned in the article on howstuffwork.com "How Wind-turbine Chargers Work," wind power is one of the fastest-growing segments of the green power industry. Now there a couple of handheld devices that let you utilize that power for personal use, instead of having a wind turbine, which can run thousands of dollars for a residential setup. One is the Orange Wind Charger announced that runs purely on wind and can power up a mobile devices such as cell phone, MP3 player, and digital camera using clean energy and without a wall outlet. It is light and compact and great for travel and camping. It's made to fit in a backpack and then mount on top of a tent to capture wind. The turbine directly charges a battery located in the detachable control box, and then the battery charges your cell phone with a 0.5-watt output.
The other one is The HYmini which is a smaller, one-piece unit that generates more power than the Orange -- up to 1.7 watts. This is because the HYmini doesn't rely entirely on wind power. In fact, wind is just an ancillary power source. The primary ones are a wall outlet, which charges up the HYmini before you go on your trip.
For more information on these and how to use them check out the article "How Wind-turbine Chargers Work."

Snail, a heating unit that runs off of sugar

A new use for sugar! A winner of the Electrolux Design Lab competition has come up with a device that uses sugar as the source of kinetic energy that in turn heats up pots, pans, mugs, and other containers with food and drinks. While it is designated as a home appliance, as mentioned in the this article about the 'Snail', I think it can definitly have potential as a great travel gadget since it does not uses electricity. Hence, there are no plugs to find or adjust to and no wires. A “high density sugar battery” provides the power needed to cook or heat containers. The sugar energy heats up a coil used for magnetic induction to cook.

For now this is a futuristic concept, though hoping that a similar prototype might make it into production.
Let me know what you think about this innovative gadget

Belt Bank Money Belt

This is an interesting travel gadget that is a regular belt, at least it looks that way to everyone else. However, it has a secret compartment for paper money to carry around with you securely when traveling abroad or unknown territories.

Belt Bank Money Belt Review on TechyZone.

How to take care of reusable water bottle

Some time ago, I had a couple of entries that mentioned the benefits, utility, and coolness of the reusable waterbottles. (Make love not landfill and Top travel accessories) They keep the water in, cool, and easily accessible. Reusable waterbottles are also great for the environment and give back in saved money over continously buying bottles of water.
Today, I came across an article that provides tips on how to take care of reusable water bottle to prolong its life and keep you drinking clean and healthy water:
Cleaning Your Reusable Water Bottle

Update: Quit Bottled Water with These Cool Products from Life Scoop
Green travel: how to ditch the plastic water bottle

Travel gadgets for the frugal traveler

Here is a great article by Willard Estes that talks about some simple travel gadgets that are great on the trip and also do not cost a lot or will weigh you down.

Top Travel Gadgets For the Thrifty Traveller

If you ever saw the high-tech African safari movie Congo, you probably know where the state-of-the-art in travel gadgetry is - tent air-conditioners, laser detectors to catch animals roaming too close, and so on. There is another way to go about traveling too, and that involves roughing it. You set forth into the wild with nothing more than a couple of sticks to rub together to make a fire, and maybe a tube of mosquito repellent. But for now, for the rest of us, let's go the other way - with travel gadgets that cost no more than $50, ones that we'd really need if we weren't Crocodile Dundee.

You can find travel gadgets at your regular travel store that range from your ubiquitous iPods tricked out with noise canceling headphones, to Olympus' Tough range of indestructible digital cameras and wearable GPS trackers. The thing is, these gadgets need a certain amount of babysitting - they are heavy, you need to carry them around, and you need worry about how to power them. And of course, these are expensive to buy, and easy to drop (not that it would matter to those Tough cameras). What we're talking about here is stuff for the frugal traveler - one who doesn't have a tribal carrying his rucksack behind him, one who needs to do everything himself. For those self-reliant travelers, here are the top travel gadgets you'll need, ones you won't need to break the bank for.

Let's start out with what it takes to pack for a trip. You have your standard 22-inch carry-on piece of luggage, and you have a week's worth of clothes to pack into it. How do you do it? By using Travel Space Bags, of course. What these bags do at about three dollars a pop is, they let you suck all the spare air out of your clothes bags so you can fit more in less space.

Now that you know what to pack your stuff into, let's go into what you can pack. Most travel gadgets happen to be electronic, or happen to be very clever. Here's one that's neither, but is still extremely useful. It's an all-in-one tool, a Swiss Army knife. When you're out there on the Himalayan foothills, and you ride sputters out, you'll probably kill for one of these. Look at the Leatherman series for some great action when you need it. Some of the models come with pliers to help you strip electrical insulation off, a screwdriver to help you fix the handle of a broken suitcase, a pointy point to help you press a Reset button, and so on. The best part is, they'll cost you no more than $50 at Amazon, if you go for the top-end stuff.

When you travel anywhere, in the Third World or the First, you simply need to carry a bunch of cash that needs to last you your whole trip; but what about when the pickpockets strike? You don't want to be marooned in the middle of nowhere with no way to pay for your next drink, do you? Get a money clip; I'm sure there are thieves who know how to outwit this one, but I've never personally had a robbery ever since I switched to one of these. If you buy one of those newfangled ones with a built-in flash drive, you'd have a little extra preparation on your hands as well. And while you're securing things, why not get a nice cable lock to lock your suitcase somewhere, or anything else. The Kryptonite R4 is a great choice, because it gives you not just your standard cable lock with a 3 foot extension cable, it also gives you a flashlight all built into the body. After all this, you'll spend no more than $20.

Now you need to babysit the few pieces of equipment you do have - phone, camera and so on. Simply buy yourself an adapter that will allow you to plug your stuff into a foreign receptacle; but how many of these can you carry? Grab a mini power strip that also supplies power out a couple of USB ports. Belkin has a great range here. You'll need a little folding tripod like the one from GorillaPod too. They make it so that you can balance your camera just about on any surface, even on a tree. And of course, let's not forget that you need some babysitting yourself; grab one of the several medical kits they have on the market - like the Adventure Medical Kit with a bunch of perfectly cute ready-made first-aid stuff. So there you go, all things you need, to keep you safe, and to keep you going.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com

Waterproof your travel

A large percentage of traveling is going on vacation. And most vacations take you down south where it is warm, sunny, green, and wet, as 70% of earth is covered with water. Since packing for you trip nowadays includes stuffing the pockets with various electronic gizmos, it is a good idea to also take along travel gadgets that will keep your phones, games, e-readers, music player, and so on safe and dry.

There are various types of gadgets that come already waterproof. You can get a digital camera that works almost as well underwater as it does above. Special casing keeps the water out and lets you snap away multitude of cool and fun things in the water. And while taking those shots, you can now also enjoy some music with waterproof music players such as the Freestyle 2gb mp3 player.

For other gadgets there are cases of different shapes and sizes that would protect them in the water or from any splashes around the water.

OverBoard Waterproof Gadget Cases are 100% waterproof and float if dropped in water. They are perfect for safeguarding your gadgets (phone, camera, MP3 player) and also keep out dust, sand and dirt.
There is one for the camera that lets you take pictures down to 19ft (6m) underwater and is perfect for digital cameras without a telescopic zoom lens. And an MP3 case that is heavy duty waterproof padded with an arm strap, which would definitly come in handy under water with the currents.

The coolest and definitly useful waterproof gadget I found is the Underwater Camera and Video Diving Mask (pic at top of post). It has an integrated water resistant High Definition 720P digital video camera plus 5.0MP still camera. No more dragging cameras around and have it hanging on your wrist and twirling away. And trying to peep through the view finder while underwater is not that much fun also. This diving mask/camera makes it a whole lot easier to get decent shot, video, and even record sound in the water. It might look a bit bulkier than regular goggles, but since with those on you already look goofy, why not have a cool tech camera on it as well

Traveling in comfort

Here are some products that make traveling a lot more comfy:

TravelRest Ultimate Travel Pillow

This travel pillow has a cord that attaches to the back of your airline seat, and a loop to attach the other end to your seat belt. These features, plus the TravelRest's unique shape, allow you lean into it and get a better night of sleep than you thought possible on an airplane.

Neck Pillow

These come in many different shapes and sizes as well as colors. Most of these come in U shape, which supporst your head on all sides no matter where it lands.

First Class Sleeper

The First Class Sleeper helps you get the most comfort possible out of an airplane seat. It provides both lumbar and neck support, turning your coach seat into something more like an easy chair.

Noise cancelling headphones

I wrote about some of these in one of the earlier posts. These headphones offer the comfort of tunning out and relaxing to your favorite tunes during the trip.

Travel Blanket

While some airlines still provide blankets on the plane, it is become more and more rare. You can bring your own one instead to stay cozy and warm on flights or rides when traveling. There are even now blankets with arms, such as the NAP Travel Comfy, that keep you warm and let you type, turn pages and eat without removing it.

Travel Gear for Kids Made Simple

Parents know that traveling with children takes extra planning. Luckily there are some great gadgets out there to make your trip easier and safer... Travel Gear for Kids Made Simple article on cbsnews.com

Top 10 Travel Gadgets and Tools

By Matt Ahl on ezinearticles.com

1. Smartphone. If you don't already own one you can get an iPhone, Blackberry or HTC. A smart phone lets you access travel tools such as emails, maps, GPS, compass, check the Internet for hotel reviews etc.

2. Digital Camera. You can't go on a holiday without a camera. A digital camera is probably the most essential travel tool so make sure you have a good one ready for the Kodak moments.

3. Video Camera. Another essential travel gadget and requires no further introduction. Nowadays most smartphones and digital cameras come with high quality video cameras.

4. USB memory stick. Lets you access and store documents and photos.

5. Universal power plug adaptor. Is an essential tool as it provides mating compatibility for most countries in the world.

6. Portable DVD player. Lets you watch movies and TV shows on the go and is a great companion when being stuck on an airplane for hours and hours.

7. Tablet computer. This is a hybrid between a smartphone and a laptop computer. The iPad and the Amazon Kindle are the most popular ones. This gadget lets you read ebooks and news, watch movies, go online etc.

8. MP3 player. The iPod is essential for killing time while traveling on buses, trains, and airplanes.

9. Portable laptop. Laptops are getting smaller and lighter and if you can you should bring one along. With a laptop you can go online, read emails, check Facebook, watch movies, store photos and videos.

10. Gaming console. Nintendo DS or PSP are the most popular ones. This is another great travel gadget for killing time while travelling.

Tips for summer travel with kids

When planning a trip with kids, most often you start thinking about what to pack way before the departure. Here are some suggestions to make packing and the trip a bit easier

• Etch-a-Sketch
• Doodle pro
• magnetic games
• card games
• books
• new toys they haven't played with as surprises every so often
• bubbles and balls for stops
• dvd player and handheld games

Let them go to a store and pick out books and toys. Half the fun of going on the trip might be getting to pick out the trip supplies.
Skip the sugary treats or drinks, kids don't need the sugar or the extra energy it brings. Instead pack some healthy snacking options such as apples, baby carrots, nuts, raisins and other dry fruit, and lot of water.

 

The Geek's Vacation Checklist

on Lifehacker

http://lifehacker.com/5579541/the-geek-vacation-checklist

Medical Kits for Travelers

Adventure Medical Kits for Travelers

By Tim on Practical Travel Gear

http://practicaltravelgear.com/adventure-medical-kits-for-travelers/

Traveling with the kids

The other day I was looking at a list of people tweeting about travel and noticed that quite of few of them were traveling parents and some that were traveling with their kids. This inspired me to take a look at some of the travel gadgets that are available for the parents and the kids.
One interesting gadget I came across was the "Ride-On Carry-On."
This baby travel gadget could be useful on a family trip through an airport, train station or bus terminal. "Ride-On Carry-On" turn your suitcase into a stroller by strapping on to just about any suitcase with wheels. It is made of a durable and washable 100% polyester fabric and is made to fit all 18" to 22" carry-on-bags. The chair comes with a five-point harness, similar to the ones found on car seats for toddlers. This way you can navigate through busy airport foot traffic without worrying that your child is going to fall out. You can also tilt or stand the suitcase up and the chair and your child will stay attached. It also collapses to fit in the overhead compartment and has a tray table built into the headrest. (Image)

Here are some more baby travel gadgets I came across:
Carriers and Backpacks
Car seat and toy and accessories for a car ride
Futuristic baby carrier - maybe too futuristic
Travel Car Bottle and Food Warmer
Easy View Back Seat Mirror

Best Travel Gadgets from CES 2010

Best Travel Gadgets from CES 2010 on Travel+Leisure
-Especially like the Hybra Advance Technology's O.R.B. It's a ring that can worn on a finger and and open, it's a wireless headset that fits comfortably over the ear.

http://www.travelandleisure.com/slideshows/best-travel-gadgets-from-ces-2010/1

New Travel Gadgets (video)

New Cool Gadget Find of Today: SPIbelt

Today, I came across a post on the blog Wanderlust and Lipstick about a belt/travel accessory that makes it easy to store digital camera, mp3 player, or phone and keys while out and about on a trip or just a jog. SPIbelt

Airport travel 'gadget'

Priority Pass - I came across this travel 'gadget' awhile back while building out an affiliate account with CJ.com. When I read about what it does and how it can be used, I thought it was a great idea for a lot of the travelers who are frequent fliers or those that are just fad up or do not want to deal with the usual airport waiting areas. I do not fly as often as a business traveler to make this a viable service for me, but definitely would not mind the avoidance of hustle and bustle of the usually waiting areas. With the PP membership you would receive VIP access to hundreds of airport lounges, previously only accessible to select few.

One of the great things about the Pass is that you do not have to be in business class or 1st class to be able to get into these lounges.

While traveling economy, you can watch TV and enjoy complimentary drinks at such places as the Delta Sky Lounge and American Airlines business class lounge. The membership also includes access to over 600 VIP lounges in more than 100 countries and 300 cities worldwide, privileged access to over 70 US Airport VIP lounges, email, internet and conference space. And you do not have to buy into an annual membership, as they also have plans for paying as you go. Here is their FAQs http://www.prioritypass.com/FAQs.cfm

_{p.s. full disclosure - please see affiliate message at the bottom as i would get commission for a sign up.}

Best gadget you wish you had thought of: Gorillapod digital camera tripod

This Summer's Best Travel Gadgets from Fox News:
http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2010/06/03/best-travel-gadgets-summer

"Why didn't I think of that" gadget

This is one of those gadgets that you would go "Why didnt I think of that?" when you see it. It is simple. Easy to use. And can definitly be quite useful. I am talking about the Add-A-Bag luggage strap. This little strap lets you attach a carry-on bag to your main wheeled bag so you can easily carry both. Just loop it through the handles on top of both bags, buckle it, and you're ready to roll. No more looking back wondering if the other bag is still there or making sure its not on a side and getting under the wheels. It also keeps it close to the larger bag for easier maneuvering. The strap is convenients since when not using it, you can easily fold it and store in one of the bag compartments and always have it with you.

New Cool Gadget Find of Today: Musuc Bag

What do you ask is the Musuc Bag?
It is a sleeping bag with MP3 pockets where you can fit in your MP3 player or iPod. Moreover, no more feeling trapped once inside the bag or like a todler with restricted movement. This sleeping bags have arms and legs...and you can actually get up in those and not have to get out of the warmth everytime you need to go places.
Here is the full article about these cool sleeping bags on TechyZone
http://www.techyzone.com/reviews/musuc-bag/

Travel lighter with disposables

I think that dissolving products are pretty cool and convenient. It was great when they came out with dissolving travel toiletries. And now there are one-time used disposable underwear.
Your trip is too short to do laundry, so you can save time by just tossing the pair out.
Also in thinking green, using these might reduce energy costs by eliminating washer and dryer use. It is a useful product at affordable price.
These are great for travelers who are either looking to travel lighter or are clean freaks. Invariably, even the largest suitcase seems to shrink quickly as we pack up our clothes. A five-pack of the disposable underwear weighs about 3 ounces and is 3 1/2-by-5 inches, about the size of a postcard. Once done with the trip you would have those extra corners open and you might have more room in the suitcase for gifts, souvenirs, and such. You also might need to spend less time packing to squeeze everything in.
For women, there are LeBrief panties that come five to a package and have elastic at the waist and legs. For men, two choices: Yo!Briefs come five to a package, with elastic at the legs, a front fly and a 1/2-inch wide elastic waistband. El Boxers, three to a package, have finished leg openings and a fly front.
There are also disposable socks, both mid-calf and ankle-length, and other products that you can just use and toss. With all these things, by the end of the trip you might end up with half empty suitcase to fill with chotchkies and goods from Duty-Free shops. Ahh, the cheap liquor...

Quick packing tips for business travelers 10 Days In a Carry-On


Travel Tech Gadgets Videos

Portable Power

I have not yet found the one that works. Though there are more and more new portable power gadget coming up with much better technology.
The power inverter that I got for my car was Xantrex 150 Watts. While I could see it being on and working, it did not provide enough juice to power up some of the electronics in the car. One of them was a small Shark vacuum. Though maybe that vacuum just required a lot more power than the outlet provided. Even so, it might be time to look into an upgrade, since as I mentioned these have more and newer technology in them that provide higher voltage. If someone knows of a power inverter that can easily power something like the hand held vacuum, please leave a comment to let me know.
For now I came across the Cobra CPI 480 400 Watt, which plugs into your car cigarette lighter, but has a regular electrical plug on the other end. Power inverters plug into your vehicle's power port to provide AC power to mobile devices requiring up to 120-watts of continuous power. This one provides up to 400-watts of AC power, hence the name. It has received decent reviews and with 400 watts continuous power handling and 800 Watts peak power might be just enough to power the vacuum and other electronics. Plus the price is not bad at all.
If any one has this one or have seen it work let us know what you think about it

How to Pick Travel Gear by By Laura G on eHow

An interesting short article on some of the things to consider when getting ready for a trip including some pointers on travel gadgets to take along

How to Pick Travel Gear

New Cool Gadget Find of Today:

Walkie talkie watches - Walkie talkie watches are a great way to keep in contact with your travel companions. No more holding a walkie talkie in your hand to communicate with your friends, just talk into your watch like the great spies of the movies and cartoons. Some of these have an option where you do not even have to press a button to talk as they are voice activated.
Since these double as a cool digital wrist watch, you have one less thing to pack. Actually, it would be at least two less things to pack as you would need more than one walkie talkie to communicate. Hence you would not need to find a place for them or look for them in the backpack. Moreover, the walkie talkie watches come with recharchable Li-ion battery and include an AC adapter. So you would not need to replace or carry extra batteries with you on the trip.
As most combos go, you would not expect much of these in terms of functionality either as a watch or a walkie talkie. However, suprisingly these have great features such as LCD display, multiple channels, and a communication range of 5-6 km (3-4 miles). A lot of these also include earpieces for even more covert conversations. With so many cool features these could be great for communicating between cars on a road trip, keeping track of your family or friends while camping, at amusement parks, and much more

Walkie talkie watcheson amazon.com

Spill-proof your travel - long or short

Here is an article on Realsimple.com that describes 10 cool, convenient, and also advance travel mugs that keep you from spilling your tea and coffee while commuting or longer travels and some also tell you the time and prevent from burning your tongue:
10 Spill-Proof Travel Mugs

Digital Luggage Weighing Scales Review on TechyZone

New Cool Gadget Find:

  Today I came across a review for a cool digital luggage scale. I thought I would share this as a follow up to "Portable Luggage Scale" post. The review is by TechyZone blog for the long-named No-More-Excess Digital Luggage Weighing scales. "...The No-More-Excess Funky is one of the best looking baggage weighing scales on the market today. It also happens to be one of the lightest and easiest to use, and may just go on to become the ultimate travel accessory for frequent fliers..."

http://www.techyzone.com/reviews/luggage-weghing-scales-no-more-excess/

Online sites and apps to help plan your trip

The Geek's Travel Guide: 25 Online Apps to Help Plan Your Trip
This guide includes some great information with some useful sites and apps that make traveling more fun and informed. Sites such as GasBuddy, Traffic and Google Maps are those that I use quite often myself. GasBuddy gives you a great overview of gas stations that are nearby and might have the lowest prices or at least closest to your location. I used to use Traffic.com to check out traffic flow before starting driving. Though I forgot to do so quite often. Recently I started using Google Maps instead, which overlays current traffic conditions over the driving directions you are currently viewing. And if I really want to make sure the conditions are good to go, I compare Google traffic with Traffic.com. Maybe too much, though they are quite often different from each other. Hmmm
I will be also checking out Ask City mapping site as I did not know it existed, actually I didn’t realize Ask was still around.
What are some of the apps and sites do you use on regular basis to plan out your trip?

Noise canceling headphones - life saver for travelers?

I love listening to music. I am a fan of variety, but lean more towards rock. One of the best inventions in the 20th century I believe is the personal music player. With these 'magical' devices you can plug in and tune out anywhere. I especially have great appreciation for having these great gadgets on my commute to and from work and at work. Music just makes the day go faster and most importantly helps you immerse in your own world and your work.
To make that even easier, we now have noise cancelling headphones, which not only transmit clear sound of music, but also mute the sound around you.
Sometimes all you want is a little peace and quiet, or just tune out all the things going on around you. And that is when noise canceling headphones are life enhancers, if not life saver in some situations.
Moreover, a lot of the times when trying to cut out some of the background noise, a few people, self including, have turned up the value on their speakers to drown it out. Not the best idea as it fatigues your ears and not to mention causing hearing loss and unpleasant drumming on the ceiling from the neighbors. With noise canceling headphones, such as Ultimate Ears, it would be turning down the volume and at the same time tuning out. Maybe, just maybe, all those folks on the train that have music blasting so loud in the ears that others can hear every beat of the song they are listening to, would be able to also turn it down a notch if they had the IECs.
Sennheiser and Shure are considered the kings but Skull Candy makes some great headphones also, and often cheaper ones. For full-sized headphones Sony, Bose and Sennheiser are the recommended brands.
I prefer in-ear-canal headphones. IECs provide comparable noise protection as traditional active noise canceling headphones. They're much more portable and require no extra power, such as batteries, which large noise canceling headphones require. And, in my opinion, they look better when walking around outside and easier to wear.

What others say:
- "I always listen to music while traveling. It is the best thing to keep me busy while having a boring journey. I love music and I can hardly spend time without listening to music. My cell has about 100 songs and there is the FM.So between them I listen whichever song I like."
- "I actually find music very relaxing and sometimes it helps me concentrate more at what I am doing. I guess it varies from person to person. I can listen to music all day and do many things at once and Im not affected. Some people I know actually get mad when there is other noise around them when they are trying to do something. When i am in my car I usually listen to my music pretty loud and it helps keep me alert when I wake up early to drive to school and then later on if Im driving at night."

What kind of headphone do you prefer? How do you tune out?

Taking Precautions Against In-Flight Thieves

An interesting post on blog "Taking Off" about keeping your possessions safe and having a comfortable and peaceful flight - Taking Precautions Against In-Flight Thieves

18 Must Haves for the Business Traveler

http://www.wisebread.com/small-business/must-haves-for-the-business-traveler

Dissolving Travel Toiletries

It seems just about anything comes in dissolving variety nowadays. First, as far as I remember, it was the dissolving Listerine dissolving strips. Which was a great invention and did wonders for many get-togethers. The thin sheets, while sticky, were quick to dissolve and were incased in a tiny plastic container that can go anywhere. Later, they came up with same kind of sheets that contained medicine and easily and quickly dissolved to deliver the right dose. And vitamin strips that provide a convenient way to take a variety of supplemental nutrients, especially convenient when giving vitamins to the kids. Than came the dissolving detergents and softeners. As the trend continues, it becomes quite obvious just how useful these new innovations are to daily lives. And they are even more so for traveling. As mentioned, they are small and can take anywhere. Now you can have many different types of these products and place all of them in one, airport security friendly zip lock bag.
There are dissolving soap sheetsthat are good for a one time use in restaurants, rest stops, and other areas for a quick wash up. All you have to do is add water and they are ready to use. These packets also come with body wash and shampoo. There are also convenient, paper-thin facial cleansing sheets that dissolve instantly when run under water into a foamy lather to deep clean your skin. A hair gel that dissolves without any mess or leaking while in transport. And adhesive bandages which include a sterile white pad to protect your wound, covered by a shaded pad, designed to protect and blend in.
I wonder what will come next in tiny dissolving strips? If anyone knows of any other products such as these please leave a comment


 

Green Geek: Energy-Saving Strategies for Household Electronics

This is an article from, out of all places, NationalGrid, residential gas provider. I found it very informative on conserving energy and in the process saving money.

High-tech gadgetry is no longer the province of the dedicated few. With the revolution in consumer electronics, the geek population now numbers in the millions. The typical American household contains 24 electronic products, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. All of this comes at a cost however. Household electronics and office equipment are among the fastest growing sources of energy consumption in the United States, and used electronic products continue to fill landfills across the country. By focusing on energy conservation as well as recycling and reuse, electronics users can save on energy costs and reduce their impact on the environment.
Energy-Saving Measures

By following some simple conservation practices and purchasing energy-efficient equipment, you can save significantly on your electricity consumption.

* Turn off equipment when it is not in use. Contrary to popular belief, turning electronic products on and off will not wear them down more quickly. Leaving them on only wastes energy and costs you money.
* Do not rely on screen savers to save energy. There is a common misconception that computer screen savers lower energy use. They do not. To save energy, turn off monitors when not in use, or switch to sleep mode.
* Watch out for phantom loads. Many electronic devices (such as DVD players, TVs, computers, and stereos) continue to draw power when they are switched off. These phantom loads can be avoided by unplugging the device or using a power switch to cut all power when they are not in use.
* Put your computer to sleep. Activate power management features on all computers. These place computers into a low power sleep mode after a period of inactivity. By simply touching the keyboard or mouse, you can resume use in seconds. Sleep mode can help you save energy and money.
* Unplug battery chargers for electronic devices when the batteries are fully charged or the chargers are not in use.
* Purchase ENERGY STAR qualified computers and electronic equipment. An ENERGY STAR labeled computer uses 70% less electricity than other models.
* For your next computer upgrade, consider buying a laptop. They use much less energy than desktop computers.
* When purchasing a new television, consider choosing a model with a liquid-crystal display (LCD). A plasma TV uses more energy per year than a refrigerator.

Electronic Waste Disposal

Electronics contain heavy metals and other hazardous materials. When they reach the end of their useful life, it is important to dispose of them properly. Recycling or donating electronics products extends the life of the materials and keeps them out of the waste stream.

* Recycling. Many counties and municipalities have recycling drop-off centers or hold hazardous waste collections or special events. Public and private organizations have emerged that accept computers and other electronics for recycling. Manufacturers and electronics retailers also accept old products for recycling.
* Donating. Contact local schools or charitable organizations about donating your old computers or electronic equipment that is still functional. This can help to support local educational initiatives and provide access to electronic equipment to those who cannot otherwise afford it.

http://www.myenergytips.com/Article.aspx?articleID=481&userID=4122880