Travel Tip: Cancel Reservations at No Charge

Cancel Reservations at No Charge

If you missed the cancellation window for your hotel, restaurant, or car rental, it is not all over. You still do not need to concede to the hefty cancellation fees. Instead, if you are still within the date range to change the reservation date free of charge, call or login into your account and move your reservation back by several weeks or months. Then call back after some time to cancel the reservation with, hopefully, a different representative.

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Travel Gadget Gifts for Your Valentine

Top Valentine Gifts

Earbud code wrap

- Keeping my earphones in the pocket, the cords always got tangled up. It used to take me a few minutes just to untangle the earbuds before use. Then I got myself, and also one for my wife, a Nite Ize CurvyMan Cord Organizing Tool. Its awesome. It is small and flat. Fits easily in my pocket and keeps my cord neat and untangled.



Magnetic Mount, Kickstand, and Earbud Cord Wrap all in one -



Earphones
Avantree® Sacool Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Headset

These headphones are waterproof. Can be listened on the beach, by the pool, or while in the middle of intense workout. Just make sure that your music player is also in a waterproof case.

Panasonic In-Ear Headphone


JVC Headphone Xtreme-Xplosivs




Do It Out Loud

JBL Charge speaker
This "little" audio powerhouse packs some juice. JBL Charge speaker comes with a high-capacity, 6000mAh Li-ion rechargeable battery that can provide more than 12 hours of playback time on a single charge. And it has amplifier power of 2 x 5-watts, which provide full-range sound. Not only does it sound good and lasts long, this gadget can also charge up your other mobile devices. It has a built-in battery and USB port to connect your gadget. Similar to Sony speakers, the Charge connects to any device via Bluetooth. It will be available in April of this year.

Jawbone Wireless Bluetooth Speaker


If you would like to hear all of your cool tunes out loud, wireless speakers are a great addition. Jawbone JAMBOX seamlessly streams music via Bluetooth connection and it lasts up to 10 hours of power from internal rechargeable battery.


Etón FRX1 Radio

Weather radio with AM/FM tuner. Compact for travel and can be recharged by hand cranking at any time to give you the latest news and updates. Its LED flashlight would also provide light during the road trip.




Pictures in Motion

Flip Mino Video Camera



Cases

Kate Spade Normandy Dot Kindle Touch Case


Michael Kors Natural Python Leather Wristlet


Embossed Pattern Flip Folio Case Cover with Stand



Travel Accessories

Toothbrush sanitizer 











Sarah Potempa Beach Waver



Solar-Powered Bikini: Get a Tan and Charge Your Gadgets


Luxury Travel Accessories by WatchMojo


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5 Essential Winter Travel Gadgets

5  Essential Winter Travel Gadgets

Grip Track

It does not happen often, but when it does, it is bad. Snowstorms in NYC are a pain for drivers. Not only is your car gets snowed in, but you will also be piled on by the snowplows if you are parked on the street. And since the actual snowfall does not last long, you would have to deal with the frozen ice that will be left on the ground. I had to deal with this a few time since I got my car. Most of the time had to dig down to the asphalt to get some grip under the tires. And on our recent trip up north, I had some issues getting up a hill after a snow storm (more here: Travel Essentials of Nearcation). Grip Track, laid under the spinning tires, would give some traction, especially for front-drive cars. This could be helpful in the snow as well as on the icy roads, mud, and loose gravel.


Metal-rimmed snow shovel

Shovel, of course, is very useful to dig out your car if you are caught in a snow storm. During travel, especially during winter and in places known to get snow, you want a compact shovel that is with you throughout the season, packed away in the trunk or another compartment. I have learned it the hard way to keep one around in the car as soon as the temperature dips below 40. Last year I found and purchased a foldable metal shovel, similar to this one: Aluminum Sport Utility Shovel. While most shovels will do the job of digging, they are not all made the same. I had a plastic one previously and it barely lasted a season, and I looked like I was playing in the sand box when trying to dig my car out.



Ice scraper

Cars come equipped with defroster on the front windshield and in the rear. The older models might not have these or working as well. An ice scrapper that heats up on its own would help clear out the snow and ice from the side windows. This gadget plugs into the car's cigarette lighter. Small and convenient in size it can be easily stored in the trunk. My preference, though, is a standard ice scraper. I had a couple of heated ice scarpers, however, neither worked very well. Maybe if I combined the two into one, they might have had enough heat to melt the ice. The human powered scrapper works well with my cars defrosters.



Touchscreen Winter Gloves


Touchscreens on the smartphones are sensitive and react to the energy in our fingers. In the cold winter months, taking your gloves off to work your phone is not much fun in 10 degree weather. Hence the innovation to make gloves function with the smartphones. Yarn woven into these gloves mimics the energy and accuracy of human touch, allowing gloved hands to manipulate touchscreen devices. This cold-weather accessory also protects screens from smudges while using the phone by wiping down the screen with the material. The touchscreen gloves are warm enough to stand up to harsh winter conditions, but are soft and breathable.


Ear Warmers with Headphones
Just because it is cold outside, does not mean you would want to stop listening to your favorite tunes while en route. However, listening to regular earphones would leave your ears vulnerable to freezing temperatures.  Ear warmers with headphones, such as Urban Headphones Ear Warmer, are a great solution. Their behind-the-head design snuggles the back of the head without disheveling hairdos, while delivering high-definition stereo sound on your walk or run.

Ears are warm but your head is cold and you still want to listen to fav tunes?
There is a hat for that -

Sound Disk Sports Beanie
The disks in the cap are positioned on either side, partially behind the ears. They can be adjusted to fit over the ears to drawn out the sound. Though while traveling, placing slightly off, would let listen to music and be aware of your surroundings at the same time. Beanie's sound disk connection also comes with built-in microphone for use with iPhone®, Android based smartphones, and other mobile devices.




Did You Know?:
Cold can decrease your smartphone's battery life. When the temperature dips below freezing, the lithium-ion batteries can loose some of their charge. However, this is not permanent. Best operating temperature for these type of phones is 32 degrees to 95 degrees F (0 degrees to 35 degrees C). Stepping inside a warm place and restarting your phone should bring the power levels back up.

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New Cool Up-and-Coming Travel Gadgets

Charge It Up

Virtual Charging
Charging pads are making a come back after a rough start with upgrade in technology. They are easier to use and are now much more efficient. The charging pads utilize inductive charging, which requires a charger and your gadget to be touching to get the juice across. Though if Apple has a say in it, these will be outdated soon enough. It recently applied for wireless-charging patent, technology that would even remove the one wire left over that powers up the charging pads.

Cool and Green

Collapsible solar light

This light is powered by the power of the sun. One full charge can last for 6-12 hours depending on usage.
Makes it a great gadget to have around during emergencies and power outages.
Also since it has a rechargeable lithium-ion battery and weighs only 3.8 ounces making great on trips as well.
As yo can see from the picture, the light collapses to a flat compact and easily transportable packet.
It is durable, waterproof, and reliable in extreme weather conditions. The 10 LED lights inside can brighten a space of up to 15 square feet, producing six to 12 hours of light after being charged in direct or indirect sunlight for four to six hours.

Fit Everything

Fitbug Orb

The Orb looks like a watch, though instead of the clock face there is button-shaped step tracker. It can function as both as a clip on to carry around or as a wristband. Orb tracks activity and sleep, including steps taken, calories burned, distance covered, walking pace, and sleep efficiency. You can also log food eaten and track your progress on the website fitbug.com


Fitbit Flex:

The newest version Fitbit for 2013 is the Bluetooth wristbands. It monitors your activity throughout the day. And as a bracelet, it is more likely to stick around with you since you dont have to remember to clip it on as you go about your tasks. Fitbit Flex syncs to Android phones as well as iPhones and iPads through Bluetooth and website. The sensors send data to your devices, giving you a readout of distance traveled, calories burned, number of active minutes and hours slept. It can also provide information on quality of sleep.
Flex also has a built-in wake alarm and is water resistant, great feature for the road.

Basis fitness watch:

This fitness tracker looks a lot more like a watch. It has a rubber wristband and clock face that displays  readouts for your heart rate, activity, sleep and your goals. Like the other fitness trackers, Basis also has a site with dashboard for tracking all the activity and sleep patterns. Though, unlike other devices on the market, Basis does all this for you automatically without having to change the modes.

New Audio Tech

Audio-Technica SonicSport Headphones

SonicSport in-ear series of headphones are designed for fitness and workouts. They have a headband cord that wraps around the back of the head to keep it in place and fit comfortably. The new active-fit earphone design has a flexible pivot that provides comfortable in-ear positioning, and directs the sound toward the ear canal for maximum bass impact. The SonicSport headphone have angled housing that moves the cords behind your neck and out of your way. The design also allows awareness of outside sounds. Making it great for biking and hiking.


Sony Wireless Speakers

These newest egg shaped speakers by Sony have 360 Circle Sound technology. Which means that they distribute sound all around them and not just front and/or back as might other jukeboxes. These speakers measure 2.7 inches in height and only 2.5 inches in width. Making them quite compact and light (4.6oz) for travel. They also have pretty good battery life, which is rated at about 4 hours. Wireless speakers connect to any device, that has it, via Bluetooth.

JBL Charge

This "little" audio powerhouse packs some juice. JBL Charge speaker comes with a high-capacity, 6000mAh Li-ion rechargeable battery that can provide more than 12 hours of playback time on a single charge. And it has amplifier power of 2 x 5-watts, which provide full-range sound. Not only does it sound good and lasts long, this gadget can also charge up your other mobile devices. It has a built-in battery and USB port to connect your gadget. Similar to Sony speakers, the Charge connects to any device via Bluetooth. It will be available in April of this year.

What are some of the newest gadgets you can't wait to get your hands on? Let us know below

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