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May 30, 2013

Saving Money for Travel and Gadgets

Travel is fun

It is also relaxing, exciting, and educational. Additionally, travel requires some funding.

Some great tips I came across to help you save to fund your next adventure:

28 Ways to Save Money for Traveling
http://www.bootsnall.com/articles/09-07/28-ways-to-save-money-for-traveling.html

The 7 Deadly Sins of Travel
http://www.bootsnall.com/articles/09-10/the-7-deadly-sins-of-travel.html

Top 10 Budget Travel Errors
http://budgettravel.about.com/od/howtobeabudgettraveler/ss/Top-10-Budget-Travel-Errors.htm

World’s Top 50 Travel Bloggers Share Their Best Money Saving Tips
http://blog.hotelscombined.com/travel-bloggers-share-their-best-money-saving-tips

While it is extra bucks to add to your travel budget, don't forget to get travel insurance. It will save you money and peace of mind in the end. With travel insurance you do not have to worry if there is a delay, if you have to cancel or adjust your travel time, about luggage getting there, as well as any medical situations. Every time we travel for a prolonged period of time, we get travel insurance with our package. It is relatively cheap compared to the rest of the trip.

It is also a great idea to have a dedicated bank account for your travel fund. We started a savings account awhile back that has an interest rate. Currently, the rate is low, but it does add on a few bucks. Originally it was opened for larger purchases and travel, but as of late, it has been used mostly for our week-long trips.

10 Tips on How to Save For Travel

Gadgets, such as smartphone and many more throughout this blog, are essential to keep you on your way, make it memorable, collect those memories, and keep you entertained while traveling. While some are inexpensive, a few of these added up result in hefty dollar amounts. Hence I recommend, and something I have being doing myself, to stagger purchasing your travel gadgets. This way the impact of that cool new gadget would not be really felt in your savings. And by the time you have your next big adventure lined up, you will be traveling with a few of the devices.

Pack Light

With second bag fees, over weight baggage fee, and fees for just bringing bags, packing light would save money and headache of shuffling things around.
To make sure that you are within the weight limit when packing for the trip or even more important, when returning, use a digital luggage scale such as the GSI Super Digital Travel Luggage Scale They are easy to use and easy to read.

How to Pack Light










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Did You Know?
What $1 buys around the world

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May 22, 2013

New Cool Up-and-Coming Travel Gadgets

New Cool Travel Gadgets

Nowadays we rarely hit the road without at least some gadgets in tow. Smartphones, tablets, digital cameras and a slew of other devices have all made travel simpler. And there are many more interesting cool and helpful gadgets getting designed...

Keeping the batteries on all of those gadgets fully charged can be a real challenge, especially when traveling through remote locations. Fortunately, there have been some excellent advances in solar charging, which have made gathering energy from the sun a more viable way to power our devices while on the go

sCharger Solar Charger
Solar technology is the buzz phrase in most recent new gadgets announcements. From Superman movies, and brand new one coming out next month, we know that my favorite alien gets his power and recharges from the Sun. Now your smartphone can do that too. sCharger Solar Charger can charge smartphone, iPod, eReaders, and many other devices.

Sherpa 50 Solar Recharging Kit from Goal Zero http://www.goalzero.com/sherpa50.html

The solar grid that comes as part of the kit, collects the sun's energy to charge Sherpa 50, the inverter that you actually use to charge. It takes about 5 hours for a full charge. Then charge your laptop or smartphone. It takes only 2 hours to charge the computer. It can also be charged from a wall outlet for a faster charge or away from sunlight.

Chargepak NT600C -(6000mAh)
    


Nectar Mobile Power
Most chargers, even "wireless," need to be plugged into an outlet. Nectar is a “plug-less” charger, getting its power from Power Cartridges, called “pods,” rather than traditional wall outlets. Per company's website, an individual power cartridge can power or recharge travel size gadgets for several weeks. Rather than a traditional lithium ion battery, Nectar uses a proprietary Silicon Power Cell technology



Smart Watch
People don’t wear watches anymore. I did a post some time ago on the topic of wearing a watch and that I dont do that anymore. New Cool Gadget Find of Today: Wrist watches making a comeback?. I also wrote that I might wear a watch that had more function. Well fast forward to today and companies that are at forefront of innovation are developing smart watches  that can do a lot more than just tell time. Or even tell you who is calling. Smart watches are still very much in their nascent stage. But guess what? Wearing a watch might just be making a come back.
Samsung has confirmed that it is working on its own watch. Meanwhile, Apple reportedly has more than 100 people working on a curved-glass iWatch that runs iOS and Google is said to be working on its own high-tech timepiece. With these smarter watches you can:
- Glance at info to save time
- find out which calls are worth picking up (or ignoring), which messages are worth responding to, which tweets are worth re-tweeting and more. No more having to constantly unlock your phone for no good reason.
- track your steps with a pedometer, track calories and also your heart rate
- use the Bluetooth 4.0 standard, which employs low-energy technology specifically designed for smart devices. Which can actually save your phones battery
- with your phone in your pocket, dictate a message or social update to your wrist, see who won last night's game and get the 5-day weather forecast.
- quickly check your inbox without whipping out your 5-inch phablet. A smart watch would let you do that quickly and more discreetly.

Stash Waterproof Pocket Shorts
Go swimming without having to worry about:
1. leaving your cell phone, keys and wallet on the beach without supervisions
2. having your phone or wallet get wet and for your battery and dollar bills go for a dip
These shorts are currently in the concept stage and are crowdsourcing funding through Kickstarter here


FitBit Flex Wristband
Fitbit Flex Wireless Wristband that tracks your activity and sleep patterns and syncs with a smartphone app to show you how active you are and your overall lifestyle. The band syncs with an Android (Samsung Galaxy S III or Note II) device or iPhone via Bluetooth, latest comes with 4.0 synchronization, and uploads the data to a smartphone app as well as to your online profile. FitBit Flex can measure how many steps you have taken, calories burned and quality and amount of sleep. The band is water-resistant, so it can be worn throughout your travels.

Audio-Technica Debuts $99 SonicSport Headphones
Designed for fitness buffs, the headphones sport an active-fit earphone design that features a flexible pivot ensuring a comfortable in-ear fit. SonicSports will also allow ambient noise to filter through so wearer’s can be aware of the surrounding environment. Instead of an over-head headband, the SonicSport’s band wraps around the back of the wearer’s head for a more secure, comfortable fit. There’s also a cord-mounted remote with controls for volume and music playback functions.


Pocket-Friendly Canon PowerShot N
Small point-and-shoot, measuring 3.1 x 2.4 x 1.2 inches, camera that can upload photos and videos to the Web or a social network with the press of a button. PowerShot N has built-in Wi-Fi. On its back is a 2.8-inch LCD that tilts up 90 degrees, and the front has a wide angle lens with an 8X optical zoom. Which is pretty good for a camera of that size. The higher the optical zoom the better photos would look if zoomed in on. Read more about optical zoom here Buying a Digital Camera for Travel.


GPS Reinvented
In one of my recent posts I mentioned that the maps on our smartphones, while good to have, are quite limited. And while GPS was thought to be going out of style, are actually still an essential travel gadget. Garmin proves this even more with its newest GPS, Garmin nüvi 52LM GPS Travel Assistant.
It does all of the basics that GPS these days offer. Plus this new device has a
Garmin Real Directions guide that displays easy-to-see landmarks, buildings and traffic lights, rather than street names. Similar to the type of directions a person would give you. It also has Active Lane Guidance with voice prompts to keep you from swerving, a live-action model with brightly colored arrows that indicate the proper lane needed for your next turn, and photoReal and Bird’s Eye Junction Views to navigate confidently through interchanges. All new Garmins come with Lifetime Free Map update.

The World’s Best Underwater Headphones?
http://damncoolgadgets.com/the-worlds-best-underwater-headphones/








Did You Know?:
Technology and fashion collide at Textiles Nanotechnology Laboratory. Researchers are working on creating clothing made with conductive cotton that can charge an iPhone via solar panels.

5 Crazy Ways We’re Going To Be Communicating In The Future

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May 17, 2013

Travel Video of the Week - Fitness Tech Gadgets

Fitness Tech Gadgets

















Jawbone Up
- from the maker of cool portable wireless speakers, Jambox, this latest gadget goes on your wrist.
- monitors your steps, distance, calories burned, pace, intensity level, active vs inactive time, maps your routes via GPS and more
- moreover, it can track your sleep patern and act as an alarm clock waking you up by vibrating on your wrist
- syncs up easily with an iPhone through its own app

Sound-off: What gadgets do you use to get/stay fit?

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May 15, 2013

Kids Travel Gadgets for Fun Summer Travel

Kids Travel Gadgets for Fun Summer Travel

This week I realized I have not done a kids gadgets post in awhile. I was reminded by my co-worker when she was describing how they are getting their 6 months old daughter accustomed to travel. They started with a couple of short trips and when she did well on those, they took her on a longer journey. Large percentage of time kids and travel go together. And they have many of the same needs that adults have plus more. They are quite discerning travelers and don't hesitate to tell everyone what is what. Kids Say the Darndest Things
To keep them busy and entertained this summer travel season, here are some useful and fun travel gadgets:

Seat Pets
These fun looking animals are actually seat belt pads. They slip onto a belt and provide cushioning for the little voyagers. These particular Seat Pets are great as their head also can act as pillows for the kids to nod off. More comfy they are in the back, hopefully, they would less fussy too. The Pets also come with a pocket where they can store water bottles, their handheld gadgets, and snacks. Seat Pets

Kindle Fire (with kid-friendly new features)
Kindle is one of the best travel gadgets. Easily store and access multiple books without having to actually drag them around. It is a great device to keep kids entertained with books, videos, and games. However, these new versions also allow web access and can lead to many hours spent on it. With Kindle FreeTime, you can set daily screen limits, and give access to each chilp appropriate to their age. When kids are in Kindle FreeTime mode, the background color and fonts change to a kid-friendly design. Kids only see titles that have been selected for them. You can find out more about Kindle FreeTime here

Kid-ready Digital Cameras
Travel and pictures go together. It is fun and keeps mementos of places you have visited and things you have done. Start off your young photographer with these great kid-friendly cameras:



Take 'N' Play Games


BPA-Free Water Bottles for Kids


This bike stroller means you can really go the distance with baby in tow


This airline baby seat lets your baby relax hammock-style.


More Kids Newest Travel Gadgets:

The Digital Baby Pacifier Thermometer is the easiest way to take your baby's temperature.

A Car Seat Sun Shade keeps the seat at a comfortable 69 degree

Keep-It-Kleen Pacifier closes on its own when dropped

A On the Go Play 'n Snack Tray puts a lot of kids' books, pencils, toys, and other fun stuff within their reach. Making traveling easier and more fun


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May 10, 2013

Travel Video of the Week - Top Travel Gadgets

Top Travel Gadgets



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.



Bose® QuietComfort® 15
- Advanced noise-reduction technology
- Comfortable fit ("feel like pillows")
- 35 hours of us






Kindle Paperwhite
- newest version is the Paperwhite, that has a brighter screen.
- you can adjust the light level depending on where you are reading
- has 8 weeks of battery life





Seagate Wireless Hard Drive
- 1 TB of storage
- share data with up to 3 devices at the same time
- stream videos or photos
- 10 hour battery life





Mophie Juice Pack Powerstation
- Charges smartphones, tablets, and gaming devices





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Travel Gadgets