TRAVEL PILLOW – Total Travel Pillow
Gone are the days of flying when you could expect to find a pillow and blanket on your seat. Now it’s more of a DIY experience. Functioning as a travel pillow and blanket in one, the Total Travel Pillow claims to keep you warm and reduce next compression. $29.99
A More Practical Solution – buy a suede blow-up neck pillow and wear a cosy hooded sweater that you will also use in your travels. The pillow folds to a tiny flat pack so takes up less precious room in your carry on, and the sweater will serve many purposes, while the pillow will just take a lot of extra room. I’ve used my $5 blow-up pillow for years and love it.
NECK PILLOW
TravelHalo works as a head stabilizer with two small pillows on either side of its headband. This design supposedly lets your neck stay straight, a much safer and more comfortable sleeping position. Plus it folds down to a small pack and is much easier to transport than the standard travel pillow. The problem is that the stabilizers still don’t prevent your head from falling sideways when you fall asleep, plus it looks a little goofy. Some people reported that the elastic band gave them a headache. $29
A More Practical Solution – buy a suede blow-up neck pillow. The pillow folds to a tiny flat pack so takes up less precious room in your carry on. I’ve used my $5 blow-up pillow for years and love it.
WATER BOTTLE
You can buy a bottle of water once you pass security or travel with a fold-down reusable water bottle. Vapur’s Reflex has a side clip, traditional sport cap and reinforcing grommet. It stands upright when full, but flattens when empty to fit in a pocket or purse. $7.99
A More Practical Solution – bring your own empty plastic pop bottle.
NOISE CANCELLING
Plush $500 noise-cancelling headphones used to be a first-class perk, but NoiseHush i7 has all the premium features for just under $100. The headphones create a sound wave that effectively reduces ambient noise allowing you to unplug from all the flying distractions. The earpieces have leather and memory foam for increased quiet and comfort. $99.99
More Practical – Buy 10 foam ear plugs for a dollar!
SKIN CARE
Flying can dry out your skin. LIFTLAB has an alternative skin care option that lets you arrive looking younger. The four-piece product kit has a range of products to reverse signs of aging and make skin appear more youthful. $25.00
More Practical – any travel size bottle of moisturizing cream will work just as well.
SCARF
Less bulky than the average travel pillow, the scarf will keep you cozy while the blow-up pillow provides neck support. Looks like a stylish scarf right? Turns out there’s more to the Robdechi than just that. In fact you even need an instructional video to understand how it goes from standard scarf to inflatable travel pillow. $150
More Practical – The pillow on this scarf gives no side support, so your head flops over at an awkward angle when you fall asleep. Buy a blow-up pillow and take along a scarf, or better yet a wrap that can double as a blanket, picnic blanket, beach wrap, or any number of things on your travels.
SLEEP AIDS/JET LAG
Some travelers swear by melatonin, anti-nausea pills, or valerian root, but No-Jet-Lag homeopathic remedy has been developed specifically to improve jet lag. It’s safe, natural and doesn’t interact with other drugs, but reviews say it causes an upset stomach. $10.99
More Practical – drink tons of water on the flight, no alcohol or caffeine. Take melatonin or anti-nausea pills to aid sleep. Resist the urge to sleep on day time arrival, do something, and go to sleep early evening.
BLOOD CLOTS
The longer you’re seated in a cramped area, the more at risk you are for blood clots. Compression socks increase circulation and let your body recover fast from travel. Zensah Argyle Compression Socks offer the latest technology with some bright funky designs. $49.99
More Practical – buy compression socks in your local Walmart for $10.
STYLUS – Sensus Touch Sensitive iPhone Case
Many smart devices have had the option of using a stylus. Trying to figure out where on the back of this case to place your finger seems like a biggest problem. Even with its sleek design and new technology, the Sensus Touch Sensitive iPhone case provides a convenience that is just too pricey and hard to use. $70
More Practical – Pogo stylus $14.95, easy to use, also compatible with other smart devices.
EREADER
A thin, lightweight e-ink reader that can bend like paper. Being able to roll up your e-reader could prove useful. But in the initial stages, the PaperTab is more gimmicky than necessary. Having a tablet or reader that bends slightly to the touch at this point adds no value to the reader. It is also slow to respond, and has to be plugged in with a wide cord to work. The way of the future, but needs development… maybe in 5 years.
More Practical – An IPAD does everything – a computer, a game machine, and a reader.
EREADER – Nook HD 8GB
Wi-Fi access and more than 3 million books to browse. $199.00
More Practical – An IPAD does everything – a computer, a game machine, and a reader.
TRAVEL FORK: The HapiFork
This one made me laugh out loud. The HapiFork vibrates to shake off food if you take bites too frequently. It also gives you information on your eating habits and syncs to your smartphone to display the data. Having to stick to one fork while travelling seems problematic and silly. Do you really want to carry your own fork into a restaurant? What if you shake food on someone ? Are people really lazy enough to need this? (no price released)
More Practical – Put your fork down between bites.
SPORTS VIDEO CAMERA: Polaroid XS100HD Sports Camera
Takes 1080 HD video, captures high definition photos, and is waterproof, but seems outdated and is bulky. Besides, who wants to wear a camera on their head? $130
More Practical – Pivothead Sunglasses take better quality videos than your average smartphone or pocket camcorder, are more discreet, and great for action shots when your hands are not free. Pricey though at $300.
CONTROLLER – Nvidia Project Shield
An Xbox-shaped controller with a touch screen attached. It claims that it will be able to stream games from your PC and host an entire library of Android games and apps. No price or release date. It’s also not compact enough to justify for the average traveler.
More Practical – Nintendo 3DS. Acompact, lightweight, portable gaming system is perfect for the traveler that can’t leave their console behind. $200
LUGGAGE TRACKER – Trackdot
A GPS tracking system for your luggage is a high price for very low return. Although the idea of being able to track your luggage and know exactly what airport it’s been relocated to might be nice in theory, it doesn’t eliminate the need to get on the phone and actually call the airline. Even with this device you still run the risk of human error and service handlers saying they cannot find your bag. This device is also costly compared to its competitors. $50 plus $12.99 a year and a $9 start up fee.
More Practical – Okovan Global Luggage Track $10. Although it does not let you see exactly where your bag is, it is linked to the airline industry tracing system used by 300 airlines in 2,000 airports worldwide. It’s a great way to have peace of mind without having to pay an annual fee.
Got any tips of your own for more practical travel gadgets?
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