Travel
Tips
| |
Travel
Tips |
Seat
Guru
Melatonin
Conquering jet lag
Essential oils for relaxation
Eurail Passes: cheaper at home
SEAT
GURU
Going on a loooooooong trip on an airplane? Don’t want to get stuck in
that seat next to the kitchen that doesn’t recline? Seat Guru shows you
which seats are the best (green), the worst (red), and the dubious (yellow).
Find general info about the plane and mouse over the seats to see comments about
individual seats and blocks of seats. For example, “Seats 31 K,L are bulkhead
coach seats with pretty poor legroom. More downsides, the LCD panel is mounted
on the wall, making it non-adjustable. You may have to give these seats up for
the elderly or disabled. You're very close to the lavatory, and the tray table
is in the armrest making them immoveable and slightly reducing the seat width.” Visit
the site.
MELATONIN:
JUMPING TIME ZONES WITH EASE
Jet lag is a nuisance for anyone, but a serious occupational hazard for travel
writers. To help offset this problem, I begin any plane trips with the utmost
sacrifice: skipping the in-flight cocktails. This helps keep down fluid retention.
When evening comes at my new destination, and it's time to go to sleep, I take
Melatonin, a natural, non-narcotic sedative available at health food stores
and pharmacies without prescription (I prefer GNC's
timed-release Melatonin 3). I wake up in the morning refreshed and
ready for the day. —Cathleen Miller
JET
LAG: MIND OVER MATTER
I play a little mind game with myself and jet lag. As I'm sitting on the plane
waiting to take off, I set my watch to the time at my destination and begin
to imagine myself in that time zone. Which meals will I be eating? Am I sleeping
or running around town? Somehow, even though I'm usually doing the opposite
on the plane, those hours of imagining myself on a new clock do wonders, and
I almost never have any jet lag. —Danielle Machotka
ESSENTIAL
OILS ESSENTIAL FOR NAUSEA, HEADACHES, RELAXATION
Take a mixture
of organic lavender and peppermint oils on trips to treat nausea and headaches
before resorting to pharmaceutical remedies. Lavender relaxes, peppermint
clears sinuses, and sometimes that's just all you need. Dab a little on
each temple (don't get it in your eyes), on your hairline, and to the side
of each nostril, and feel the difference. Erbaviva,
an organic essential oils supplier, was exhibiting at the Green
Festival in November and I found some really super stuff for gifts:
a baby line, gift packets and aromatic sprays. Try Arabian Nights spray
for a sexy evening, Creativity spray for banishing writers block; and of
course the reliable standbys of lavender oil for relaxation and peppermint
oil for headache relief (or a combination of both to ward off stress).
Remember, essential oils absorb completely into your skin, so it's important
to go organic! Order
direct. —Carla
King
EURAIL
PASSES: SAVE HUNDREDS BY BUYING AT HOME
Cathleen
Miller shows you how you can save a bag of money by buying your Eurail
passes before you get to Europe. Read about it.
[ top ]
Tough
gear
Aerosole travel shoes
Hiking sandals
TOUGH
STUFF FOR THE TOUGH PEOPLE ON YOUR LIST
Duluth
Trading sells stuff like a leather and canvas contractors field bag
that holds tools, cell phone, and laptop; they have boots and gloves
and hats,
tough work clothes from jeans to vests and even a contractors dress suit
(though for men only, hey Duluth, we want this stuff, too!); they sell
scabbards and sheaths, bit keepers, holsters...tough stuff galore just
perfect for the adventure traveler! Order
online. —Carla
King
WHO
SAYS STYLISH SHOES CAN'T BE COMFORTABLE?
The popular myth is that in order to have comfortable shoes for travel
you have
to sacrifice style. I’ve found the opposite to be true. Before each trip,
I check my supply of Aerosoles, and if I don’t have the right season’s
(or if they are too worn out from the last trip), I go to the store and buy a
pair or two. Dressy, sporty, they have it all, and they’re almost all comfortable.
I walked for about seven hours in Paris in July (including a trip through the
Musée Rodin) in a pair of strappy heels that truly felt good. And I don’t
think anyone pegged me for an American based on my shoes… http://www.aerosoles.com —Danielle
Machotka
HIKING
SANDALS
My
discontinued leather Nike hiking sandals finally bit the dust last
year at Burning Man and I had been long unsuccessful in finding a similar
model with the wrap-around toe loop. Desperate, I searched the Web
and found a review in a backpacking site that led me to a suitable
replacement, the Chaco Z2 "performance sport sandal" with
the toe loop I like (keeps my foot from sliding around), arch support,
and soles suitable for hiking, climbing, boating, and river walking.
I rarely took them off this last week in the Yucatan. They gave me
sure footing climbing the steep pyramid at the Coba
ruins in the Yucatan (where at least one person a year looses footing
and tumbles to their death), during a jungle walk, on the seaside,
and
on the unpredictable
Mexican city sidewalks. —Carla
King
Chaco
Sandals website
[ top ]
Dual-Voltage
Heating Coil
Water Bottles
MAKE A NICE
CUP OF TEA
Have you ever arrived to your hotel after a long, dry plane ride and
wished for a nice cup of peppermint tea to rehydrate, clear your sinuses,
and relax?
I've found too often that hotels fill their teapots with tepid water, and
their tea selection doesn't match mine at home. In some countries I'm
also a bit
wary of the quality of the water supply. So I pack a big enamel coffee cup
(metal will also do), a dual-voltage electric heating coil, a selection of
teas, and a little bottle of liquid coffee concentrate (better than dried
instant). That way I can indulge in my special bedtime peppermint-chamomile
mixture to
comfort me before sleeping and--so call me an addict--an immediate hit of
coffee in the morning. —Carla King
NALGENE
WATER BOTTLES
I like the Nalgene LEXAN loop-top water bottles because they are sturdy,
you can loop them through a belt or backpack strap, and they don't add a
plastic taste even when you fill them with boiling water for hot tea to go.
The 16 ounce size is just right, and now they come in some great colors,
too. Also check out the multi-layer, flexible, loop-top bottle that collapses
to save space. You can also order a variety pack of high-quality travel containers
for lotions, cosmetics, and other stuff, guaranteed not to that won't leak.
This is all great quality stuff for travel or camping. —Carla
King
Nalgene
website and sales
[ top ]
Olympus
digital camera: shoot like a pro
Pocket drive for backup at home and while traveling
Teleadapt connection kits keep you in touch
Roadpost cellular and ISP service: rent it
Apple iBook: the perfect travel machine
Insurance
for your laptop pocket hard drive
Keep in Touch with onlinehomebase.com
Inter.net:
an affordable ISP for travelers
PROSUMER
DIGITAL CAMERA (OLYMPUS C-5050 ZOOM)
I grieved the loss of the Olympus C-2020 Zoom digital camera I bought before
my Y2K trip to India--it was pilfered a couple of months ago during a house-move.
My insurance covered the loss (more on that, below),
and so I took the opportunity to upgrade to the new five megapixel C-5050 Zoom.
Priced at $799 retail, I shopped around on the Web and found it for under $600.
This is a "prosumer" digital camera that I recommend to anyone who
is really serious about photography and needs five megapixel quality (if that's
overkill, choose a lower-priced 2000, 3000, or 4000 model). Olympus is known
for their lenses and the picture quality is very high. Using it is fairly intuitive
(unlike the similarly priced Nikon Coolpix) and there are lots of options for
automatic and manual operation.You'll
need an additional storage card (it comes with a 32 MB Picture Card). I recommend
that you buy the 128 MB card so you don't have to worry about running out of
shots -- it holds up to 257 very high-quality photos or hundreds of lower-quality
shots. The camera also takes SmartMedia, Compact Flash, and IBM Microdrive
cards--good news for those of us upgrading, since we don't have to throw away
these expensive media. Also invest in a lens cover, especially if you travel,
because it'll keep dust, humidity, sand, pollution, etc., out of the lens mechanism.
The battery recharger and Ni-MH batteries (AA size) are also good investments.
I took nearly three hundred photos last week in the Yucatan and didn't have
to change them once. Buy your own camera case, the one that comes with it it
in a special executive kit is kind of chintzy. If you want, you can add a telephoto
or zoom lens, flash, and other accessories for a really professional outfit. —Carla
King
Price: $799 list, under $600 street
Olympus
C-5050 Zoom website
POCKET
HARD DRIVE FOR TRANSPORT OR BACKUP
Whether you have a laptop or not, back up your computer! This sounds obvious
but so many people just don't do it. Nowadays there are pocket-sized hard drives
with firewire and USB connections that can backup your whole system in minutes.
Before you go, hide it somewhere so that a thief can't find it. Better yet,
put it in a place where it won't be destroyed by fire, flood, or other natural
disasters.
These little hard drives hold gigs and gigs of information, and are also handy
for transferring info from one computer to another. Come to think of it, you
may just need to bring the drive, installation CD, and cables along with you--instead
of a laptop--if you have use of a computer at your destination. Of course,
check ahead for compatibility. I recommend CNET's
hardware reviews for perusing the options, but highly recommend the EZQuest
USB hard drive pictured.
Price: Under $200
EZQuest website
TELEADAPT
CONNECTION KITS
I
have counted on TeleAdapt to keep me connected since the mid-1990's (last
century, remember?) when they were a tiny company in San Jose and I was
hauling twenty pounds of laptop gear around the world. They have been
growing as the industry has been growing, and continue to stay on top of
the market
as the numero uno supplier of power adapters, converters, and all gadgetry
related to keeping you electrified and connected to the matrix no matter
where you are. And it hasn't all gone to their head...you can actually
phone them with stupid questions and they won't make you feel like an
idiot. This new laptop connection kit is a bargain and quite likely all
you'll
ever need.
Inflight International Laptop Connection Kit with 3 PowerPlugs & 15
phone adapters
Price: $59.00
TeleAdapt
website
ROADPOST
INTERNATIONAL CELLULAR RENTAL AND INTERNET ACCESS
Roadpost's Remote Internet Access (RIA)
subscription service is great for travelers
whose ISP's don't offer international access. Connect your laptop for $29.95
per month via local dial-up in over 150 countries, including 300 minutes
of online time. Cell phone rental is available to (how did I ever live
without one?), for $49.00 a week ($2 each additional day), with free incoming
calls, voicemail and data services, coverage in 150 countries, two batteries,
a charger plug, UK and European Adapters, and a pretty good user guide.
Their friendly tech support staff will answer any questions for you before
you go, or during your trip.
Price: $29.95/mo for RIA service, $49.00/wk for cellular phone
RoadPost
Website
APPLE
iBOOK
I love my Sony VAIO but I usually end up carrying my Apple iBook.
Why? No
dongles, external drives, and no Windows. Just a clean white computer with
the System
X operating
system. It's not a big deal until you try something like plugging in your
digital camera. System X thinks "oh, you must want to download photos
to your hard drive...hey, I'll open iPhoto for you!" I love that.
You'll love that.
Price: from $999.00
iBook
website
INSURANCE
FOR YOUR LAPTOP (SAFEWARE)
Your homeowners, renters, or business insurance may cover stolen or damaged
gear at home and while you're on the road. Check with your company for their
policy on computers and other expensive gear like digital cameras, and if necessary,
purchase special computer insurance for your laptop from Safeware.
Price: varies, check site for instant quote
Safeware
website
LEAVE
YOUR LAPTOP AT HOME
On the fence about lugging your laptop on your next trip? Here's a free, web-based
alternative. Onlinehomebase.com was designed by a journalist, and its power lies
in its simplicity and unfussiness. Keep a calendar and to-do lists, share pages
with other people (you set the privileges), and the best thing, tell it to send
a note to your, or someone else's, email address or even their cell phone at
a certain date and time.
Onlinehomebase
website
AN
AFFORDABLE ISP
After long months of research (and paying outrageous Earthlink bills), Cathleen
Miller finds an affordable ISP to use while traveling. Read about it.
[ top ]
Japanese
Cuisine in London
Holiday Celebrations in Italy
Food Solutions in Tahiti
Paris Hotels
Rent a villa, an apartment, or a home, instead of a hotel
JAPANESE
CUISINE IN LONDON
When
in London, follow the culinary advice of an Italian. Claudia Brose, of the Italian
Government Tourist Board, gave
me this
tip before I
left for
London: there is a trendy Japanese restaurant chain called Wagamama, where "people
are lining up to eat Japanese noodle soups and fresh-squeezed healthy juices." On Wagamama's
website, they proclaim an ethos "to serve great, fresh and nutritious
food in an elegant, yet simple environment, to provide a helpful, friendly
service and value for money." I went, I saw, I ate, and I agree! They
are in London, Dublin, Amsterdam and Sydney. —Carla
King
FINDING HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS IN ITALY
Visit the Hostetler site
if you're going to Italy. It lists all the holidays and street fairs. —Lisa
Alpine
VEGGIE-FREE
TAHITI
Some friends just returned from Tahiti where they found affordable accommodation
but food prices were out of sight! Next time, they said, they'd bring along their
camping stove and even some freeze-dried food. "They don't seem to believe
in vegetables, but seafood is plentiful. Even so, the price of lobster rivals
that of a fancy restaurant in San Francisco." —Carla
King
PARIS
HOTELS
Let Lisa Alpine and Jacqueline Harmon Butler guide you to some of their favorite
Paris hotels. Read about it.
RENTING
A HOME IN EUROPE
Jacqueline Harmon Butler's how to guide on renting an apartment, home, or villa
in Europe. It's more economical than you might think. Read
about it.
[ top ]
Overpay
your credit card
Never
pay ATM fees again
Keep
your valuable information at hand
PEACE
OF MIND
Before going on a long trip, overpay your credit card so that you have a credit
balance, especially if you have a credit limit and think you may go over. Send
a check in the mail (online payment programs won't let you overpay). This will
also prevent you from missing a minimum payment, because your credit balance
will be applied to the next bill. If you're a frequent traveler, set up automatic
payments for your credit cards, phone bills, and other obligations, by calling
the company's customer service office and getting all the forms filled out
far in advance of your trip. (This process can take up to three months.) Of
course, you can always pay your bills online...if you remember. —Carla
King
DON'T
PAY ATM FEES
Cathleen Miller found a bank that gives you access to over 650,000 ATM's worldwide,
with no fee. Read about it.
KEEP
VALUABLE INFORMATION SECRET, AND HANDY
Lisa Alpine has a suggestion for keeping your valuable credit card, passport
number, and other valuable information, at hand. Read about it.
[ top ]
Books About Writing
From inspiration to reference, her are our picks.
Daunt Books for Travellers
Cathy finds a travel readers haven in London.