August 28th, 2008
Have you ever traveled to a city where you’ll be meeting up with a lot of different people who may not be staying in the same hotel as you? If they were, getting together would be as easy as heading to the lobby and discussing where you’d like to eat or party the night away.
However, there are times when your group of friends will be scattered all over the city - in my case, next year it will be for a wedding. Not everyone will be in the same hotel or house. That makes getting together complicated, because not only do you have to do more planning ahead, you also (hopefully) want to be fair to everyone - if the restaurant is just a restaurant and nothing super special, do you really want one person to have to drive for an hour to meet up with you?
Enter Happy Median, a handy website that helps you find a meeting spot that’s located at least roughly halfway between you and all your friends.
You enter in the address of up to four people and select whether you’re seeking restaurants, fine dining, diners, movie theaters, golf courses, campgrounds, coffee shops, nightlife, or new lodging. You can even specify whether you’re seeking a general area within the same city or a town in between everyone if you’re in different suburbs.
Happy Median will then find the best midway spots where you could meet up with your group of friends.
The site is still in its growing stages and they’re promising exciting new features to come so if you like the service (and really, why wouldn’t you? It’s great for travel AND for at-home use too!), be sure to bookmark it and check back in regularly.
(photo: sxc.hu)
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By Sherry -- 0 comments
August 26th, 2008
A laptop is pretty useful for traveling as it is. Obviously it’s safe to say it’s highly unlikely that anyone is going to put a desktop computer into their luggage and lug it around on their business travels. Laptops are much more affordable than they ever used to be and many people own them.
But here’s another option if you need to travel around a lot but don’t necessarily need a wide screen. If you pick up the Maplin MiniBook Ultra-Portable Laptop you’ll get a great little system with 2 GB of memory, office applications and Linux as your operating system. It also comes with an SD slot, WiFi capabilities and a 7 inch screen.
Sure, that’s not a huge laptop, and depending on what type of work you need it for, it may not work for you, but if a bigger screen isn’t necessary, the MiniBook costs £169.99, which is insanely affordable.
It would be perfect if you need to type up some documents, work on text files, even sharing photos would work on this. I wouldn’t want to try to do web design or work on graphic design on a 7 inch screen, but if you don’t fall into that type of work, you could probably get by with the MiniBook just fine.
Taking a laptop is a great way to travel for work; taking something half the size? Even better!
(product photo)
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By Sherry -- 0 comments
August 24th, 2008
Trazzler is a great multi-method website that can give you different ways to figure out where to travel.
You begin by creating your account which lists the area in which you live. From there, Trazzler will give you some suggestions for weekend trips, answering the basic question “where should I go?” The site will give you dozens of ideas for places to see that are close to home. In the browsing mode, you can narrow down the list by specifying what type of getaway you’re looking for - beach visit, fun festival, etc.
From there you can create two lists - one is a list of places that you’ve been that you enjoyed (if you’re a beach bunny and hated the one trip you took wilderness camping, don’t include it and such getaways won’t be suggested). Then create a wishlist, all the places you would love to go some day.
The more you grow your wishlist and list of places that you’ve seen, the more Trazzler can understand what kind of traveler you are. Then the site will be able to give you personalized recommendations of where you might enjoy going (that part is still under development but will be available soon).
The site will be able to find you any number of vacations, whether you’re seeking a culinary adventure, small town lodging, a city full of exciting architecture, or adventure holidays.
I created an account to try it out. When I entered my Montreal location and narrowed the field down to “beach” (it’s all about the sand and surf for me!), Trazzler gave me a huge selection of beach getaways from Ontario to New Hampshire, to Maine, to Rhode Island. They all sound good to me!
They’re promising more developments in time, so be sure to visit Trazzler often to see what’s next!
(source // photo - sxc.hu)
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By Sherry -- 0 comments
August 23rd, 2008
Did you ever go hitchhiking? I never did; I was scared off between dire warnings from my parents and that movie, The Hitcher. However, once upon a time, many people made their way from Point A to Point B by tossing a duffel bag over their shoulder, standing on the side of the road, and sticking a thumb out into traffic.
Now someone has come up with a concept device called the iHitch. It would combine a cell phone, GPS device, and a payment method (similar, I would assume, to PayPal where you can pay a token fee to the driver willing to pick you up). You would enter in your current location and the destination you have in mind. Meanwhile, a driver would then respond if they were going your way - or at least part of the way, and you could confirm whether you were both comfortable.
The iHitch would work with a rating system similar to that of eBay’s methods, where you can rate both the driver picking you up and the person hitching. If the person is creepy or a poor driver, you would rate lower, whereas a friendly, courteous person would get a higher rating.
I don’t know if such a thing would ever get made, but the concept is interesting to say the least. I don’t think I’d be comfortable with “iHitching, but someone might be. Would you?
(source // photo - sxc.hu)
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August 22nd, 2008
British Airways is the latest to create an application for your iPhone, letting you take the airline’s information with you on the go. Right now they can provide you with up-to-date flight info, keeping you in the know about their arrival and departure times. You’ll know as soon as possible whether a flight is late or even canceled.
You can also check a timetable with your flight schedule to remind yourself of your itinerary.
The iPhone application pulls in all the same information you’d get on the British Airways website, but with the ease of simply pulling out your phone.
You can download the application - free, the best price ever! - from the iTunes app store.
(Photo: sxc.hu)
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August 21st, 2008
Cellular at Sea is what you need to know about if you’re planning on taking a cruise. The wireless maritime service offers cell phone reception for many cruise ships, no matter where you may be - even if you’re smack dab in the middle of the ocean where you wouldn’t expect to find service.
Ideally, when you’re on a cruise ship, you’re going to be relaxing and enjoying your time away from everything and everyone. However, I can think of times when you would want to be in touch. Being a mother, I would definitely feel better and enjoy myself more if I knew that I could be reached if something happened back home and one of my kids was sick or hurt. I could check in at every port, but I like knowing that I am reachable in the case of an emergency.
What do you think of getting cell reception on a ship? Is it good for emergencies (or even non-emergencies like calling home to say good night to your little ones)? Or will it end up being abused by workaholics who can’t stop calling the office and loudly discussing business strategies while you’re trying to soak up some Vitamin D?
(Image: SXC.hu)
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August 20th, 2008
It’s nothing new to find a nice integrated map online that allows you to see photos of your destination - street views, landmarks, ocean views, the like. However, EveryScape goes just a little further. In fact it takes you inside too.
Not only can you get your basic destination photo views alongside your map to do some sightseeing before you even arrive (which is a great way to figure out what you really want to do and visit if you’re crunched for time), you can get right inside some of the buildings. The site will help you find hotels, restaurants, and hot spots in your upcoming destination.
How cool would that be, to peek inside a bar or restaurant and see if it fits what you’re looking for without having to even walk in the front door? If you’re wandering around your destination anyway, it’s no big deal to pop in to a club or whatnot, only to change your mind, but if you’re going to have to drive out of your way to get somewhere, seeing what it looks like first might be the final deciding factor (not to mention the reviews that are provided as well). After all, sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.
The site is currently growing, with photographers working hard on providing pictures of major areas of interest in common destination cities so if your city of choice isn’t very full yet, do check back.
(source // photo: sxc.hu)
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By Sherry -- 1 comment
August 18th, 2008
I can’t get enough of these sites that combine travel ideas with social networking. TripSay is a great little website that you can join to get recommendations for travel based on what you’re looking for in travel. It also takes into account other places that you’ve seen and how you rated them.
When I signed up, I set a profile for myself saying that I tend to look more for budget travel than luxury (that’s an understatement!), I like to be a little off the beaten track, I love multi-lingual more than just English-speaking, and that I seek out both relaxed/fun travel over sporty/adventure and that I require family-friendly trips.
Then I added all the places I could think of, off the top of my head, that I have visited and rated them.
Now, I can go ahead and find recommendations on future travel based on my needs and what I have liked in the past. It could still be a bit of a crap-shoot for me, seeing as how most of the travels I did were prior to having kids when kid-friendly wasn’t a factor for me, but interesting nonetheless.
Once you complete everything, it gives you a map with a bunch of suggested destinations. It’s curious to me, because there are a lot of places that I would actually love to see, and they’re not listed - for instance, there’s nothing in Africa at all, and surely there’s got to be something somewhere in an entire continent that would work for a family. On the other hand, I did set my dream destination as Prague, and it recommended the Charles Bridge in Prague, a place I would definitely love to see.
I think it’s the kind of site that will require some playing and poking around. It’s definitely not an immediate travel site, but if you’re just daydreaming about your next vacation and want some ideas, TripSay is a good place to start!
(photo: Tripsay.com)
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By Sherry -- 1 comment
August 17th, 2008
It’s great to be able to pass some time on an otherwise boring long flight or train ride by whipping out your laptop and getting some work done. If you have such plans, you might be interested in the Logitech V550 laser mouse. For one thing, it’s cordless, which is just a lot more convenient when you aren’t sitting at a proper desk.
But a cordless mouse isn’t anything particularly innovative these days. What makes this particular mouse especially handy is that it comes with a little dock that you can stick to the top of your laptop. When you’re ready to get up and go, you just need to clip the mouse to the dock and there’s no need to worry about a regular mouse dangling around, swinging back and forth while you walk (which is what happens to me with my mini corded mouse, highly annoying).
Sometimes it’s really just the little things that make something convenient, cool, or both.
Get one for $60 over at Amazon.
(source // product photo)
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August 16th, 2008
A new product known as the “Golden Shellback” is making waves - literally. It’s a special waterproof coating that can be applied to any device, rendering it safe for water. Your gadget will be placed in a special vacuum and will be coated with a special film that repels water, oil, dirt, sand, dust, and other materials.
What does this mean for travelers? Well, really, there are endless possibilities to how useful this sort of product could be. Taking a beach vacation? A sealed camera is safe from waves and blowing sand - even an accidental oozing of suntan oil which is particularly bad for cameras. Walking around London on a rainy day of sightseeing? Feel free to listen to your iPod while you traipse around, it doesn’t matter if it gets wet.
Or imagine the horror of doing some last minute touch-ups on your presentation file as you fly to a huge business meeting, only to have some oaf beside you flail his arms around, knocking his drink all over you - and your laptop! No worries if it’s coated.
Honestly, that would probably be my biggest fear for using a laptop while flying, that something would get spilled on it. A waterproof coating would be awesome!
Check out this video footage showing how well it works.
What do you think? Worth a try when it’s readily available?
(source // photo: sxc.hu)
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