Cool Travel Accessories

In my travels, I've found a few accessories that make my travel a heck of a lot easier. Today I'm going to share a few of the things I always take along when I'm on the road. Note that this isn't an all-inclusive list. I have a few more, but these are the top items.

iPod

I love, love, love my iPod. I have a 32Gig iPod that's about five years old, and I guard it with my life. One day, I'm sure I'll drop it and my heart will break (since the iPod has outlasted the backup drive I kept all my music on, and what's on the iPod isn't fully backed up), but then I'll upgrade to a bigger, better, and super-improved iPod.

My iPod rocks because it's small and can carry so much entertainment in just one little package. I've got music, TV shows, movies, and books on CD, all on this little device, and I could easily travel with just the iPod and stay fairly well entertained on a trip.

Flight charger

I love my in-flight charger. I can charge up my laptop, Bose headphones, iPod, mobile phone, all while I'm on the plane. It pretty much rocks, especially if I've got a lot of work to do and a limited battery life, or worse, haven't had time to charge up my headphones before the flight.

Bose headphones

My Bose headphones rock like nothing else. They're a little bulkier than I'd like, but they're amazing and I'm totally addicted to them. The headphones filter out all of that noise the airplane makes and reduces the annoying sounds of other passengers, making it much easier to relax, enjoy the in-flight entertainment (or your own), get work done, or just take a nap.

Subnotebook/Netbook

I admit it - I was one of the first early adopters of the Asus EEEpc. I have one of the first 200 to enter the US and as a result, it's crummy. Don't get me wrong - it's great for watching movies from my hard drive or iPod or getting some writing done while I'm flying, and it's actually really useful for Skype - the webcam's pretty decent - but overall, my particular v1 EEEpc leaves a lot to be desired. Personally, I'm dying for an operating system I understand, since Linux isn't my particular forte. I understand that in later versions of the EEE, they added Windows, which I'll be experimenting with this weekend as I play around with my stepmom's later version EEE. 

I recently killed my EEE by deleting what turned out to be a pretty important file while attempting to set up a hamster-cam for Abe and Willa. I'll probably take it in for repair, but only so I can sell the thing and replace it with a subnotebook I like better. The greatest thing about a little computer is that they're so lightweight, you hardly even know they're in your backpack!

Sleep mask
I'm a big fan of a great sleep mask. Not the cheap, cheesy ones they give you when you fly business class, but a real sleep mask that actually does some good. I'm a fan of the 100% light-blocking sleep mask. I have one that's a gorgeous embroidered red Chinese dragon fabric and it is absolute heaven on a long flight. With the sleep mask and my Bose headphones, I can actually get a fairly nice rest, even in coach.


These are my top favorites and must-haves for travel, but I have a few more as well. Look for upcoming posts with more cool travel accessories as well as a post on which item speople tell you to take when you travel that you rarely need.