3 Gifts for Travelers

For the sentimental traveler:  This Compass Necklace from Uncommon Goods is meaningful and really cute.  The detailing makes it feminine and your choice of "Find Your Way" or "Follow Your Heart" makes it personal.  What a cool talisman for the traveler!  Much much cooler looking in person, hand made and sterling silver, this would be a great surprise in the stocking. 

For the practical traveler:  Eagle Creek's new Specter Packing Cubes are fabulous.  They are paper thin, but strong and they hold way more than what it might seem.  They come in white, a bright green (strobe) and orange and they are all opaque so you can see contents.  These will be in our stockings this year, and I will be color coding as well--green for me, orange for my son and maybe some clear for the inflight tote.  For backpacking or camping they would work great because they are so light and the fabric would slip in and out of backpacks with ease.  They come in sets of three and are also sold individually.

These are the type of thing that you didn't realize you needed until you have it, then you can't live without it.  I like them much better than the older style packing cubes because they are lighter, the fabric is very easy to slide in and out and they work kind of like space bags.  Must have for the organizational types and if you happen to be stressed out by holiday travel, pick some of these up and it will likely ease your mind just to have it all so together.

For those who need a way to keep all those gadget cords organized for travel, check out G.U.S's new Cord Roll.  It's made from recycled cotton and has a space for your computer cords, tablet cord and charger, and phone paraphernalia.  I almost wish it didn't have labels--maybe you don't have a tablet for instance--but it works and the lettering does look good.  I'm a little bit obsessed with organization, so stuff like this thrills me and I think it's also useful at home, not just for travel.  

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SteriPEN Freedom, the Latest Edition

Did you know that city municipalities use UV light to treat our drinking water?  How cool is it that SteriPen has figured out a way to make a hand held version for travel and outdoor use?  They make several models of the SteriPen, and the Freedom is the latest, a rechargeable version, featuring a new option to charge via USB port or AC adapter.  Since most people travel with devices now, and those charge with USB connectors, this new recharging method is a great option. It's also smaller than the other SteriPens, making it more convenient and better for travel.

In just a few seconds, the SteriPen gets rid of bacteria and viruses that can make us sick and ruin a trip.  You may need to filter the water first, depending on where you are.  SteriPen makes a pre-filter that fits right on a standard Nalgene bottle, or you can use a different method of pre-filtering.   If you are just in a hotel room in Mexico for instance, you can get water right out of the tap and treat it.

All you do is take off the lid, immerse in water, stir, and when the green light comes on, you're done.
You get up to 40 treatments per charge.  There's an LED light option on the end of the SteriPen, which you can activate by rotating it three times--will I remember this on travels, I don't know.  It will stay on for three minutes, or you can turn it off the same way.

While I think this is ideal for traveling, it might also work for backpacking trips, it only weighs 2.6 oz, with the included case, cord, and adapter, it's 6.4 oz.  Some solar chargers have USB ports, I'm thinking of the ones that you can just clip to your backpack.  One of those and this SteriPen would make a nice pair for the back country.  I hesitate a little here because I have personally never been able to find an effective solar charger, but I have hope in that direction.  I also question the practicality of carrying a solar charger when two AAA batteries are lighter and more universal.   But in the end, I think the SteriPen Freedom takes the best of the previous models and condenses that technology into a very practical and necessary device.  It's appropriate for a wide audience from the business traveler, world trekker and the back country folks.  Find it HERE.

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