A lot of artists like to take their art supplies with them when they travel. For some, the joy they get from creating art on the road more than makes up for the inconvenience of lugging all of their supplies. For others, they come up with creative ways to lighten their load, carrying fewer things …
Continue reading ‘Review: Pentel 8-Color Pencil (for the light traveling artist)’ »
It’s that time again! As we start heading to August, the large box stores have started stocking their shelves with extraordinarily cheap school supplies. How does this affect your light packing, you ask? Among the piles and stacks of notepads and pencils, you will find some amazing bargains. I was in WalMart over the weekend, …
Cosmetics consumer advocate Paula Begoun (who has authored a number of books on practical cosmetic tips and sells her own line of skin care and cosmetics), recently discussed the topic of how to pack your cosmetics for travel in her syndicated radio show. You can listen to an archive of her show here. Paula explained …
Mike Rohde is a graphic artist who publishes a lot of his work (and thoughts) online on his blog, Rohdesign.com. I’ve always admired his sense of style, and when his method of doodling conference notes evolved into his own style of “sketchnotes,” he completely hit it out of the ballpark. Instead of blindly writing down …
Continue reading ‘Low-tech idea: Mike Rohde’s Alaska Sketchnotes’ »
I hadn’t reviewed the iPad for a couple of reasons. First, I don’t personally have one. And secondly, there’s a ton of reviews online for the iPad. Recently, however, a friend of mine spent three weeks visiting Vietnam and Singapore with his wife. I knew he was taking his new iPad 3G with him, so …
Continue reading ‘iPad: A light traveler’s dream, or just another gadget?’ »
If you’re like me, you take a small list of items in your carry-on that most travelers don’t bother packing. Whether your handy item is a diaper pin (to pin your sweater on the seatback in front of you on the plane or to pin your ID tag inside your carry-on) or a small container …
Continue reading ‘Product review: Travel-friendly Scotch tape dispenser’ »
I don’t usually link to the same site twice in a week, but FareCompare has its list of seven no-nos for air travelers that I think are pretty spot on (http://www.farecompare.com/articles/how-to-shop/top-worst-passengers-planes/). Some of the things on the list are kind of silly (“don’t drool on your neighbor”), but on the top of the list? Not …
Continue reading ‘Seven Deadly Sins of Air Travel Passengers’ »
Pick up the current issue of Consumer Reports (June 2010). Besides a great article rating the current computers on the market, the issue has a special travel section where it rates the best and worst hotels; very helpful if you’re feeling a little overwhelmed trying to figure out what works best for your travel needs. …
Surprise, you’re not alone. According to an article in the New York Times, approximately 12,000 laptops are stolen per week from airports around the world. Each week. There are some things you can do. Consider using a checkpoint-friendly laptop bag that lets you lay out your laptop bag on the security screening conveyor belt instead …
Continue reading ‘Ever had a laptop stolen at an airport?’ »
Feeling a little confused about what each airline charges for bags? What about your first checked bag? Do you pay more for a second? What does an airline define as an overweight bag? Fare aggregating site FareCompare has recently published its domestic airline baggage fee chart, and it’s a pretty handy list. If you’re trying …
Continue reading ‘FareCompare’s updated baggage fee chart’ »