Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Shopping List

When you travel a lot, you learn the things that you need to pack in order to make your time on the road more enjoyable, or at the very least, less painful.
 
I recently purchased two items that I cannot imagine how I traveled without them.
 
The first, is a power strip.  It seems that there are never enough outlets in the hotel room.  The existing plug ins are either so inconveniently located as to be inaccessible, or they are filled to capacity with the alarm clock, television, lamps, etc.  I need room to plug in my laptop, cell phone, iPod, and occasionally other items.  This simple, and inexpensive purchase, has already made my life much easier.  I wish that I could take credit for thinking of it, but that goes to Shel at Road Weary.
 
My second purchase was travel-size wireless router, another relatively inexpensive purchase.  There are still a few hotels who only offer a wired access, and this router now gives me maximum flexibility to work in bed, across the room, or on the lanai.  Use caution, however, as you may also be routing that wi-fi access to nearby guests.  Credit for this purchase goes to Flyer Talk.
 
Do you know of something else that I need to put on my shopping list?
 
 
 

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I won't go on the road without my Dreamsack silk bed liner. It's fantastic and makes you feel like you're sleeping in the same bed every night. I'm also a big fan of 3 outlet outdoor power plugs. They're smaller than power strips and bright orange which makes them easier to remember when rushing out of the hotel room in the morning.

Anonymous said...

"flexibility to WORK in bed." Work?! I thought work was confined to the airplane cabin. Or is blogging your second job? =)

Anonymous said...

Instead of a power strip, I'm a big fan of the Boxwave and Zip-Linq retractable USB charging cables. They power your stuff through USB, so you can recharge your phone through the laptop's USB port. No need to carry separate bulky AC adapters for each device, and these are really small and inexpensive. Plus, you can recharge even if the laptop isn't plugged into AC - a real lifesaver when your cell battery dies.

The only drawbacks are that the laptop has to be turned on in order for the devices to charge, and your laptop may only have 2 USB ports.

Fly Girl said...

Scott: I've heard about the Dreamsack, but have never talked with anyone who has one. I'd love to hear more about why you are so sold on it.

Anonymous: I guess I use the term "work" a little loosely. :-)

Brent: I'll have to check that out next time I go to the electronics store; I'm not familiar with this little gadget.

Anonymous said...

A pair of extra socks to wear as slippers - or my sister just gave me the cutest little fabric slippers. I think hotel room floors are the same as 'plane carpets!

Anonymous said...

Flygirl: Be careful what you wish for. My friends are sick of hearing about the wonders of the dreamsack. Silk is great for keeping a comfortable temperature so it keeps the heat in like a sleeping bag but it's still "cooler than the other side of the pillow", as Stuart Scott would say. I also have a lot of skin allergies that are often triggered by the commercial detergents used to wash the sheets, so it's a huge help with that. But the bottom line: you have no idea what happened in that hotel room before you got there. You get the idea. Why take the chance that housekeeping wasn't very thorough today? It also includes a pillow duvet and a stuff sack that rolls it up smaller than a shoe. If they would change the name to something a little less cheesy it would be perfect.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Fly Girl said...

THE FOLLOWING POST IS FROM FREQUENT READER AND COMMENT JOEY C.

I had to remove his original post because of the length of a link that he provided. He was too long, and mande the page unreadable.

Here's what he had to say:


JoeyC said...
Yuhu:

It's really stupid sounding, but I can absolutely NOT travel without my iPaq RX3115. Its amazing.

I can access Wireless Internet, I can also:

-Watch videos
-Listen to music
-Play LOTS of games
-Read E-Books
-Edit/View Office Applications
-Send e-mail using the Outlook Program
-Stay in touch with MSN Messenger, Skype, and AIM.
-View pictures

THE BEST PART OF IT IS...

YOU CAN USE IT AS A REMOTE CONTROL TO JUST ABOUT ANYTHING!

It costed me about $350... nowadays you can get it for roughly $250. $75 more gets you one with a camera built in. Maybe less!

-Joey

PS: Check it out @ Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002UBDDG/103-0031735-9484609?v=glance&n=172282

Fly Girl said...

Sandra: Oh yes, slippers or an extra pair of socks in a must. I sometimes just use my flip flops that I have for the pool. If I'm just wearing socks, when I look at the bottoms after padding around the hotel room, they are filthy dirty. I'm not a germ freak or anything, but it is nice to stay clean.