Part Time Vagabond

7 Must-have Travel Gadgets

// June 16th, 2010 // 3 Comments » // GEAR

I’m a gadget geek. There, I admitted it. I love them, I envy those who have them, and I lust after the latest and greatest. And I know that you are JUST… LIKE… ME. When you’re taking a road trip, leaving home without a gadget feels like leaving behind a limb. Not necessarily essential, but pretty awkward without it. With that lovely thought in mind, I’ve concocted a list here of 7 Gadgets you must have on any road trip. Travel well, my friends.

1. Smartphone – Devices like the iPhone and the Droid are quickly becoming indispensable travel accessories. With built in GPS, maps, the internet, and a phone, it’s a wonder how we got around without them at all. There are tons of apps in the various app stores that are mini guidebooks as well, and the variety gets bigger every day. Of course, you’re likely to miss all the good stuff if your gob is glued to this toy all day.
2. Apple iPad - Forget lugging around that evil brick they call “laptop.” Most of those things will burn the top two layers of skin off your legs if you use them too long anyway. The iPad is a great, portable way to stay connected on the road. Grab the 3G version so you can get access to the web anywhere there’s 3G service. Sure, it’s basically a giant iPhone, but its size (about as big as a small magazine) is one of its best features, allowing easy consumption. Movies, magazines, books, newspapers, TV shows… all available on the iPad, and all great ways to pass the time on the road.
3. Digital camera – We’re in an age of constant documentation. Future generations will be so inundated with photos of kittens and sunsets, they may believe we were some kind of early evening feline worshipers. Either way, a digital camera, like the Olympus PEN E-P2 is a must have on any travel adventure. High megapixels (for that wall-sized poster of the Paul Bunyan statue your wife will glare at disapprovingly), image stabilization (to capture the look on that bear’s face as you run away in terror [not recommended]), and good low light capabilities (to see the looks of sheer sugar fueled delight as your kids down s’mores around the campfire) are some of the features to look for in a good camera.
4. Portable Video Camera – A video camera like the Flip UltraHD Camcorder will allow you to capture all your road trip hijinx in stunning high definition. For me, this one is a must have because it’s small, ultra portable, and plugs directly into your laptop so you can edit the Ultimate Road Trip Adventure Movie™ right there on the road. Speculation says you might be able to edit right on the iPad in future updates, but for now, you’ll have to stick with a notebook computer (*Note: I’ve just been informed that you can import 640×480 video onto the iPad, but you can’t do anything with it, and you can’t import HD video. How useful. Thanks to Mike from Geekistry for the hattip). Or wait until you get home. But how are you going to blog about it on the road if you wait?
5. GPS – This one is kind of a no brainer. If you’ve brought your smartphone, you may not need a GPS unit, but a standalone unit like the Garmin Nuvi 1690 may give you more bang for your buck. These units are usually a bit more feature rich than the smartphone versions. For instance, The Garmin features Garmin’s NuLink data service, which provides traffic data, fuel prices, and Google Search for points of interest. Whichever device you go with, it’s worth the peace of mind knowing you’ll probably never get lost. Probably.
6. USB Rechargeable batteries. They are the bane of our existence, but they are the essential lifeblood of our devices: batteries. Pick up a few of these little bad boys and you won’t have to worry about finding a 7-11 in the middle of western Nebraska at 3AM.
7. FM Transmitter – Don’t leave home with out this, especially if you have your smartphone or mp3 player loaded with enough tunes to get you through a month on the road. An FM transmitter, like the Monster RadioPlay 300 turns your iPod into a mini radio station, broadcasting a signal strong enough to hit your car’s radio without interfering with your fellow road warriors. This is essential if you’re renting a car, since you never know what kind of music system will be installed.

GEAR: Hi-Tec V-Lite Hornet HPi trail shoes

// June 9th, 2010 // No Comments » // GEAR

When Hi-Tec approached me to review the V-Lite Hornet HPi trail running shoes (and hold a giveaway too!) I was a bit hesitant. I’ve never known Hi-Tec shoes to be the top of the game when it comes to comfort, durability, style, and cutting edge technology in the outdoor shoe industry. Quite honestly, I’ve always thought of them as the budget shoe. But I’m open to trying almost anything, so I agreed to give them a shot. My results have been surprising. (more…)

REVIEW – Retro51 Tornado Pen

// February 8th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // GEAR

Life’s too short to carry an Ugly Pen.

-Retro 1951

Good writing tools are hard to come by, especially for the traveler. Many people swear by the Fisher Space Pen for it’s ability to write on almost anything, and in any direction, even upside down, thanks to a pressurized ink cartridge. I have two, so even I love that pen. Some people choose to write in a journal, and so go with a fountain pen because of it’s smooth writing and good looks. The traditional ball point pen is ubiquitous and reliable, but kind of boring. And rollerballs leave great lines but tend to dry a bit slowly, depending on the paper. It can really be a challenge to find the a great pen for your travel kit, one that melds great writing with a stylish look. Enter the Tornado from Retro 1951.

The Retro 51 Tornado is a pen that combines style, comfort, and smoothness into one fine package.

photo courtesy Retro1951.com

STYLE – All of Retro 1951′s pens are styled in a slick 1950′s aesthetic. Reminiscent of appliances your parents and grandparents had in their kitchen, the stainless steel pen sports a skinny point that screws into a tapered cylinder body. Wider at the top of the pen, the a partially split pocket clip connects to the body by a ferrule that sports the words “Tornado by Retro 1951.” A knurled twist top end cap serves as the mechanism by which the ink cartridge is pushed from the body.

The Classic Laquer series comes in a variety of colors, ranging from stainless, black, and blue, to orange, kiwi, and peacock. The company also offers other collections, including crossword and sudoku pens, and a pen whose cylinder is made from bamboo.

Aside from the Tornado, Retro 1951 offers a wide assortment of pens, all with this similar styling, but with different cylinder designs. They offer a mini version, the Tornado Elite; a fountain pen; and even pencils.

WEIGHT – The Tornado is by no means a lightweight pen, by which I mean it will never compete with a Bic ballpoint. But the Tornado is a good competitor when compared to more heavyweight pens like those from Visconti (not only in weight, but in price as well, which I’ll get into later). The balance of the pen is a bit awkward at first, with most of the bulk of the pen residing at the top near the twist top end cap. The pen’s mechanism rides there, causing it to be a bit top heavy, but after a lot of writing with the pen, you come to appreciate the extra help in moving the pen across paper.

The Retro 1951 Tornado

INK – My only complaint about this rollerball pen is its standard ink cartridge. Many writers love rollerball for its portability and lack of leakage compared to a fountain pen, and it’s writability as compared to a ball point. I’m still unconvinced about rollerball’s writing ability, especially when I use it in my Moleskine notebook, which has fairly high quality paper in it. The ink tends to bleed into the paper, creating spiderwebs along the fibers. Standard gel ink cartridges (like the ones for Pilot’s G2 line) were were slow to dry and didn’t fit in the Tornado’s body. Fortunately, after speaking with a sales clerk at Paradise Pen, we came up with the idea of using a Visconti gel cartridge, which fit perfectly in the pen and writes wonderfully on the Moleskine paper.

OVERALL the pen is something that not everyone will love, but those who do will find it difficult to let go. The most surprising factor of the Retro 1951 Tornado is its price. Retailing for about $22 in most good pen stores, the Retro 51 Tornado is both stylish and affordable. Paired with a pocket Moleskine notebook, you feel transported to another, more nostalgic time, heading out on some travel adventure to the far reaches of the planet. Now that’s a pen you’ll want in your pocket.