Taking off Travel blog

It’s time for another round up of essential gadgets for business travel, plus one non-essential that’s there simply because I like it.

Cell Phone Projector

One of the hot new must-haves this year has to be a cell phone with a mini projector. No longer will you have to worry about how to make that presentation - just load it into your cell phone and you’re ready to go. This one will set you back about $300, but is remarkably convenient. Several cell phone manufacturers are reported to have these in the works, with many expected to launch in 2010.

Weighing In

Need to find out exactly how much weight those company brochures have added to your luggage allowance? Then you need a digital luggage scale. The Balanzza Too is small enough to carry but will make sure that you don’t get hit with overweight charges. The latest version, which ships this month, includes an alarm and flashlight.

Downsize Your Laptop

Cut the weight of your laptop by getting a smaller, speedier version such as the HP Mini, which also has a beautiful dashboard interface for easy navigation. You might struggle a bit with the keyboard, but your shoulders will thank you for the reduced weight. If you can bear it, go even smaller and pick up a Dell mini, which is currently on my wishlist. Read more »

Joobili is a travel planning site with a difference. Its motto is ‘you say when, we say where’ and that sums up what Joobili is all about.

Using Joobili

To use it, all you have to do is pick a range of travel dates using the home page slider and it will tell you what is going on during that time. That takes you to another page with a list of events that you can filter using:

• categories such as family, arts, food and drink, celebrations, music and (my personal favorite) unusual
• country - the site currently contains only European destinations, but it would be good to see it broadened to include more places
• tags

You can also see others who have liked the events. Read more »

There’s a lot more to planning a business trip or a holiday than simply booking travel, making airport parking reservations and finding accommodation. These days you can find out a lot about where you’re headed by visiting sites for countries, cities, destinations and attractions. The only trouble is that those sites are designed to sell you on the delights of the places you are visiting. To find out what actual travelers think, you need to browse the travel forums. Here are nine forums where you can start your research.

Try these forums to plan and discuss your next trip

BootsnAll Travel is all about independent travel, with stories and blogs to make destinations come to life. The forum is sorted by destination, with active discussions of travel issues on all the major continents and regions.

Business Traveller, the magazine for business travelers worldwide, has been around since 1976. Its forum deals with any subject related to travel, with the most popular topics being airlines, airports and frequent flyer programs.

Cruise Critic is the place to go if you are traveling by sea. With five million plus members, there’s a wealth of information on everything cruise related. The forum also includes discussions of individual cruise lines. Read more »

Most of us travel with a mobile device and for many of us, that just might be an iPhone. After all, millions of them have been sold worldwide. One of the attractions of the iPhone is all the mobile applications you can use with it. There are hundreds of those available for travelers. Here they are:

The best travel apps for your Iphone

Check Flight Status

Flight Status - Check the status of thousands of flights around the world by flight number, route or airport. This is one of several applications using FlightStats data.

Find Places Near You

Yelp offers quick links to restaurants, bars, coffee shops and other places near you. Also consider Around Me and Where. When you’re on the road, you might also need to find a cheap gas station (Gasbag) or a bathroom (Sit or Squat). Read more »

Where The Locals Eat

There’s nothing worse than heading to a new city on business, arriving late at night and wondering where to go for a good meal. I should know. I once went on a business trip to Spain and by the time I had got my bags and found a taxi to my hotel, it was already nearly midnight. I know the Spanish eat late, but the local kitchens were closed and I found myself at the Spanish version of Mickey Ds - not what I wanted after a long trip. The next day, I was prepared and I asked the locals I met at the hotel where I could score a good meal so I could have a great dinner that night. When it comes to getting a good meal, you can’t beat local advice - and that’s the premise behind Where The Locals Eat.

Top Eateries In Each State

Where The Locals Eat gives you easy access to the top 100 restaurants in the 50 largest US cities. Since these are where you are likely to be doing business, then this is a great place to find restaurants serving your favorite dishes. The site balances ‘lengthy surveys of serious diners and hopelessly hooked restaurant habitues with the opinions and extensive research of certified foodies’ to bring you the top choices and they are constantly being updated. You can search the site by city and distance to select a restaurant within walking distance of your hotel. Read more »