Taking off Travel blog

While doing the rounds of some travel blogs, I came across PlanetEye. It aims to be a trip planning service with a difference, incorporating editorial content on destinations with useful information and help with bookings. I decided to put it to the test.

Planet Eye screenshot

Setup And First Steps

Getting set up was easy, but I hit my first snag when trying to create a travel pack for a forthcoming trip to Hollywood, Florida. You get the chance to add destinations, but of the handful of Hollywoods I was offered, I couldn’t tell which one was in Florida. So I created an empty travel pack, and added Florida as my destination, hoping that I would get the chance to specify later. Sure enough, I was able to find my exact destination on the map, but I couldn’t find a way to save it as part of my travel pack. Read more »

I love looking at new gadgets and there are some great ones on this month’s list.

Get Fit

There’s no reason to slack on fitness just because you’re on a business trip. On my last trip, I saw dozens of people get up early to use the hotel’s fitness room. If you’re lucky enough to have good weather, then walking or jogging are an option - and that’s where the Live-Lite comes in. From Perception Digital, this device measures steps and your heart rate, ensuring that you stay on top of your fitness regime.

Ergonomic Elegance

I don’t know about you, but I often travel with an external keyboard for my laptop to save my wrists. The trouble is that it takes up a lot of space. However, I may not have to do that for much longer, since Goldtouch has released a foldable ergonomic keyboard, the GoldTouch Go! It only weighs a pound and is supposed to be comfortable to use - $139 seems a small price to pay to avoid tendonitis.

Mouse Phone

For me, the Skype Travel Mouse comes under the category of ‘neat, but do you really need it?’ It’s a mouse that slides open to reveal a phone keypad. It also has a decent sized LCD display at 128×64 pixels, and is $35 plus shipping. The fact that you only need to use a single USB port for both mouse and phone is undoubtedly a plus, so it could be worth a look.

Charge It All - Or Almost

The Charge4All is yet another device that allows you to charge multiple devices from a single power connection. It won’t charge your laptop or anything else that needs high voltage, but it will charge MP3 players, cell phones, digital cameras and the like. It’s $29.95.

Swiss Army Drive

You’ll need to pack these in your checked baggage, but the SwissFlash and Presentation Master Swiss Army Knives have all the usual array of gadgets as well as a flash drive with a maximum capacity of 32GB. There are also versions with built in laser pointers. Prices range from the low 60s to over $300.

New In Japan

We can’t wait for this one to hit our shores. It’s a credit card sized digital voice recorder - perfect for taking voice notes on the move (that’s if you haven’t already got it built into your phone). Rumor has it that you can record up to 30 hours of digital voice with this compact gadget.

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 »

I love looking around the travel blogosphere to see what’s new. This week I’ve decided to look on the Alltop travel site, of which the Taking Off Travel Blog is a proud member. Here’s a flavor of what you can find. The Conde Nast Daily Traveler has a post on cheap chic hotels, otherwise known as ‘properties that have grown up in the last few years and are aimed at people traveling on a budget but who don’t want to compromise on style’. Meanwhile, the Intelligent Travel blog from National Geographic is in a festive mood, highlighting some Mardi Gras moments.

I’ve been following the Travel Rants blog on Twitter, and Darren has always got something interesting to say. This week, he’s discussing the treatment of disabled travelers. If you’re in the mood for a rant, then weigh in on the issue of security fees at Rick Seaney’s blog. Read more »