The eBook is THE Book To Travel With

Sony Reader: Gizmodo's Hands All Over - Gizmodo: The Sony Reader ebook, a device based on electronic ink technology.
This review from GIZMODO is very thorough, with exceptional pictures, so i will skip the specs, which you can read there also.

We have had a Sony Reader in the house/suitcase for 4 months, and it s pros and cons are pretty simple. If you are a traveler who aspires to the One Bag philosophy, or at the very least, would like to shed some pounds from your book bag, then this thing is for you.

The Pros
The biggest thing the Sony Reader has going for it is that you can carry several books with you on vacation in something the size and weight of a paperback books. How cool is that? Very cool!

The print is easier to read than paperback book. AND, you can change the size of the font.

The battery charge lasts FOREVER.

The Cons
Lack of book selection at Sony's proprietary CONNECT ebook downloading website. This is the major complaint, and it is a big one. This will be what sinks the ship if it doesn't improve quickly. 10,000 books is not a lot if it doesn't include the 3 you are looking for.

No backlighting. For reading in bed or on a plane at night, you have to carry a separate book light. Not a deal breaker, but inconvenient.

Summary
The portability carries the day. If you are a frequent traveler who normally carries a lot of books or other documents to read, it can keep you out of the chiropractors office.

"Jiffy Steamer Esteam" personal travel clothes steamer

You're in your hotel room, finally, and you drag your folded/rolled/crumpled mess of a shirt/dress/suit out of the travel bag and hang it the closet hoping the wrinkles will miraculously fall away. Or maybe you are a crafty one, and you hang them in the bathroom to passively steam as you shower. The trouble is, neither method really works on a worthy wrinkle. I finally bought a travel steamer to smooth out this problem.

Jiffy Steamer Esteam personal travel clothes steamer.
(8 customer reviews on Amazon if you follow the title link)
Price: $69.99

I was tipped off to this steamer in a wardrobe book written by a stylist, someone who uses steamers on a regular basis for work. She had used several and swore by this one.

Pros:

• 800 watts of power baby!
• heats up instantly (under 2 minutes)
• simple to operate - put water in, plug in, steam clothes
• lightweight, compact
• very effective at getting rid of wrinkles

Cons:

• ugly, seriously utilitarian design
• small water chamber, must fill often if doing many clothes
• smaller nozzle than some, due to its small portable size

Sure you can get less expensive ones, but they won't work as well. Sure you can get ones that work better (bigger water chamber, bigger nozzle) but they won't be near as portable.

This is a portable travel gadget that gets an A from me. It just works. In fact it works so well, I use it all the time at home when something needs a touch up. It can't recreate a crease, but it does well on everything else.

One Bag: Using A Packing List

If you are a frequent traveler, you may have come across the fantastic/ridiculous (depending on your point of view) web site called OneBag.com. It is where I go to dream of a perfectly organized trip, where you use every single thing you packed and you packed every thing you couldn't do without. Here is an except from one of the many insightful pages:

"One Bag: Using A Packing List: "What To Pack > Using A Packing List

To know what to leave out and what to put in; just where and just how, ah, that is to have been educated in the knowledge of simplicity.

Frank Lloyd Wright

Arguably the most important aspect of intelligent travelling is the issue of what to pack. This, more than anything else, will determine the size of your luggage, the weight of your load, and the state of your happiness. Your top priority, then, should be the acquisition, personalization, and use of a good packing list. 'What to pack' is far too important to make up as you go along!

The world is awash with packing lists. Dozens have appeared on the Internet, and almost any travel store will happily supply you with what usually amounts to a list of the many things you might buy from them. And therein lies the fault of most lists: they enumerate the possibilities, rather than eliminate the liabilities. A list of stuff you might want to take is very different from a list of things you can't travel (comfortably) without. Even the venerable Universal Packing List is intended to be exhaustive; author/maintainer Mats Henricson uses a much shorter list for his actual travels.
Do I Really Need a Packing List?

It's not possible to overstate the importance of actually creating (or adopting) a personal packing list, and using it regularly. "

Spork of the Gods

ThinkGeek :: Titanium Spork:

I have made an attempt to always travel with a spork. Since I often bring my own food on airplanes, and almost equally often forget to pick up utensils, my various spork incarnations have gotten me out a jam more than once. The best one I've had I picked up in Manchester UK, at a Haagen-Daz store. It was very well-formed thick plastic, and it lasted quite a long time, but then busted in half as I was bearing down on a rather unruly lettuce spine.


I have been carrying these poor substitutes since, the spindly thin black plastic one, and the thicker green one, which is sturdy, but without the half-times, (so not really a spork) that I got at Rice To Riches but neither one is fit for the job.

Well! I have found my replacement. Lightweight, strong titanium no less.
"Spork of the Gods
The Titanium Spork is ready for the challenge. Titanium is known for its great strength, corrosion resistance, and light weight, which makes this spork a valuable asset around feeding time. Imagine how much more food you could shovel in at your local buffet if you didn't have to worry about the strain of picking up a heavy fork or spoon. Your food consumption can become the stuff of legends. Even just holding the Titanium Spork in your hand, you can feel its power. It is perhaps the greatest gastronomic invention since lickable wallpaper. Hunger, beware - your end is near!

Titanium Spork Dimensions:approx. 6.25' long and 1.5' at its widest point."

HTC Advantage Portable Office

HTC Advantage Portable Office (unlocked)



This HTC UMPC is interesting. With a 5" screen, you could actually do some work on it, at least more than say, the Nokia E90 Communicator that I am impatiently waiting for. It has a QWERTY keyboard that tucks away to leave a sleek tablet format. Of course, at $1200.00, it costs as much as a laptop.

Available soon at Mobile City Online.

Tips For Travelers

Ultra Cord Travel Pack 13-Piece Connector Kit wUSB, FireWire, Headset, Network and Telephone Cables - Carbon Fiber ULT33142 at TigerDirect.com

I don't know about you, but I carry an entire separate Eagle Creek pouch to hold all my cords and chargers when I travel. AND they are always tangling. Here is help for us frequent travelers with a lot of electronic/computer gadgets who don't want to be carrying a tangle of cords for recharging and connection equipment. Love those retractable cables! One caveat: before you leave behind all the cords that came with your camera, phone, etc. try out the replacement tips at home first to make sure they are compatible.

Shoe Wheel!

Rakkudesigns new Shoe Wheel

Ok, so this is not a portable thing - I guess this is more for The Rotational Life, than The Portable Life - but it is just such a cool gadget I had to post it. How about this tie-in: it makes packing easier because you can see all your shoes at a glance?