iStik Magnetic iPod case: $20
Need a good way to secure your iPod or minipod to your jacket or running shorts while you’re on the road? Try out the Magnetic iStik. This little device lets you stick your music box almost anywhere on your body without having to worry about it rolling around or falling out of your pocket. For running, its a necessity. Check out
Gadling’s review of the iStik then get one for about twenty bucks at
goistik.com.
Sigg Water Bottles: $18 – 25Its true, Nalgene bottles are officially out of style. The new big thing?
Sigg water bottles, the metal miracles that don’t (potentially) bleed into your Gatorade and that are also pretty hip to carry around. Every good adventure traveler needs at least a couple of water bottles to carry on the road, down the slopes or up the pitch, so you can’t go wrong with an investment in one of these. Plus, a portion of all sales to back to the environment.
Pick them up at Amazon or Ebay for a good price.
In-Ear Headphones: $10 upwards
In-ear headphones are the new big thing in noise abatement technology — rather, you can do it two ways, with a noise cancelling circuit or by flat-out plugging your ears with these earbuds (or, sometimes both, but you usually won’t need that.) The advantage to this tight-fitting method, of course, is that the audio can be softer, and thus better for your ears. And without a noise cancelling circuit, the technology is quite affordable.
Having spent a lot of time in airplanes this year, we can tell you from experience that all you need to ensure a quite ride is the ear-plugging technology — the noise cancelling stuff works ok, but its probably not worth the investment.
Usually, pairs start at $10 and can get as costly as over $100, and each person reacts differently to each headset. CNET is a great place to start your research.
Orbit MP3 speaker: $40
If you’re planning on having people over to the hotel room to have a few drinks and grease the wheels, you’re going to need to be pumping some tunes. And we know that your iBook is God’s gift to technology, but you just need more oomph behind your speakers if you’re going to be making an impression.
Try out Altec Lansing’s Orbit MP3 speaker, a compact little device that produces a room full of happiness. You can read how well the system works in Gadling’s review and if it strikes you, pick one up at Altec Lansing.
The Moleskine: >$12
A good travel notebook is a key component to any prolonged travel, something that will hold up on the road, not take up too much space and maybe, if you’re lucky, even look pretty snazzy. Italian company Moleskine‘s notebooks do just that, and they’ve recently expanded their product line to include a variety of formats including city notebooks (with maps!)
While you can’t get a Moleskine directly from their website, Amazon has a wide variety of products. You can start your research from their search page.