In-Flight Cellphone Calls To Be Allowed On Virgin Atlantic Flights

by Meg Nesterov on

Passengers on Virgin Atlantic will soon be able to make in-flight cellphone calls, send texts and browse the web on their way home from Europe, it was just announced. The new service is part of the airline’s upgrade to the Airbus A330, which will also provide expanded in-flight entertainment, USB ports and a very spiffy upper class. Cellphone service will initially be available only on London to New York flights, but will be expanded to more cities by the year’s end. There are a lot of caveats, however: you’ll need to be on a Vodafone or O2 network, only 10 calls will be allowed at one time and service won’t be cheap. Calls will cost 1 GBP per minute and texts 20p each. You’ll also still need to turn off your devices for takeoff and landing, and turn them off within 250 miles of US airspace, so no flight-long games of Words With Friends.

Gadling readers: would you use this service? Do you think it’s any improvement over the old-school in-flight phones? Or will it just be another amazing innovation that no one appreciates?

[Photo courtesy Flickr user Highways Agency]

How To Travel Plastic-Free

by Jessica Festa on

While we’ve written about how to have a more eco-friendly vacation, there is a growing travel trend of vacationing plastic-free. For example, backpackers Polythene Pam and Village Boy, who write for the site Plastic is Rubbish, focus on eliminating plastic from their lives completely.

“Plastic lasts forever and we are using it to make one use, throwaway items,” the duo say on their site. “We have created everlasting rubbish and plastic pollution is increasing exponentially. It is destroying the landscape, killing wildlife, poisoning the seas, and may well be poisoning us.”

In fact, there are many animals that die everyday from accidentally ingesting plastic, like camels, turtles, elephants, birds, whales and many more. The problem is that instead of biodegrading, plastic simply degrades without changing its structure. What’s also scary is that sometimes these fragmented pieces of plastic are so tiny, we can’t see them with the naked eye – although they can still be harmful. In humans, plastics have been found to lead to cancers and other health problems over time.When traveling, the backpackers recommend using natural toothbrushes and homemade tooth powder to clean your teeth, as well as making your own natural beauty products for your skin, hair and nails. When buying street food, they use tiffin boxes, which allow you to carry home your cuisine in a plastic-free, reusable box and string bags for carrying groceries and produce from the markets.

For travelers who like to document their trips, there are various alternatives to the usual pen and notebook. For instance, using a laptop can eliminate plastic pens, paper and constant waste completely. If you like keeping a journal the old-fashioned way, there are biodegradable pens, wooden pencils and sustainably sourced, wooden, pencil sharpeners.

Blogger Beth Terry of My Plastic-Free Life also writes about how to go sans plastic on the road. For example, she advises using travel mugs instead of plastic water bottles, especially since they are easier to get through airport security. Reusable utensils, homemade food and snacks in metal tins, stainless-steel drinking straws, using solid shampoo bars and putting personal care products like toothpaste in reusable containers are other recommendations. For tea drinkers, packing bulk tea in a tea ball or using eco-friendly Twinings teas are safe alternatives to the usual plastic-heavy tea packaging.

Taina Uitto, a Canadian blogging about living a plastic-free life at Plastic Manners, also shares tips on traveling without plastic. She makes a good point on her website, asking the rhetorical question, “Why is it that the second people leave their home, they become completely helpless and immediately cling to the crutch of convenience?”

If you’re going to be doing laundry on the road, Uitto suggests using soap nuts by dropping a few in a sock and putting them in with your dirty clothes. For personal care, using products like natural hairbrushes, a bulk deodorant bar and metal razors is a great way to reduce plastic use. And for booze nights, try to find beers with corks or reusable beer bottles and wines that don’t use plastics.

I also did some research myself on plastic-free backpacks and found organic hemp backpacks from Rawganique. The packs are sweatshop free from Europe, and feature metal zippers, hooks and snaps, hemp lining and hemp trims.

Does this all seem like a lot of work? It’s not easy making a quick switch from living a plastic-immersed life to completely erasing it from your day; however, you can try to make small changes to the way you travel. Little by little, everyone can make a difference, and travel in a more eco-friendly manner.

Do you have any personal tips for traveling plastic-free?

Gadling Gear Review: REI Kimtah Rain Jacket And Pants

by Kraig Becker on

Whether you’re hiking a local trail or trekking through the Andes, nothing can ruin your day more quickly than a sudden and unexpected rainstorm. Worse yet, being wet and cold on a trail, hours from shelter can be a recipe for disaster. That’s why it is so important to have a good set of rain gear in your pack at all times. The Kimtah jacket and pants from REI make a near-perfect combo for travelers facing the possibility of inclement weather where ever they go. Both offer great performance in a highly packable and lightweight package, although their price tags may be a deterrent to some.

In the world of outdoor gear, clothing that is both waterproof and breathable is somewhat akin to the Holy Grail. For years companies have tried to create fabrics that can keep the foul weather out while allowing moisture from within to easily escape as well. By their very nature waterproof fabrics tend to be on the warm side, which can cause the wearer to sweat underneath. Early attempts at waterproof fabrics managed to keep the rain out, but the person wearing them would get so hot and sweaty that it almost didn’t matter.

With that in mind, REI has employed a relatively new fabric known as eVent, which was designed to overcome the previous problems with non-breathable fabrics such as older versions of Gore-Tex. After putting the Kimtah jacket and pants through their paces in the warm Texas spring, I can say that the company has honestly made great strides in creating clothing that is comfortable to wear in a variety of weather conditions. I wore both of these pieces of gear in temperatures that ranged from around 50 degrees Fahrenheit all the way up to the upper 80’s, and while there was a noticeable difference in warmth inside, particularly when hiking a more physically demanding trail, I didn’t become nearly as hot and sweaty as I did with other rain gear in the past. That can make all the difference in your level of comfort and enjoyment while traveling.As impressed as I was initially with this rain gear, I really had the opportunity to put it to the test last week when a series of thunderstorms rolled across the Austin area on successive days. One evening it was raining so hard that some parts of town were getting as much as six inches an hour and marble sized hail was reported throughout the area. While most of my friends and neighbors smartly stayed huddled inside their homes, I donned my Kimtah jacket and pants and wandered out into the darkness to see how they would really perform. Amidst 50+ mile winds and horizontal rain, I was happy to find that I was comfortably warm and dry inside my gear. If this rain suit can manage to fend off those conditions, I had little doubt that it would perform well just about anywhere.

REI put a lot of thought into the design of the Kimtah jacket and pants. Both are generously cut, which helps to accommodate layers underneath without bulking up. They feature large, zipped pockets for keeping small items dry and close at hand, and the jacket even has an interior pocket with an earphone port, making it a great place to store a cell phone or iPod. Both are rated as windproof for up to 60 mph and both allow for unrestricted movement while on the go. The fact that these pants and jacket are also thin, lightweight and highly packable is just icing on the cake for backpackers and travelers.

All of these features and functions put the Kimtah jacket and pants squarely in the high performance outdoor gear category and as such they are priced accordingly. The jacket costs $239 while the pants will set you back an additional $189. Backpackers and other outdoor enthusiasts are likely to find that to be a reasonable price to pay for gear that can take a beating and keep on performing at a very high level, but many travelers will find the price tag a bit high for their tastes.

Personally, I feel that REI’s offerings are worth every penny, as you not only get top of the line performance, but a durable product that will last for years. Yes, there are less expensive options on the market, but you’re likely to have to replace them sooner and they probably won’t offer the same level of performance. Those cheaper options may be suitable for day hiking or organized tours that aren’t particularly demanding, but for the traveler or outdoor enthusiasts who requires something more reliable, the Kimtah jacket and pants are a fantastic option that won’t let you down.

Traveling Safely To Avoid Identity Theft

by Chris Owen on

When traveling we take extra care to secure our gear. Entering unknown worlds requires an extra measure of caution, causing us to keep cash, cards and travel documents out of sight. We pay special attention to where these things are at any given time and taking extra precautions keep them from being lost or stolen. But how much thought goes into protecting our identity on the road? It’s a topic worthy of a little thought and some action before traveling.

“Our phones are used more and more to organize our lives,” Nikki Junker, social media coordinator and victim advisor with the Identity Theft Resource Center told us in an email. As the use of smart phones increases, con artists are finding ways to access personal information. “Smart phone security is going to become even more important,” says Junker.

Protecting smart phones, and the information that is transmitted over them does not take all that much work or time, just a few security pointers.

Create a complex password. Your first line of defense is a strong password, one that combines letters, numbers and symbols. An 8-digit combination of letters and numbers, once the gold standard of passwords, is no longer good enough to foil identity and data thieves.

Seek backup/wiping services. iPhone and other brand users have this ability built in but it has to be turned on to work. Some brands require it to be loaded onto the phone. “Not having these services is one of the biggest mistakes smartphone users make,” says Junker. “They’re easy to obtain through the phone’s manufacturer or your wireless provider.”

Install security software. “Treat your smartphone like you would your home computer,” Junker says. Install security software that contains an antivirus, and be diligent about downloading updates as they’re available.


Take action. If your phone is missing, call your carrier as soon as possible to report that it’s been lost or stolen and to have the data wiped.

If you think you’re a victim of identity theft, Junker advises taking these three steps:

  • Place a 90-day fraud alert on credit reports
  • File a police report
  • File a fraud affidavit with the Federal Trade Commission

All of this is especially important for those who email copies of travel document, confirmations and identification to themselves and then store them on their smartphone.

Already have your phone password-protected? Think your password is secure?

Test the strength of your password here

[Flickr photo by dmott9]



The Ultimate Wedding Season Packing List

by Jessica Marati on

There comes a time in every man’s life when they realize that (1) all of their friends are getting married and (2) all of their vacation days are spent hopping from ceremony to ceremony.

Welcome to wedding season, a period of time that can last anywhere from one summer to one decade… or indefinitely, depending on how popular you are. It involves lots of travel, lots of champagne toasts and lots of cover bands performing “At Last.”

Packing for wedding season travel can be particularly tricky, but it improves with practice. Here, a handy list of essentials you may not normally think to bring along, from a wedding season vet.

FOR THE LADIES

An extra pair of flats or fancy sandals. Those heels might match your dress perfectly but they probably won’t hold up to an all-night dance party. An extra set of flats or sandals, packed away in your purse, will be invaluable at 1 a.m.

A wrap. A nice, neutral shawl can get a ton of mileage, whether as a cover-up at the ceremony or as a scarf on the plane.

Waterproof mascara. Because love is a beautiful thing.

FOR THE LADS

Cuff links, studs, etc. Those rental tuxes are complicated, man.

Fancy socks. White athletic socks won’t cut it, we’re afraid.

Pocket handkerchief. Especially if you’re single and seated next to Ms. Waterproof Mascara (see above).

FOR EVERYONE

Steamer. That dress or suit will probably pick up a few wrinkles in transit, and you’ll want to iron them out before the ceremony.

Travel sewing kit. Missing buttons are the worst.

Cash (in local currency) for tips. Most reception venues will have a valet and coat check, so be prepared.

Print-out of directions to the wedding venue. We’re all familiar with technological travel mishaps – dead battery, forgotten charger, no 3G service. Make sure you at least make it to the wedding by printing out venue directions the old-fashioned way.

Gift card for bride/groom. Even if you ordered something off the registry, it’s always nice to give the bride and groom a nice hand-written note wishing them well.

A stockpile of champagne toast ammunition. Bonus points for a USB stick of embarrassing photo slideshows.

[Flickr image via Ryan Smith]