Friday, March 20, 2009

New Travel Gear!

I finally purchased an Amazon Kindle, and I am not disappointed. I've mentioned before that one of my biggest packing anxieties is what I call the "I can't decide what to bring to read!" anxiety. No more! I've only had my Kindle a few days, and it's already helped me trim my daily carry bag down significantly. I've switched my newspaper (the NY Times) to Kindle, as well as a few magazine subscriptions. I've also loaded several public domain (i.e. free) books.

What I think will be most useful is the ability to purchase and download travel guides - no more lugging around those sometimes giant volumes. And if you can't decide which one to bring, get a couple different ones; they'll fit!

I've already had some friends question whether I really want to take an electronic book reader on a dive trip, thinking it might get wet. The simple solution? A one-gallon Ziploc bag. Of course I won't be heading underwater with it, but if I'm sitting by a pool someplace and worried it might get splashed, the bag will do the trick nicely.

As I use the Kindle more, I'll post some of the e-books I've found that might be good for travelers.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

In Lieu Of....

So, the economy has tanked, and that trip to Europe probably isn't going to happen this year. What to do. Well, you could always read about travel while you're saving some cash for that next trip. Here are some suggestions, found while browsing the internet:

1. The Milepost 2009 - I went to Alaska in 1997, and this book was fantastic. I read the entire thing before I left. It gave such a good flavor of what the state is about, not necessarily directly, but you can get a good idea about a place by it's advertisements, which are plentiful in this book.

2. Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives: An All-American Road Trip...with Recipes! - When Guy Fieri was filming the show in NJ, he went to the Skylark Diner in Edison, just a few miles from my house. If you can't even get out to visit a diner, ride along with Guy and try out some of the recipes.

3. The 100 Best Worldwide Vacations to Enrich Your Life - Dream about, or plan, your next vacation as you browse the pages of this book, thinking about all the exotic and interesting options on its pages.

4. 101 Baseball Places to See Before You Strike Out - Like baseball? Really like baseball? Then this book will take you on a journey to some of the country's most interesting ballparks and baseball related places. Batter up!

5. SAS Survival Guidebook:How to Survive in the Wild, In Any Climate, on Land or at Sea - If you're at all like me and take vacations to the more remote parts of our planet, then this is the read for you.

Those should get you started, and might even motivate you to sell all that junk in your basement so you can make reservations for your next trip. Enjoy!