FrugalMonkey Discount Travel News

Tag: travel products

  • Top 5 Affordable Gadgets for Your Next Vacation

    The marketplace is flooded with gadgets claiming to enhance your travel. Many of them are expensive, and most fail to deliver on their promises. Read on to discover five clever travel gadgets that cost less than $50.

    Satisfy Your Hunger with the RoadPro 12-Volt Sandwich Maker

    It seems our tummies only rumble when the next truck stop is hours away. And when we get there, the food is inevitably overpriced and unsatisfying. RoadPro puts an end to driver’s frustration with its 12-Volt Sandwich Maker. Just pack a simple sandwich with your favorite fixings, and this sandwich maker will turn it in to a tasty toastie. This clever car appliance powers up when you plug it in to your vehicle’s cigarette lighter. It does take a while to heat, but it can do the work while you’re searching for a picnic spot. You can get yours for $29.99 from Overton’s.

    SteriPEN Traveler Sterilizes Your Water

    At $49.95 the SteriPEN Traveler is one of the more expensive items on our list, but it’s so practical that it’s worth a little splurge. This clever pen uses ultraviolet light to deactivate the germs in your water. In less than a minute you’ll turn the contents of a suspect bottle into deliciously drinkable water. This is the ideal gadget for anyone who loves exploring South America, Asia, the Middle East, or anywhere that water quality can’t be relied upon. Get yours from the SteriPEN website.

    Keep Rocking with Strontium AUTO USB Drives

    Of course every vacation needs a great soundtrack. CDs take up too much space and they’re targets for car thieves. Nifty gadgets like this small Strontium AUTO USB Drives are much smarter of option. They’re available in four sizes: 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, and the monster 32GB model. With the 8GB one holding around 2000 songs it should be enough to satisfy the tastes of all your traveling companions! These gadgets won’t work with older vehicles, but you should find the USB ports you need on any newer cars. Prices start at $5 for the 4GB model, which is impressive considering that Strontium sells the device with a limited five-year warranty. Find them at the Strontium website, gas stations, and major retailers.

    Charge the Eco-Friendly Way with Mushroom GreenZero Wall Travel Charger

    We all leave our cell phones and laptops to charge overnight, secure in the knowledge they’ll be ready to go the next morning. But this isn’t the ideal situation for sustainably-minded travelers. Bracketron’s Mushroom GreenZero Wall Travel Charger is every bit as eco-friendly as it sounds. It just stops the charging once your device is full. It’s really so simple that we wonder why no one came up with it before! You can also plug it into technology with 30-pin or mini-USB ports for extra versatility. You can also use it at home too to slash your energy consumption. This green device retails for just $27.95 from Bracketron.

    Wine and charcuterieKeep Wine Safe with the Wine Skin

    So perhaps the Wine Skin is more of an invention than a gadget, but it’s an important addition for anyone planning a wine tasting vacation. We all love to bring a few souvenirs of our wine tasting trips home, but those precious bottles can be difficult to transport. The TSA won’t let you keep them safe in hand luggage as they exceed the liquid allowance, and they often don’t fare much better in the trunk of your car. The Wine Skin allows you to stop stressing and keep your wine safe. It’s basically a bottle-shaped, bag made out of bubble wrap which creates an air-tight seal. The bubble wrap finish minimizes breakages, and if the worst does happen that merlot won’t leak through your clothes. You can buy a bag of five for $11.95 from Wine Skin.

    So don’t waste your money on overpriced items you’ll use for five minutes. These goodies are the real deals!

  • Seven Travel Products to Save You Time and Money

    As you know, there are plenty of useless travel products on the market. However, there are also some products that are incredibly useful and will save you time or money (or both!) while traveling or planning your travel adventures. Here are seven “basics,” that will serve you well no matter where you’re headed.
    1.     Smartphone or tablet. Whether you’re an Apple person or an Android person, a smartphone or tablet (like the iPad) will allow you to run myriad travel apps that will help with travel planning (in advance and on the road). Since most mobile phone travel apps are updated regularly, this information is often more current than information found in guidebooks. Also, many famous sites around the world (the Eiffel Tower or Louvre Museum in Paris, for example) are creating apps to guide tourists on a more complete visit. You can also use your smartphone or tablet as an alarm clock and calendar while on the road. Related: See our Paris on the Cheap article 2.      Water bottle. It’s important to stay hydrated while traveling. This may sound painfully obvious, but thousands of tourists are hospitalized each year for complications due to dehydration (and few things cost you more money or time than being hospitalized abroad). A simple refillable plastic water bottle will do the trick if you’re going somewhere with potable water. If the water quality is questionable, you can purchase tablets or water bottles with filters to combat some of the harmful effects. Carrying a water bottle will also help you save money, since you won’t be tempted to buy a beverage from a street vendor or sit-down restaurant each time you get thirsty. [caption id="attachment_5303" align="alignright" width="163" caption="Whether you’re an Apple person or an Android person, a smartphone or tablet will allow you to run myriad travel apps loaded with current information about various destinations. "]travel app photo[/caption] 3.     A cross-body purse or satchel. I don’t know about you, but I carry much more with me when I travel than I do on a normal day. This means that I typically have a larger purse (or bag) on me to accommodate things like water bottles, tablets, basic first aid supplies, passport, etc. A cross-body purse or satchel (meaning you can wear the strap across your chest instead of slung over one shoulder) is harder for pickpockets to remove. I always keep one hand at the base of the strap as well, or draped over the whole purse if I’m in a crowded area (such as when I’m on public transportation). Washable bags (such as those made from nylon or polyester) are great, especially since you never know what you might spill on them or set them in while traveling. 4.     Basic first aid kit. Over the years, I’ve shelled out much more than I wanted to for band-aids at tourist kiosks (they know you’re desperate if you’re buying band-aids at a tourist shop, so they can charge you more. Bringing your own small first aid kit will save you both time and money when minor injuries occur (I always end up with lots of blisters due to increased walking while traveling). 5.     Voltage converter and adaptor set. It’s important to invest in a good voltage converter and adaptor set so that you are able to safely use your electronics while abroad. Using a converter/adaptor could potentially save you thousands of dollars in the long run (but not having to replace fried computers or buy small electronics - like an alarm clock - on site). Plus, you’ll need to charge your smartphone or tablet, right? 6.     A sleepsack/lightweight sleeping bag. If you're staying in hostels (or any other “bring your own sheets” type of accommodation - like camping), it's a good idea to carry a lightweight sleeping back that you can easily stuff into a backpack. This will save you money (you won’t have to rent sheets) and time/worry (you are at less of a risk of acquiring bedbugs or something much worse from less-than-clean hostel linens). 7.     Earplugs and an eye mask. Traveling means sometimes having to sleep in less than ideal circumstances. Earplugs and an eye mask can mean the difference between a restful overseas flight and a sleepless one. Earplugs are also especially useful if your travel companion snores. By getting a good night sleep, you’ll enjoy your trip more and save both time (you will be energized and be able to see more in a day - and won’t have to take naps) and money (you’ll consume much less coffee if you are well rested!) in the long run.