Monthly Archives: April 2013

In CA Sprint LTE handles dual apps — even when one is real-time navigation

 in California / Deb in the USA / Deb's Travels / North America / Traveling with Technology / USA

I write this from my home-base of Los Angeles, CA as I take a travel break and my travel is house/tech-sitting within various areas in LA. Sprint recently launched it’s LTE (Long Term Evolution aka 4G) network in Los Angeles, California, so I took a Samsung Galaxy Note II for a test run on a bus across town to see how it does. The bus was a local, but there was no traffic at this time of day, so we moved rather swiftly. The Note II is a rather large screen and has a split screen feature so you can view and use two apps at the same time. I placed the Maps app on the top and, well, Facebook, as the bottom app. Maps loaded immediately. I figured out how to set it to track my movement. (It’s not highly intuitive.) I did that first by Destination, later just […]

Carry light, give light

 in Africa / Asia / Balkans / Baltics / Central America / England / Europe / Israel / North America / Packing / Traveling with Technology / UK

I think that we who live in cities, be it on any continent in any city, tend to not realize that there ARE places in the world where there is NO electricity and people do not have light — other than that of the sun. And we who live in cities have so much light in the sky at night that we don’t even realize… how very dark the night really is. Those who live in non-electrified places can wake with the sun and go to sleep with the sun — but there are still issues such as: going to the bathroom before bed or in the middle of the night a mother needing to get up in the night to feed an infant a parent needing to tend to a child a person needing to work until dark and then find his/her way home boats needing to cross a lake or ocean or […]

Petit Ermitage — unique hotel in West Hollywood

 in California / Sleeping Accommodations / Stay in USA

The Petit Ermitage is a four-story building that you can easily miss as it’s on a quiet residential street, although if you look closely the attentive doormen give it away.

The Petit Ermitage describes itself as Bohemian. However, I don’t feel ” Bohemian” captures its elegance. Petit Ermitage is worldly — or rather reflective of the greater world in which we live. A little bit old European, a bit of Morocco, a splash of modern at the saltwater pool — and all around perfect in feeling and comfort.

Inside, you’ll find unique room, and atop you’ll find a rooftop saltwater pool, restaurant — and butterfly garden. And from this beautiful rooftop, there are beautiful views of Los Angeles.

Petit Ermitage, West Hollywood Entrance

3% international fee on credit card purchases — not!

 in Africa / Area / Asia / Balkans / Baltics / Europe / Israel / North America / Packing / Traveling with Technology

This post is for American travelers who plan to use an American credit card while traveling outside of the United States.

It’s great to be able to travel with a minimum of cash in your pocket but did you know that when you use your credit card outside of the United States, you may incur a 3% fee on top of your actual charge?

Perfect travel handbag for women 3

 in Packing

As I was getting ready to travel, I looked and looked for a lightweight, ripstop nylon handbag that would take very little room in my backpack, yet be there for me whenever I stayed put in a town overnight and wanted a nice handbag to carry for the day or evening.

Scosche – Best card reader for travel & all

 in Packing / Traveling with Technology

Every traveler should carry a light, well-made USB card reader that handles multiple formats. Why? Because you are bound to want some of the photos someone takes of you or for you and that person may or may not ever get around to sending them to you. Granted, you still need to get to a computer in order to upload those  photos, but at least you’ll be prepared. Because you may need to copy data from a computer somewhere and this will let you copy that data onto one of your camera’s memory cards, something you’re likely to have while traveling. The Scosche USB 2.0 Card Reader is THE find among card readers! It weighs virtually nothing so its a no-brainer to carry with you daily as I did throughout my trip, and continue to do. It’s compact and the USB connector and cable are protected within the unit so it packs well. […]