packing


Conair Travel Smart TS263

Best hair dryer for travel – Conair Travel Smart

Travel with a hair dryer is viable. Even when living out of a single carry-on bag for an extended time. I know because I am doing it. And I’m so happy that I am!

Bottom Line: From my experience, any American who would like to travel with a hair dryer will be wise to take a Travel Smart® hair dryer by Conair. Specifically, the blue 1200-Watt Tourmaline Ceramic Hair Dryer, Dual Voltage, model TS263. (SRP $29.99)
(Unless it is replaced by an even better model when you read this.)


Packing a hard-bristled brush 1

Once in a while, we who travel come into a packing dilemma and have to either give up the item or become creative.
For me, that was this hairbrush.

The issues:
It has too long a handle so it didn’t fit in a fabric pencil case, makeup case, etc.
The spikes grip everything they touch, eating clothes and everything else — including any typical fabric they’re wrapped in.
It takes too much precious room.

The solution…


Less tech is more travel experience

This blog is called Tales of Travel and Tech, but I’d like to remind everyone that traveling doesn’t mean taking all your tech with you on your vacation.

Want to maximize your travel experience? Then skip the tech!
Most of the time, that is. Not all of the time.
There’s plenty a bit of tech can do to expand your travel, but not if it blocks you from experiences!


Redondo Beach get-away packing

I’m back to living in my adopted hometown for a while, so you might not call that traveling. But LA is a major travel destination — and I am traveling within it this weekend! From Friday – Tuesday, I’ll be a guest of a friend in Redondo Beach. I get to show her all the tricks of the iPhone, see friends, and enjoy the beach air and all that Redondo Beach and the Redondo Beach Marina and Pier have to offer.

Wondering how I packed?


Identify your belongings in a unique way 2

I bought 3D Slick paint that works on fabric. My intention was to use it on my backpack. But as I started to practice using this paint, decided to give my equipment a nicer looking identification than just my name written in permanent marker

I love that I have a unique identification method. Plus, it’s fun to take an artistic break once in a while.


Pack 4 white skirts? Can’t do. So…

My favorite travel skirt (one no longer sold by Gap) wore out past wearability a month ago and my other tore, leaving me needing to fully replace my travel skirts. Since I’ve been home: I pulled the twin of that favorite skirt out of its Space Bag to bring on my next trip. My favorite was tan. This one, though, is as close to white as possible, without being white. Pulling out the twin of a heavier favorite but now too-worn skirt out of its Space Bag, I found that Space Bag had turned this once light turquoise skirt white. A friend gave me a great wrap-around skirt. It was too long for her, but perfect for me. I love that as I travel, a part of her will be with me. That wrap-around is pure white. Another friend gave me an above-the-knee skirt with a comfy wide elastic waist, saying “It looks fantastic on you; you have to take […]


Tetanus & Travel

Tetanus is not necessarily a required vaccine, but I personally think it can be a wise decision to get one. I did, for Central America. Here’s an article that may help you decide for yourself. How Dangerous Is Tetanus Really? 10 FAQs by James Hubbard, MD, MPH — The Survival Doctor. This article about Tetanus and the debate about getting a Tetanus shot — and many more that may be of help to you are on his website, The Survival Doctor. His survival-medicine website, as he says: “provides general information, not individual advice. Most scenarios assume the victim cannot get expert medical help.”


Travel with children: Custom coloring activity idea

As friends talk about the issues of traveling with children, I am reminded of the travel kit I made for a four/five-year-old child because he and his dad were heading onto a very long airplane flight.

Rather than just giving him some coloring books, paper, and crayons, knowing he’d soon be asking “what should I draw” or “may I have more paper,” I created play scenes for him — my own take-off on coloring and Colorforms®-like scene play.


Small things, so helpful

When packing to travel for an extended period with just one bag, regular sized containers of stuff are out of the question. My toiletry pack included one 1-ounce sized facial scrub. I used it sparingly, only when my face really cried out for it. And now, after over 7 months, it was nearly gone. Tonight (Oct 21, 2012) I asked a very, very nice gal from Los Angeles if she had any on her, as she is traveling for just a week. She did! And without a word, she simply handed her full-sized, 6-ounce tube to me. I asked if I could have enough to refill my tube and she said, sure, she has enough. So now I have perhaps an ounce again – the amount that fit comfortably in the tube and then squeezes into my toiletry container. I passed her tube back with money to go toward her […]


Matador FlatPak with a new 135g bar of Dove soap vs a used bar of Dove.

I miss(ed) Dove soap

If you haven’t used Dove, you simply won’t understand this post. But someday you might… Dove has been my body and face soap of choice since I was 16 and the dermatologist who treated my (second-degree) burned face and hands recommended it. I’m not one to recommend you pack a year’s worth of your favorite soap. I had two bars of Dove left when I packed so, happily, I was able to fit them into my backpack/suitcase. After that, I knew I would simply use what I can find. I’d done that before, each time I’d traveled. The thing is, despite claims, no other soap in the US or elsewhere, is a creamy, soft, and residue-less as Dove. So when I ran out I missed Dove. I found some in Walmart in San Salvador. They were the smaller sized bars, but the price wasn’t too horrible. However, they didn’t last […]


Toothpaste you can travel with

EVERYTHING you pack matters when you’re packing to travel.

One of the hardest things to find in the US as I packed to travel was a tube of toothpaste. Sadly, flip tops have become the marketing rage, and they do not close well. Whether on the light weight, minimal space-using tube or on the horrid plastic-wasting heavy thick-sided toothpaste containers, those flip lids are far too likely to open as you travel.

The best toothpaste cap for any travel is the good old screw top that you fully remove in order to get to your toothpaste. But finding this is not always easy.

I can actually recommend brands for the USA and for Central America.


Deb's great travel sarong

Double Duty Packing – Bring a Sarong 1

When living out of just one bag, every item matters

For years, I have had a large black and white sarong that remained in my dresser drawer. I am not a sarong type of gal. But while packing up my home of many years and giving away my stuff, I recognized the value of this large, thin, fabric garment.

Some of the many uses for a sarong

This light-weight garment plays several roles.