Tourist Intel 's Latest Travel Tool Finds

I was once powering through a red-eye to Paris…making my way through the custom's maze at Charles De Gaulle, just picked up my luggage when I realized one of the wheels was gone and another was hanging by a plastic thread. I end up half-dragging, half-carrying my 45 pounds of luggage and gear the 100 yards out to the curb towards my Uber. The hassle continued as I dealt with the indignity of pulling my bags out of the car on the other end. Since I was in an AirBnB, no bellhop was there to help. It dawned on me that maybe buying budget luggage wasn't the best idea. 

Let me tell you about the luggage I'm sporting right now…the Samsonite FreeForm is a hardside expandable case with 4 spinner wheels. This luggage is tough and good looking! I've put it through some harsh treatment, from several cruises to a Outerbanks beach trip where we had to walk through sand to get to the rental. There was also the time I dropped it on an escalator at a metro station in D.C. and it rolled down several steps, almost taking out a small family. Some scratches on that one…but, otherwise still in great shape. I guess a 10-year warranty shows how much Samsonite believes in their product, but, not sure how you find a defect after owning it 9 years and expect the manufacturer to fix it?!

This set comes in 3 sizes: 21", 24" and 28". The only one you can realistically use for carry-on is the 21" though. They do fit inside of each other for storage if you decide to buy all three. Interior is spacious. The 21" has dimensions of 19 1/2" x 14 1/2" x 10" without the expansion zipper undone. That means there's about 35 liters of capacity. 

Can be pricey, but…trust me…you get what you pay for. It has a lot of colors to choose from: Black, White, Sage Green, Navy, Tangerine, Mint Green and Dark Teal to name a few. I found it on Amazon at a reasonable price. It get's 4.5 stars and is currently #1 in carry-on luggage. You can't go wrong with this one. Highly recommended! 

A colleague of mine lost her luggage on a week-long business trip to Phoenix Arizona. The airline said they had no idea where it was and didn't have an ETA, so she was forced to buy replacement clothes for her trip. Three days in, she get's a call that her bags were found. Funny thing...they were in the lost baggage office the whole time. :-(

Now, imagine the difference if she had an AirTag stashed in the luggage. She would've known immediately known where her bag was and would have avoided all that stress and hassle. As it was, she never checked her bag again...on a positive note, she learned to pack more efficiently. ;)

I bought a four-pack of AirTags and dropped one in each of my bags. I even have one in my carry-on in case someone takes off with it. If you have an iPhone like me, it's a no-brainer. They're easy to set up. You can always see where your bags are in the "Find My" app. The battery last over a year and can easily be replaced when needed. Found this 4-pack of AirTags on Amazon at a great price. Maybe not required for your travels, but, for me, the peace of mind it provides makes it so worthwhile!

Back in April,  I was on a "covert mission" to London for a couple of weeks. I'm hanging out in my safe house (AirBnB) the first night just relaxing and wanting to watch some TV. I found the hand full of BBC channels but of course I couldn't get to my favorite shows from back in the states...and on-demand? Forget about it! This made me more than frustrated. Maybe it was the jet lag, but, I couldn't see me living the next two weeks without my shows! Right then I bought a Firestick from Amazon and had it delivered to my hideaway the next day. There were some obstacles, of course. I ended up having to tether the device to my iPhone and use a VPN to get my programming, but, with a few extra steps and the presence of mind to pay for unlimited international data, I was in business. 

I'm not going to advocate for everyone to go to this extreme to watch TV while on vacation, but, if you're a TV junkie like me and have to have your YouTube favs running in the background as you fall asleep, this is a must-have! Easy enough to pack away in the carry-on. If you have it programmed ahead of time, you don't need to do anything other than plug it into the HDMI port on your vacation TV and configure the WiFi! I highly recommend the Amazon Firestick HD as a way to feel at home while roaming. 

A plug adapter is a MUST HAVE accessory while traveling internationally. But, I hate those sets that have a whole bunch of loose adapter plugs you need to keep up with. I always had trouble finding the one I needed and it only allowed you to adapt the US two-prong...what if i wanted to use USB or USB-C? Well I found a solution to all of my problems! 

The Ceptics World International Travel Plug Adapter supports EU, UK, Aus/US plugs and has type A, I, C and G output. This adapter also has 3 USB and 2 USB-C ports! It even has a fuse to protect against surges. I highly recommend this one. So do a lot of others...the Ceptics World International Travel Plug Adapter get's 4.7 stars with over 31,000 reviews on Amazon.com.