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SeV Travel Vest: A Wearable Carry-On Bag

by Alan Rider

It happens every Spring: The weather at your destination is a tad too warm for a coat, but not balmy enough that you feel comfortable traveling sans outerwear. My elegantly simple solution to this recurring dilemma? Scottevest’s Travel Vest.
Unlike similar vests that make you look like you just got off the bus from Dorkville, this thoughtfully-designed garment actually looks pretty stylish. In wearing it on dozens of trips over the past nine months, I’ve also found its combination of warmth and breathability kept me from both shivering and sweating.
The real beauty of this product, however, lies inside. As part of the company’s line of “technology-enabled clothing,” this [...]

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The BIG Picture: Website Offers Easy Way To Create 360-Degree Scrollable Panoramic Photos

by Alan Rider

As someone who’s had more than his fair share of truly extraordinary experiences, I can tell you virtually all of them share one recurring problem. Namely that they’re filled with amazing moments that typical digital photos just can’t do justice.
Which is why I found myself intrigued by the free browser-based digital photo app just introduced by the folks at Dermandar.com. While it’s still a work in progress, the website makes it ridiculously easy for even the least tech-savvy traveler to create surprisingly high-quality, full-screen scrollable panoramic images without the need for special cameras, tripods, or software.
Just shoot a series of pics with any digital camera—even the one in [...]

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Here & There: These New Gizmos Allow Travelers To Be In Two Places At Once

by Alan Rider

Physicists who study quantum theory tell us that, under certain circumstances, it’s actually possible for sub-atomic particles to be in two places at the same time. Until they’re able to scale this curious discovery up into a workable Star Trek-like teleportation device, however, I’m afraid we humans are stuck with our highly linear version of reality.

Fortunately, some smarty-pants techie-types have created two new products designed to offer ordinary travelers the next best thing to being both here and there at once:
LogMeIn Ignition is a handy application that allows iPhone and iPod Touch owners the ability to remotely access all the files on their home and work computers. Simply install the [...]

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Sailing Through Airport Security: 2 Great Sources For Travel-Size Products

by Alan Rider

Going through the TSA security checkpoint in San Diego a couple of weeks ago, I ended up in line behind a tres chic young woman who began giving the screeners a heaping helping of attitude after they politely pointed out that she couldn’t carry-on the four full-size containers of shampoo, hair gel, and whatnot they’d extracted from her over-stuffed roll-aboard suitcase.
If this were an isolated incident, it probably wouldn’t even be worth mentioning. But, as someone who flies 100,000-plus a year, I can tell you it’s something I see all the time. Honestly, it’s a mystery to me that there could still be folks out there who haven’t gotten the [...]

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Experience This!

by Alan Rider

Just read a great interview with one of my heroes, Blue Highways author William Least Heat Moon. A man responsible for my long-held belief that it’s not the destination but the experience that really matters. And the more extraordinary that experience the better.
While I’ve collected a fair number of extraordinary experiences both here and on the pages of XTRORD.com, I’m well aware there are lots more of these truly remarkable once-in-a-lifetime adventures out there waiting to be discovered.
Which is why I’ve been geeking out on a handful of new adventure travel books. While all of them tend to focus on destinations rather than experiences to some degree, read between the [...]

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Rock Band, Only For Real

by Alan Rider

Some songs are timeless. Like, oh, say the entire Beatles catalog, for example. Which makes next Wednesday a big day, for reasons that go beyond the numerology implications of its unique 09/09/09 date.
First, it’s the day the folks at Capitol/EMI release the first digitally-remastered versions of all 12 of the Beatles studio albums in 22 years. A team of engineers at London’s Abbey Road Studios spent four years reworking the albums using a combination of the latest technology and vintage equipment to create what promises to be unparalleled sound quality that faithfully reproduces the original analog recordings.
Not coincidentally, next Wednesday also marks the long anticipated release of The Beatles: Rock [...]

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Going "Postal"?

by Alan Rider

Look, I spend a lot of time online and like drooling over the latest high-tech toys as much as the next guy. But I also realize that there are an awful lot of stubbornly low-tech folks out there who remain convinced this whole email thing is just another passing fad.
Which is precisely what makes this new goPostal iPhone application so cool. Once you download the free app from the iTunes Store, you’ll be able to shoot photos with your iPhone’s built-in camera, add your personal message and an address, and send the image as an actual full-color postcard via good old-fashioned snail mail. If you don’t have an iPhone yet, [...]

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