Tifosi Torrent Photochromatic Sunglasses

A while back I reviewed a pair of Vogel sunglasses from Tifosi and they have become my go-to glasses for everyday wear. This Tifosi Torrent model though is the pair I pull out when it's time to go for a bike ride or a hike.

They're photochromatic, which means they'll adjust to the brightness and become darker as needed. So if you're going from indoors to outdoors and shade to sunlight, the glasses will adjust to the conditions. As always, that means they don't get as dark as standard sunglasses, but to me that's a fair trade-off and they're "dark enough" for most situations.

As with most wrap glasses, they curve a bit around the eye to block out more harmful rays and fit snugly without moving around. (One drawback: if you have long eyelashes they might rub against the lens.) These Torrent glasses go beyond in two ways though. First, the nosepiece actually gets tackier when wet, so if you're sweaty or it starts drizzling the sunglasses don't slide off your nose.

Second, they have a small vent in the top corner of each end to let air flow through. This might sound like a gimmick, but in my tests it made a difference. I usually start getting tears in the corners of my eyes if I'm skiing or coming down a hill fast on a bike from the wind, but with these on it doesn't seem to happen.

These sunglasses come with a hard zippered case that has a pocket on the inside, plus a soft carrying pouch that doubles as a lens cleaner. At a retail price of $60, these shades deliver at a high level for the price. (The polarized versions are $90.) And hey, they let you see the world through rose-colored glasses...

Get the Tifosi Torrent FC Photochromic Sunglasses at REI

See more at the Tifosi Optics website.

Comfy TravelRest Travel Pillow

I always carried an inflatable travel pillow with me when I was backpacking around the world and there are times I still use one on a stingy airline with no pillows. There are basic flaws in the two main types though: the basic pillow-shaped ones and the C-shaped ones that go around your neck. Neither is all that flexible in terms of how you can use it and where it will fit when you're in a cramped coach seat.

I've been testing this new TravelRest inflatable pillow from HiGear Design and as is often the case, a slight change in outlook has made a huge difference. By reimagining the shape and design of a travel pillow, this company has turned out something that looks strange but works really well.

Deflated, it rolls up into a small and light package about the size of a pair of tube socks. A snap keeps it from unraveling. You can even snap it to the outside of your carry-on bag for easy removal on the plane.

Once you're ready to use it, a few puffs into the valve gets it ready. What you're holding looks like an oversized quotation mark, one that can be used in several ways. The attached cinch line allows the TravelRest pillow to attach to the back of your seat and stay in place when your head starts lolling around. You can snap the bottom of it to your seatbelt to keep it more secure. If you're stuck in the airport, you can just sling it over your shoulder, hug it like a Teddy bear, and snooze for a while during your delay. (Don't be surprised if you start dreaming of your childhood bedroom...)

This pillow is also handy in the car. It can attach to the headrest and seatbelt for a nice nap during a long car ride---especially good for kids who have to be stuck in a car seat for hours on end. It's easy to wash after someone drools on it too.

The TravelRest pillow lists for $27 and you can buy it direct from their site or in some luggage stores.

Casio Wave Ceptor Atomic Solar Watch

Nuclear and solar live together in harmony with the Casio Wave Ceptor watch. No, there's not a nuclear reactor on your wrist, just updates from the official atomic clock. This means once you set your time zone, you never have to reset the watch until you travel. When you do travel, just pick a different city and you'll continually have the perfect time again. Always.

The solar part eliminates one of my pet peeves---having to constantly shell out money and spend time getting watch batteries replaced. With this Casio model, the sun keeps it running and it doesn't take all that much exposure either: it will run five months on a full charge before you'll start getting a warning icon telling you to get out of your cave. (If you live in an Arctic zone and it's winter, a lamp will do the job.)

I've been using this watch for a week and a half now and once I got past the biggest drawback, I've been loving it. The drawback was the steel quick-clasp watchband. It looks nice, it's comfortable, but it's definitely not one size fits all. So when it came sized for a sumo wrestler's wrist, I opened the manual to find out how to adjust the band. Just one problem: there's nothing in the manual on how to do that. Or on the Casio website. So you're on your own.

After some serious Googling, rooting around for my precision screwdrivers, then wrestling with the band under a bright light, I finally got it to fit. I guess the manufacturer figures the watch store will take care of all that for you, but if you buy it as a gift or get it online, be prepared to invest some time learning and poking. Pictured here are the "missing links" that I guess I should just toss.

But the watch itself has a lot of nice features and is carefree once it's set up. This model has a regular hands and a second hand, then the day and date are displayed digitally. There's a stopwatch and an alarm function if you dive into the manual more. The Wave Ceptor is water resistant to 100 meters and has luminous hands that glow in the dark. Get the full specs on Casio's Wave Ceptor site, where you can see the women's model too.

At a list price of $120 (and usually retailing for $100 or less), this watch looks and functions far above its pay grade. You might have to search around to get the particular model you want though. When I tried the "where to buy" section of the website for my million-person city I got a message of "I'm sorry there were no results that match your request." I didn't think a Casio watch would be all that hard to find, but you can definitely get this model online at Amazon.

Nomad Travel Journals

On my three round-the-world journeys, I was an avid travel journal keeper. I still get a kick out of going back and reading these journals and they come in handy when I'm trying to recall the name of a particular place or what year it was exactly that I was in Bukkatingi. And was that hotel room with a view in Jaisalmer really only a buck a night? (Answer--yes.)

While some would argue that personal travel blogs online are more interesting because of the visual element, they're certainly not as convenient. With a paper-based journal you can be at the top of a mountain or writing by candlelight, no outlet or gadget required. A journal does not need to be booted up, recharged, or repaired and when do you not have access to a pencil or pen?

These Nomad Adventure Journals want to put a little structure into your spiral-bound notebook or Moleskin habits though, keeping your writing protected. The two elements are a case and a printed notebook inside. The case I tried out was zippered "weatherproof" nylon. It's rugged and feels nice in the hand, with the dimensions of a thin guidebook. There's a pocket inside for notes, ticket stubs, or receipts. There's also a fancier leather version for a couple bucks more.

The type of journal inside is up to you. The one I tried is a little too organized for my tastes, with a separate page for each day of the journey and blanks to fill in for "recommended maps," a "tick list" of what to do and see every day, "most memorable daily event," "weather conditions," and more. If you're the type that loves packing cubes and carries a map every step of the way in a new city, then this is probably a good fit. Others who are less concerned about structure can go for a blank version.

There are different journals for different situations though and some fit a nice niche. There's a live music/festival journal that has spaces for the band you saw, set lists, and people you met. The birdwatching edition looks like it would be really handy if you're into that since it's a passion all about ticking boxes and recording notes. Others are journals for fishing, hiking, climbing, and wine tasting, with a waterproof version for rafting and kayaking.

That last one is $8.50 but a new package for the others runs $27 to $29. Then the replacement journals are $15 each. If you like to record your experiences but would like something with more structure and durability, check out the options at the Nomad Journals site.

Be Seen at Night With Illuminite Clothing

I've been wandering the streets of my neighborhood at night this past week wearing black, but I have not been hard to see. No, it's not a tease from the Riddler, it's reflective clothing from IllumiNITE.

There's nothing new about reflective clothing of course. Highway workers have donned it for decades and every night I see someone jogging around with some kind of reflective orange vest on. This line of clothing is different though: it actually looks good. There are no random stripes of tape or big logos that might as well say "Look at me, I'm a runner!"

This clothing is cool because the designers looked at things from a different angle. The reflective parts are around the outside of your body instead of the middle of your chest and back, so everyone behind the wheel can recognize that you are a moving human and not a road sign. Plus the reflective part is built into the design instead of being an obvious add-on. There are solid sections that look normal by day but act like a collection of tiny mirrors at night, or dots that just appear to be normal design elements until the headlights hit them. You may feel like a superhero getting ready to save the world when you put on one of these pieces, but you won't feel like a dork.

I've been trying out a illumiNITE thermaGARD Early Riser fleece (pictured here). It performs as it should and then some. Nice locking zippers, a comfy fleece liner, a good fit, and a sleeve pocket for a (small) MP3 player. It's lightweight, breathable, wicking, and downright cozy.

When I've not been wondering what's wrong with the caps lock on the keyboards in their marketing department, I've been thinking of how useful this would be as the go-to fleece on a long trip. It may, for example, reduce the number of times you are almost run over by a tuk-tuk in Thailand or an auto rickshaw in India. It would be good for nighttime walking along the street in Latin American cities, where the sidewalks are only about as wide as your two shoes. It would be good for one of those "we will leave camp at 3 a.m." hiking trips where you're trying to keep track of each other with voices and flashlights.


So, while this stuff is mainly marketed to cyclists and runners, it might make you safer as you travel the world as well -- while still keeping you looking good. They make waterproof jackets, caps, t-shirts, and much more. You can get the background and specs on the illuminate.com website, but considering they have "See our 2007 collection" on the front page and it's mid-October of '08 as I write this, you should go elsewhere to buy the latest models.

Click on that women's jacket to the left or here to go to REI, where there's a big selection in lots of colors and styles.

Or you can find this line in a lot of good retail shops catering to cyclists.

Classy Money Belt and Money Sock

It's important to keep your cash tucked away when you travel. You should assume that there is always someone around wanting to separate you from your money. After all, people even get pickpocketed in the Vatican on a regular basis.

Many money belts and pouches out there are suited better to backpackers and adventure travelers though than to someone trying to do business abroad. I take the Eagle Creek All Terrain money belt I reviewed earlier with me on almost every trip and like it, but it requires dressing down, not up.

The leather belt from the National Geographic Store pictured here is a different story. You'll have to cough up $48 for it (click the picture to check it out), but it'll work with a pair of dress pants or a pair of jeans equally well. Magellan's sells a similar leather money belt for around $30, with both coming in black or brown and a range of sizes. The descriptions say you can stuff $1,500 in one of these, but I'm not sure why anyone would need to carry that much cash around and if you only put in one layer of bills they hold 5 hundreds.


I also like these money socks because it takes the old idea of hiding money in your shoe and makes it simpler and cleaner. You have to buy these in sets of three for $30, and they're really nothing special in terms of the socks themselves, but an extra layer of protection. There's a zippered pouch at the top of the sock and it's big enough to hold your credit card(s) as well. Alas, you'd better have normal feet: one size fits all. These also require being in a place where you're going to wear pants all the time, so no dresses/flats or shorts and flip-flops.

The Travel Gear Bargain Bin

When I go through either of my local travel gear retail stores, I'm underwhelmed by the clearance rack. No matter what time of year it is, I never seem to find the kind of "Make room for new inventory!" screaming bargains that you find at a mall clothing store, T.J. Maxx, or Kohl's.

Apparently the strategy is to ship that stuff back to the warehouse and then offer it online, because that's where the real deals are. With the economy in the crapper and people definitely not in a free-spending mood, the overstocks runneth over. Here are a few places to find last year's model on the cheap.

At Overstock.com, the site name fits the inventory. If somebody else couldn't sell it or a company went on the auction block, Overstock buys the items in bulk on the cheap and then sells them well below retail. It's a crap shoot with some types of travel gear, but you'll always find loads of electronics and camping gear. Sample deals in the clearance bin: women's MIA holiday sandals for $15, a Kodak 5MP Easyshare camera for $74.


REI Outlet is the purgatory where their retail goodies apparently go after they collected dust on the sales floor. Here you know you're going to get quality brand name gear, but at a sizable discount. Sample deals: REI Alpine Plus travel backpack for $50, Smith Axis sunglasses for $45, a whole slew of SmartWool hiking socks for $6 a pair.


Backcountry.com is never shy about marking items down and getting them out the door. I've posted before about their Steep and Cheap daily deal that you can receive by RSS stream. The Backcountry Outlet is a treasure trove of deals though, especially in the fall or spring when there's a seasonal switch. This is the best place to go for skiwear and high altitude hiking gear. Backcountryoutlet.com Clearance Bin - at least 50% off. You usually get free shipping if you order more than 50 bucks worth of stuff. Sample deals: men's ExOfficio long sleeve Buzz Off shirt for $22, Vox skate shoes sneakers for $16, women's GoLite Echo jacket for $52.

Sierra Trading Post runs some sweet clearance deals and every time I need something simple where the brand doesn't matter much, that's where I go shopping. Check their Bargain Barn for clearance items that are marked down at least 50%. Sample deals: kid's Columbia snow pants for $30, Bolle sunglasses for $25, Pinnacle rolling carry-on for $54.

Campmor was slow to catch onto this whole Internet thingy, so their web site is still a bit of a pain to navigate. Their catalog is still a collection of line drawings and smeared ink on newsprint paper. But hey, it keeps the overhead down and they continually run some great closeout sales. Find the deals at their web bargains section of the site. Sample deals: Timex kid's sports watch for $8, LED tent light for $8, High Sierra Crush Sling daypack for $23.


If you're in the U.K., try Wild Day for gear deals, but they're going to make you work for it. There's no dedicated closeout section on the site, so you have to troll through the regular gear categories. Sample deals: Coleman 6-person tent £120, Travel Essentials package (great gift idea) £8, Reef Persueder leather sandals £14.

Happy hunting!

Quality Photo Book from Eurobook

Putting together a collection of photos in a EuroBook from dotPhoto is like working with anything else that boasts of "German engineering." A lousy interface and a steep learning curve, but an impressive end product once you figure it all out.

I have put photo books together before through Kodak Gallery and Shutterfly and have been quite happy with the results. So when someone from dotPhoto asked me to try out Eurobook, I was glad to give it a shot.

The experience did not start off well. First, you have to download their proprietary software to your computer in order to get started---no web interface option available. You would think that would speed things up, but it doesn't. I found each step to be far slower than the ones I've encountered with the other companies I've used. I eventually grabbed a magazine to read while listening to my PC grind away. All in all it took me close to three hours to complete the book, counting one false start I had to scrap.

All the coding creativity went into the back end of the software, apparently, as the interface involves a lot of pop-up windows and almost useless help menus. Then you basically have to cede total control to its design wizard unless you just pop in photos where you want, which defeats the purpose of using software that resides on your computer.

So why go through all this? Well, the design wizard is pretty cool IF you understand how it works. Its objective is to take a collection of photos you throw at it, with just a number of pages you pick and an average number of photos per page. Then the wizard does its work and lays out the pages itself in an attractive way, using some as background as well. Photos can fill a whole page and then have a small one inset, can spread across two pages, or can appear on a page with several others. In essence, you are saying, "Surprise me" and letting the software do its stuff.

When this works, it really works. When it doesn't, well, that was my first lesson. I selected a whole bunch of travel photos from different trips. What I ended up with was a mess. Argentina mixed with Mexico, Hungary mixed with Peru, and me looking five years younger in one shot than the photo next to it. So after all that effort going down the drain, I stuck to one part of one country---the Yucatan---and found a box that let me tell the wizard to put then in date order. Voila! I still had to go in and move and resize some things, but overall it looked great.


I then put in the order, specifying what kind of cover I wanted, and it arrived about a week and a half later from Germany. The price was around 50 bucks including shipping, which is in line with U.S.-based competitors' books that have a nice linen cover with a window. My book was 34 pages too, which is more than some online services will allow.

One corner got dinged in the shipping, but not badly. The overall quality inside was impressive. EuroBook has this claim on its site: "Most photo books are printed on 100 pound paper. dotPhoto EuroBooks are printed on 135 pound paper that resists tearing and lasts for generations."

Be prepared to set aside some time to put a book together, but if you want to take some of those digital photos sitting on your computer and make something lasting you can pass around or give as a gift, this is the most designer-looking option I've come across.

See more at the dotPhoto EuroBook site.

Portable Travel Bed for Babies

I almost never review something on this travel gear blog that I haven't used myself, but since my kid is 8 now and this is a bed for babies, well...

Friends of mine will soon have a new baby though and I've been looking around for a good travel-related present for them. I'm sold on this portable travel bed from Peapod. It's more of a tent than a bed, which makes it easier and lighter, plus it looks like it would be more fun for the tyke as well.

We used a pack-and-play set when my daughter was a baby, but it was really large and heavy. It just added to the incredible bulk of stuff you end up with when traveling with a little creature that only weighs ten pounds. This portable travel bed folds up to a manageable size (14"L x 5"W x 14"H) and it only weighs about 5 pounds for the smaller version.

There's a self-inflating (with a small included pump) air mattress at the bottom, lots of flaps to get to baby, and screens to let the air come through---just like a real tent. It comes in several colors and two basic sizes, so check the Peapod site to figure out which is best. Hint: if people commonly say to you, "Wow, that's a big baby," then you will probably want to go for the large one.

Almost anywhere you see customer reviews of this item, you see parents gushing about how great it is, so I feel very comfortable buying it sight unseen for my friends. You can find this portable travel bed for around $50-$70 at the likes of Target and Kohl's, or you can order it online from lots of outlets. Click here to get it at Amazon.

A Soybean Sweater?

This fall you can get a sweater made out of wool, cotton, alpaca, llama, or...soybeans?

I just spent some time in windy and chilly Iceland, staying warm with my Marker shell, Teko wool socks, and this strange Soy'r V Sweater from ExOfficio. It's made from 45% soybean, 45% wool, and then a bit of Nylon and Spandex.

What's it feel like? Well, like a nice sweater. Warm, comfy, and soft. It looks good too. Supposedly it's moisture wicking and odor resistant, though I was too cold to test those claims.

I'm never quite sure what to make of this eco-friendly clothing push in the travel gear world, but I usually view these items as a "why not?" choice. The eco-friendly tag is kind of symbolic and done for marketing purposes more than anything most of the time, but a sweater that's 90% biodegradable is certainly better than one that's not at all, even if it does require lots of carbon emissions in the manufacturing and shipping.

The problem with renewable eco-wear comes in when there's a sacrifice. In this case it's not in the comfort or performance, but in the washing. Here are the care instructions: "Dry clean or hand wash cold; No bleach; Dry flat; Iron low setting, no steam; Wash separately." Good god, is this a sweater or an antique bustier from the Renaissance?

Apparently "soy beans" and "washing machine" don't go together very well.

The Soy'r V sweater from ExOfficio comes in three colors and four sizes, listing for 80 bucks.

Organic Merino Wool Socks from Teko

I was just in chilly Iceland, where the weather seems to change every five minutes. My feet stayed toasty though in a new pair of merino wool socks from Teko.

The wool came from Argentine sheep, not Icelandic ones, but no matter. The key thing about these socks is that while they're high-performance and warm, this year's line is organic.

So what does that mean when we're talking about sheared sheep? Well, apparently the wool is from 20 farms in Argentina, ones which have been farming wool organically for years and have gotten all the right certifications. No pesticides, fertilizers, or herbicides used on the farms, plus the sheep are grazed on large pastures with no motorized vehicles are utilized.

The bucolic image is shattered when you think about all the petroleum then needed to get these socks from South America to North America and out to the stores, but hey, most of us don't have a sheep farm and a sock maker in our town. Be advised though that to make these performance socks and not something your grandma would make, they're far from "all natural." For most versions, around 80 percent is wool and the rest is the product of man's ingenuity: lycra, polyester, and nylon.

Teko tries to use recycled materials though, plus the Boulder-based company buys wind energy credits to offset their electricity use. The key thing is, these work as well and feel as nice as any socks processed with less care and concern, so why not?

The Teko line of merino wool socks comes in several styles, colors, and heights for men and women. You can get them at local gear stores, Campmor, Zappos, or at the links below.


Teko EcoMerino Wool Light Hiking Socks at REI


Search the whole Teko line at Backcountry.com