Gifts for travelers

by Charlie Leocha

Buying Christmas presents for travelers is an art. The gifts need to be compact, light, easily packed and designed to make travel easier and more comfortable. Here are some suggestions for the road warrior or serial traveler on your list - and they are all just a store or a few clicks of your mouse away.

Technology: sound and directions

* Noise-canceling in-ear headphones provide good sound quality with none of the bulk of most other noise-canceling earphones. Last year I reviewed the Bose Quiet Comfort 3 earphones. I love them. The only problem is their bulk. They take up a lot of space in my briefcase or carry-on luggage. A pilot friend showed me a pair of Sony noise-canceling ear buds that he carries in his pocket. He swore by them. They slip into your ear like earplugs providing noise cancellation on their own without high-tech circuitry. My favorites are the Phillips Model SHN750 (list price $100) and a close second is the Sony Model MDR-NC22 (list price $100). The Phillips model can hang around your neck on a lanyard and has a volume control not found on the Sony model. The Sony model sports a “monitor” button that allows users to hear ambient noise like flight attendant announcements. Neither is good for use while jogging or on windy days outside — they are best for use at home or in an airplane - but both work as normal earphones even when the noise cancellation feature is turned off.

* MUJI Foldable Cardboard iPod Speakers ($42, or $37.80 for MoMA members; www.momastore.com) are perfect for music lovers on the move who can’t live without their favorite playlists. Don’t expect high fidelity, but the sound is acceptable. The speakers weigh only a few ounces, are almost unbreakable and slip easily into your briefcase or suitcase. After folding and assembling the speakers a few times, the cardboard tabs take a beating, but a rubber band or piece of tape takes care of the problem. Take the speakers out of their pouch, unfold them, plug them into your iPod and voila, it’s party time with your favorite music as long as the conversation doesn’t get too loud.

* As the proud owner of an iPhone, I have been craving a good set of earphones to replace the ear buds that come with the phone. After spending time with Apple Store representatives and reading reviews, I selected the V-Moda VIBE Duo Headphones ($99.99). I couldn’t be happier. These earphones are totally compatible with the iPhone, the sound drivers are excellent, and the inline microphone is better than the built-in mike on my iPhone. I’m told that these earphones are compatible with the emerging smartphone from BlackBerry and the coming T-Mobile Sidekick 4 as well.

* My favorite car companions are GPS units from Garmin (www.garmin.com). I’ve been testing the NÃ¼vi 660 (Retail, $750; street price, $550-$600). It seems to do everything but dance. I can use Bluetooth to speak on the phone, consult Fodor’s guides online (www.fodors.com) for local attractions, steer clear of traffic thanks to warnings about construction and tie-ups, and find nearby merchants that are currently offering deals. The mapping feature is still sketchy in Europe - I couldn’t find ski resorts in the database - but between big cities it worked fine. In North America, directions are perfect. However, when all is said and done, I still like my older, simpler, baseball-sized, Garmin StreetPilot ($259 on Amazon.com), without so many bells and whistles, just as much.

The better to see with

* Surprisingly, fold-up opera glasses make a perfect gift for travelers. After living in Europe for decades and traveling around the world, I carry opera glasses with me all the time. They are perfect for looking at frescoes on church ceilings, checking out the architectural detail on the Chrysler Building, peering at gargoyles on cathedral roofs — you get the idea. I’m still using an old pair of opera glasses that my parents once used to watch opera at the San Carlo Opera House in Naples, Italy. But far more convenient are a folding pair made by Vixen Optics. They are available online at plenty of stores for around $20.

Games and diversions

* “History Happened Here” — flashcards about America’s historic landmarks ($22.95, Kaplan Publishing) — is a tough trivia exam for travelers. Six hundred flash cards test travelers with questions like: What D.C. monument weighs 90,954 tons and stands 555 feet tall? Which military service academy is located in Colorado Springs? Which historic home boasts the first pool ever built in Key West? (Answers: Washington Monument, Air Force Academy and Hemingway House.) Those are the easy questions. Try this one: What city grew out of the discovery of the Comstock Lode in 1859? Give up? Virginia City, Nevada.

* If you have kids between the ages of 3 and 7, you already know that nothing keeps them engaged during long trips more than talking about themselves. Every time I pull this book out of the glove compartment, the fighting and yelling in the back seat stops and youngsters get ready to answer questions. “Getting to Know Kids in Your Life” by Jeannie McSweeney and Charles Leocha (yours truly) is filled with interactive questions and activities to really get to know children. Order it from Amazon. For $6.95 it makes a perfect stocking stuffer for any parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle or teacher you know. The questions make time fly by on long car trips or during airport delays. They also help you bond and converse with any kids in your life, and that’s a gift in itself.

Camera accessories

I am a devotee of the self-timer and automatic-exposure functions of most compact digital cameras. The only problem is steadying the camera for long exposures. Professionals use a tripod, but we travelers rarely carry one. After all, the advantage of compact cameras is the ability to carry them in our pocket or purse. Here are three compact solutions to hold your camera, followed by a gift for narcissists.

* The Pod (from $14.99; www.thepod.ca) is an ingenious beanbag that can be scrunched up to support a camera perched on the edge of a pew in a dimly lit church or on a glass in a candlelit restaurant for great long-exposure shots. The camera can be secured to The Pod by a bolt or by Velcro. I found the beanbag to be too full for my liking, so I opened the Velcro closure, spilled out some of the beans and resealed it. Now it is perfect and will balance my camera on a handrail. When I don’t need The Pod, I stick it in my coat pocket. Magic! The Pod is made in different sizes for different cameras.

* The Gorillapod Tripod ($25; www.momastore.com and many other retailers) is an ingenious tripod made of some kind of Gumby-esque space-age pipe cleaners. The rubberized legs twist so that photos can be set up from any surface; for example, the tripod can be wrapped around a branch or hung from a railing. The smallest one, good for compact digital cameras, scrunches up so it will fit in a coat pocket. Joby (www.joby.com), the manufacturer, also makes tripods that will handle larger SLR and video cameras.

* Millipod ($24.95; www.goalsayson.com) attaches to the bottom of a digital camera and has three legs that flip out to form a tripod. On a relatively flat surface it works fine. One leg is adjustable, but the design allows only horizontal shots and adds bulk to the camera.

* We’ve all tried (or have seen others trying) to take pictures of ourselves by holding the camera out in front of us and clicking the shutter. It is hit or miss at best and normally ends up with a blurry close-up of your nose. Our arms are just not quite long enough. Xshot ($24.95; www.Xshotpix.com), a superlight telescoping rod with a camera adapter, solves this problem. Now self-portraits are easier than ever for anyone shooting with a small compact digital camera with a self-timer. Narcissists, rejoice.

Luggage accessories

* Skooba Designs, manufactures of backpacks and laptop cases, is selling the Superbungee Strap ($26; www.skoobadesign.com) as an upgrade for anyone’s current computer bag. We do get attached to our tried-and-true computer bags; once we find the best pockets for things like adaptors, transformers, hard drives, connection cords and earphones in the computer bag, it’s hard to change. Skooba’s Superbungee Strap allows you to keep the bag and add a state-of-the-art strap to make slinging it over your shoulder more comfortable and bouncier than ever. An integrated bungee cord provides the elasticity and good padding provides comfort.

Computer bags

* Selecting a computer bag is a personal decision, but I’m always looking for something special — OK, a gimmick — that will make one bag a bit more interesting than the other. The Solo Shock Stop Laptop Case ($107, often discounted; www.solocases.com) uses a plastic-encased spring to reduce the shock transferred to your computer when you roll your bag over curbs, down steps and through airports. I can report conclusively that if one were to drag this bag bouncing down a flight of stairs, the “shock stop” technology will be of little help, but it looks good. More than a dozen pockets provide plenty of spots to tuck computer peripherals and office supplies.

Clothing accessories

* The V. Fraas Organic bNatural Collection ($30-$80, at fine clothing shops) is perfect for any traveler. The scarves in this collection, created from chemical-free cotton and bamboo, are warm, light, take up almost no space, and add a subtle spark of style — and the soft, natural tones mix with almost every outfit. This German company has long been a fashion leader and now steps into the forefront of natural fibers.

* For me, one of the most important criteria for accessories carried for travel is the ability to use them in multiple roles. Grandoe’s CirÃ© Elite Gloves ($110, at fine clothing shops) fill that requirement perfectly. These chic gloves are family-made in appropriately named Gloversville, New York. The soft cashmere glove liners can be used when the weather is getting nippy; later, when the temperatures drop, add the soft leather shells for warmth and elegance.