Blog — Trip Styler

Travel Apps :: My TSA

My TSA travel appCan I bring batteries on a plane? Yes, 'dry' batteries are allowed in your checked or carry-on luggage. Can I bring a wrapped gift for the friend I'm visiting? No. How do I know the answers to these questions? ...By downloading the US Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) mobile app! Created to quickly and efficiently answer the TSA's 'regular' traveler questions, this app can tell you what you can and can't bring on board an airplane via lists or search, airport status', security wait times and a few travel tips to boot.

This app would have come in very handy last month when my husband and I arrived at the Seattle airport with minutes---okay seconds---to spare before boarding our flight to Maui for our Tropical {weekend} Experiment. Knowing the security line-up's wait time would have been a plus as far as whether to run or walk through the airport.

If you ever travel from, within or via a US airport, downloading this app is highly recommended. Also, many of the rules are similar in Canada, so it's also a great resource for flights within Canada as well as international travel.

Details

  • Free
  • Available for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
  • Retrieving the same info as presented in the app can be done on Android and Blackberry via TSA's mobile site

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Other Travel Apps we’ve Reviewed

Best Photobooks for Travel Memories

best photobooks for travel photography Editor's Note: For today's post I've asked photographer extraordinaire, Melia Sorenson to suggest her top picks for travel photobooks. Melia is a shutterbug legend shooting everything from landscapes to wedding bells. See her bio below.

An Obvious Solution In the age of digital photography, there is little need for the traditional 4x6” ‘proofs’ passed around in the days of film. We have Facebook and Flickr; but, for a particularly important collection of images, like those from our overseas adventures, which deserve to outlive a random hard drive failure or account deletion, web-based self-publishing companies are the obvious solution.

Quality for Price DIY photobook quality can be remarkable for the price point—often indistinguishable from ‘coffee table’ picture books from a book store. The online publisher will provide you with free, easy to use software for you to custom design your book. Most will allow for text or captions to compliment your photos in a variety of fonts and formats.

Ease I for one do not relish the adoption of new software, but this is simplicity even by my standards. Once your book is finished it will go into a virtual bookstore with its own identifying link so that you may share the electronic form with family and friends who may also wish to order a copy directly from the site.

Photobooks The companies with which I have the most experience are MyPublisher and Photobook Canada, but Blurb is also extremely popular. Here is a detailed review of these books, as well as others.

melia lucida photographyBio Melia holds a bachelor of fine arts from Emily Carr University. She is a Vancouver wedding photographer by summer and world traveler by winter. Recent work, including travel images, may be viewed on her blog.

[photos by melia]

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Travel Trappings :: Cruising

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cruising essentials[trip style = cruising]

Whether you're going on an intimate voyage to small isles or jumping on board a behemoth ship like Norwegian's Epic or Royal Caribbean's almost-launched Allure of the Seas, here are a few cruising essentials you may not have considered, aside from the regular suspects like hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, etc....

Cruising Essentials Hydrate Cruising the Caribbean can get hot and balmy, so regular hydration is your friend. Since the water from the tap in your cabin is gross, bring a reusable water bottle to stock up on the filtered water elsewhere on the ship. {Cost: $19.72}

Walk and Talk Although Royal Caribbean has developed an iphone app allowing families to communicate while on board, a pair of walkie-talkies will do the trick as well. {Cost: $19.99}

Cup o Joe Sometimes you want to bring your coffee to-go. Forget using multiple paper mugs from the ship's cafe, now you can bring your joe anywhere on board or off the ship responsibly, and keep it steamy at the same time. {Cost: $11}

Stylish Warmth This lightweight shawl will keep you warm when wind is blowing, or night temperatures drop, so you can enjoy a starry, romantic stroll along the top deck. {Cost: $295}

Bring It Use this perfectly sized, collapsable tote as a carry-on, pool bag, beach bag or carry-all while on your ocean voyage. And do it stylishly. {Cost: $198}

The Multitasker When you first arrive on board, it can take from 20 mins to 2 hours to get your luggage, and who wants to wait around for that? Assuming your bathing suit is packed in your tote, wear this oversized top on to the ship with leggings, slip on your suit and wear it again as a cover-up. Sailor stripes are a bonus. {Cost: $176}

PS - Zip loc bags can come in very handy while cruising. Among their uses, bring only necessary cash or credit cards with you into port, and if you don't want to leave your valuables on the beach, remove the air and stuff the bag and its contents into 'a secure' place in your bathing suit....

Related Content Reposition Me Royal Caribbean + DreamWorks = Smart Cruisin' with the Fam

5 Ways to Get the Best Hotel Room

How to get the best hotel roomSecuring the Best Room Garden or mountain view? Regular room or Jr. suite. Suite or Deluxe suite?  From a consumer point a view there are only a few room categories, but from a hotel or resort point of view, there can be 20+ categories with discrepancies as small as a tree partially blocking a view, the floor or the breadth of bathroom amenities provided.

Obviously, we all like an upgrade or want the best room room within our category. Here are 5 tips to help you secure a higher room category without paying for it!

5 Hotel & Resort Check-in Strategies Call ahead Calling ahead is a triple-threat. A) it confirms your reservation, B) it introduces you to the hotel and C) it gives you an opportunity to make any special requests in advance, so the hotel isn't scrambling to accommodate the day you check-in.

Look nice I hate to say it, but play the part. Hotel room assignments beyond your initially booked category are subjective, completely at the mercy of the staff member checking you in and occupancy rates. Because hotels want the floors with nicer rooms filled with people who 'look the part,' do the 'math' for them.

Arrive early Even though your room *may* not be ready until the standard 3pm check-in time, I've been able to get a room as early as 8am depending on the hotel's occupancy. Moreover, arriving earlier allows you to 'get in there' before the room roulette begins as the masses check-in!

Power of suggestion Even with a loyalty program membership, sometimes check-in staff don't see the full snapshot of your loyalty or recent activity, therefore, it's important to gently and nicely remind them of your allegiance and how often you've stayed with them or a partner hotel.

If all else fails There have been lots of times I haven't been upgraded. 99% of the time it doesn't bother me, but if you get to your room and die a little inside, say something! Put on your PR hat, take your bags to the font desk and ask for different room. Usually the hotel will oblige if they aren't fully booked, especially if you provide a good reason.

A Personal Story I have many stories of being upgraded or not, but one that illustrates a few of the above points comes from a stay at the Mariott Wailea. I booked the property through Priceline, so knew I wasn't going to get a room with a million dollar view. Knowing that within the lower room categories, there are rooms with NO view, and those with partial views, I gently asked if there was an opportunity to stay in the best room within the category set.  The resort obliged and we had a 5th-floor ocean view for $120/night.  Not too shabby for Wailea, Maui.

PS - Remembrance day is a National Canadian holiday observed every November 11th, as such, there will be no content published tomorrow. Stay tuned for Travel Trappings :: Cruising on Friday.

Related Content It Never Hurts to Ask :: Speaking up in your travels

[photo: mine]

Travel Apps :: Travel Yoga

travel yoga reviewFinding your zen while traveling just got a whole lot easier. This list of travel stretches for planes, trains and automobiles can be done discreetly while in aisle 3, seat 4, or in the comfort of your hotel room. No need to worry about doing downward dogs in the middle of the airport... All tied to a specific travel challenge, the 50+ yoga stretches help to ease the rigors of trip-ing abroad. For example, for terminal tranquility do the flight-got-bumped rag doll stretch, or the sitting-in-a-plane-seat crossed leg twist.

I don't normally like to pay for travel apps, but the stretching reminders and associated mental and physical benefits this app affords are worth it (to me) at $0.99.

Details

  • Free
  • Available for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
  • Although this specific app isn't available for Blackberry, here's a similar one: Travel Yoga
  • Choose from multiple stretches to find the right combination for your body's needs

— Get more travel tips and updates like this by subscribing to RSS or email. —

Other Travel Apps we’ve Reviewed