Useful Products for Travelers 2016: Clean Clothes and Water!

By Devinne Zadravec and Shannon Broderick

In today’s fast-paced, global world, our lives are more busy and hectic than ever. While the pace of our daily lives has greatly increased from the days of yesteryear, luckily, so too has technology expanded to make our crazy lives a little bit easier.

Off to a strong start and only one month in, 2016 promises to bring with it quite a few new cool and helpful devices for the global citizen. These new devices will make your daily to-and-fro just a tad bit simpler… and with all that time saved, it won’t be long before you’ve planned your next adventure.

Dreft Portable Stain Remover

This small but mighty stain remover is the perfect addition to your every packing list. At three fluid ounces, it is small enough to be packed in your carry on, and you won’t regret having brought it when you drop the Salsa Lizano on your shirt during your Costa Rican getaway, or spill a smidge of vino rosso on your Tuscan escape.

Dreft laundry stain remover works fast and is perfect for on the go mishaps. Despite its super strength, Dreft stain remover is also gentle enough to use on even infant and children’s bedding and clothing. Dreft Stain Remover, $6.49 3 oz travel size.

Homido Virtual Reality Headset for smartphones

This fun new phone accessory from Homido puts cutting-edge virtual reality quite literally, right at your fingertips.

The strange looking contraption clips right onto your smartphone screen, where you can use it to explore a series of”virtual reality” apps on your phone.

Resting your forehead in between the lenses, your smartphone is transformed into a three-dimensional world for you to explore with the tilt of your head! Homido mini headset

Mi-T Grip Handlebar Bike Mount for cell phones

For avid bikers and casual enthusiasts alike, the Mi-T Grip Handlebar bike mount is a great accessory for the modern day traveler.

The mount slips onto your handlebars and provides a safe and sturdy grip to store your cell phone on your rides. The mount fits most any size smartphone, and the silicon lined grip ensures that it won’t slip out as you bump and cruise along.

While it’s never a good idea to operate a cell phone while riding, the Mi-T grip mount makes it easy to run apps like Map My Ride and track your progress along the way. Mi-T Grip for bikes  $29.99

The Airhook 

If you enjoy watching movies or TV shows during long flights on an iPad or similarly styled tablet, check out the Airhook.

The device holds your tablet or device to the back of the seat in front of you so that you can watch your shows in comfort. Simply attach the Airhook to the tray table, which is in upright position, and slide your device into the perch. There’s also a cup-holder to hold your drink.

The Airhook is particularly good for traveling with small children–it keeps little ones entertained, hands-free, which means no sticky fingers on your iPad. However, otherwise, it doesn’t seem to be very useful.

The only reason GoNOMAD didn’t use this on their last trip was that they don’t have any movies to watch and don’t want to carry the sample around for the entire trip. But for those with a bigger suitcase, this might be a useful gadget.

The Airhook  $24.95

Lifestar iPhone cables

Traveling has been revolutionized with the invention of smartphones. Train tickets, maps, apps, and hotel bookings are all available at our fingertips–provided that your phone hasn’t died, that is.

Lifestar CableLifestar is a phone-charging cord that goes the extra mile. With its braided leather exterior, it’s a rugged design that packs a punch–it has a lifetime warranty, which means that this just might be the last cord you’ll ever buy. And with 2.4 Amps for full speed charges, it will certainly deliver. Why not have a classy version of something everyone needs, right? These are made in beautiful colorful designs. Very cool.

Lifestar–Apple Certified Handcrafted Designer Cable

Aquazinger

It’s recommended that you should drink eight glasses–64 oz.–of water a day, but sometimes it’s hard to drink so much of something so flavorless.

The Spanish have come up with an alternative–Aguas frescos–where they infuse water with fruits, vegetables, herbs and other flavor elements. With the Aquazinger, spicing up your water with these all-natural additives has never been easier. There’s a separate chamber at the bottom of the water bottle with small blades.

Aquazinger

Put your cucumber, lemon, berries, or other infusions of choice into the chamber and twist–the blades will grind the fruits and release the flavor. The Aquazinger comes complete with a list of suggested additives, meaning that you can put a new twist on your daily intake of H2O.

Aquazinger $24.95

BottleKeeper

The unseasonably warm weather means that Barbeque season is just around the corner–and with barbeques comes beer. But while warm weather is ideal for picnics in the park, it’s not great for beer, which, when left in the sun, will quickly turn lukewarm and undrinkable.

While the BottleKeeper looks like a regular metal water bottle, it’s anything but. Its brushed silver exterior is a facade–it’s really a glorified beer cozy. Remove the cap and base, insert your favorite brewski, and screw both back on–voila, cold beers for the rest of the day.

When a group of moms watching a soccer game near GoNOMAD’s New England headquarters heard about this, they all wanted one. It’s great for a little brewski or white wine while watching the soccer game or practice!

The BottleKeeper’s cap also has an adjustable range, to accommodate different bottle heights–so whether you’re drinking a Newcastle or Corona, it will fit in this handy device.

The BottleKeeper $19.95

The Grayl Trail Waterbottle

When you travel off the beaten path, whether into the backwoods or a more undeveloped country, there’s a chance that the water is not safe for you to drink.

The Grayl is one of the simplest water purification systems on the market. It’s a sleek, simple water bottle with a bottom chamber that acts as a filter. Fill up the water bottle anywhere, be it stream or sink, press the purifier down firmly for a mere 15 seconds, and say goodbye to Montezuma’s Revenge.

GRAYL Quest Trail Waterbottle $52.99

TrackR Bravo 

How many times have you been late for a meeting or appointment because you can’t seem to find your keys, or phone, or wallet? It happens to everyone, but it certainly is annoying.

The founders of TrackR bravo envisioned a device that would keep track of their necessary possessions after they locked themselves out of their car in 2011. The result was a small attachable disk, linked with an app on your phone. If you can’t find something, it will “beep” until you can recover it–and if you’ve left it somewhere, the distance indicator will let you know exactly where.

This device would be particularly useful if you’ve been pickpocketed–but even if you just leave your hotel keys at the cafe down the street, you can find your belongings quickly and easily without having to spend hours retracing your steps.

GoNOMAD had trouble getting the sample unit to test, so we can’t yet vouch for this unit, but we do love our other similar trackers such as the Tile.

TrackR bravo $49