One of the top things that can help your travel experience–noise canceling headphones. They can block out the poor screaming kid behind you, make your music or movie sound better, and make it feel (just a little bit) like you’re all alone and not on a plane with 150 other people.  Earlier this year when I flew to Tokyo from Dallas (11 hour flight) I turned on the white noise app on my iPhone and put the headphones on (they give them to you in business class) and slept pretty well.

I had a great pair of Logitech noise canceling headphones when I first started my job four years ago. Of course, they, along with my iPod, were stolen two years ago. Sigh. I am now ready to bite the bullet and buy a new pair, and so I have been doing some research. The main negative for me about typical noise canceling headphones is the size and bulk. I only have a certain amount of space in my purse and I would rather not give it all to one item.  The helpful people on CNET have a bunch of reviews about smaller noise canceling headphones, and the smaller ones they recommend are the Bose On-Ear Headphones. There are other, less pricier options as well. Here is a great set of reviews about the top options, and here is a great article from Why Go Business about noise canceling headphones in general.

Once I have my headphones I will write a review. And I am looking forward to how peaceful and quiet my trips will be .

Don’t forget to enter your comment below! Sunday is the last day to post a comment to try to win a trip to Australia’s Gold Coast. It would be so exciting for the winner to come from my blog. Don’t forget, full contest rules can be found here.

Happy Friday, everyone!!

For some reason my fabulous but very grounded step-mom sends me the craziest travel stories and products…..and today’s is no exception.  There is an article in Bing Travel about bizarre travel stories. An example:

Don’t point that at me!
After passing through security gates at the Baltimore-Washington airport, a man took off running to the nearest restroom — barefoot, not even taking the time to put his shoes back on after walking through the X-ray machines. When security officials caught up with him, they discovered that he had hidden a can of Mace pepper spray in his body cavity. No word yet on what he was trying to protect himself from — or how he intended to take aim.

For the rest of these very special incidents, check out the rest of the article. These people are nuts!! But it would sure be an interesting addition to my day to witness something like this.

The last time I posted about taking a water bottle with you when you travel, I got a few questions about the water bottles with filters. Can you take them overseas? How much “filtering” do they actually do?

While I had seen filtering water bottles, I had never really looked into it or used one. So now that I have looked into it, I am sold. I will be ordering this water bottle from H2Only very shortly to take everywhere I go.

There are many others on the market–from bottles that filter chlorine from tap water to bottles that filter 99.99% of anything bad, including bacteria and heavy metals. (Just search for water bottle filter.) Reviews for these bottles are extremely positive, and it appears that many people have taken these bottles to places with unsafe water and have not had a problem. What a great invention!!

As some of you may have heard, Boarding Area is giving away a free trip to Australia’s Gold Coast. This trip includes airfare, hotel, excursions, meals, PLUS enough cash to cover the approximate taxes. What a great prize!! The official rules and information can be found here.

So, your immediate questions must be: How to I enter?? And how do I WIN????

The answer:  Write a comment to this post about the following: What is your top tip for people who want to earn and use their loyalty points? Then one person who commented will be chosen by a random drawing. That person will then be entered in the Boarding Area drawing with the winners from the other blogs. So easy!!! Only one entry per person.

Good luck! I would LOVE for one of my readers to win this trip. Unfortunately, I cannot award it to myself (or my husband) but one of my readers would be the next best thing 

(And for those who commented early–please don’t comment again, I will count those for the drawing. Thanks!)

Fly Gracefully has another great post about business travel. How do you know where the fuel door is on your rental car? Look at the arrow! She even has photographs. Thanks Grace!!

I am having a shopping freak out moment. Probably because I’m still not really allowing myself to spend any money since the credit card shop-a-thon time in February (thanks sister for getting married!! fun wedding, long time paying off card).  Because I am not spending any money, I see cute things EVERYWHERE. Today, specifically, at Ann Taylor. They have so many great, travel-friendly, work appropriate items right now. I have been working for the last year at injecting more prints and interesting solids into my wardrobe, and the AT Loft collection fits the bill.  Here are my favorites.

Floral Silhouette Cardigan

This would be so cute with a white top and gray pants. Very springy, but still professional. And the cotton blend will be comfortable on flights. The print is bold enough to be interesting without overkill. Love it!!

Voile Tie Front Tank

This bright, vibrant top would be great under a jacket or cardigan. It would also liven up a neutral suit with a pop of color. Yes it’s a solid, but the tie makes it more than just a simple tank. This would also stand alone well for the weekend.

Chiffon Cluster Flower Tee

Not everyone can wear short sleeves to work, but for those of us who can–this top is a winner. Because of the flowers on the collar, it may not work well under a cardigan or jacket. But by itself with gray slacks or skirt it would be perfect for warmer weather. Another piece that would also be weekend-ready with jeans or khaki pants.

Chiffon Petal V-Neck Cardigan

I love, love the petal detailing on this simple v-neck cardigan. The petals make it a stand-out, and the pima cotton body of the sweater looks so soft. Because it’s black, it would wear well with almost anything.

I think the question has certainly been answered: YES. Career women can certainly be successful mothers. But I really like this article by Kristen van Ogtrop about her experiences as a career woman without, and then with, kids. It’s just a little more reassurance to those of us who work a lot, and travel a lot. It can be done!!

Boarding Area will be giving away a free trip to Australia’s Gold Coast!! the trip will include airfare, hotel, and even enough cash to cover taxes!  I will have more details and how to enter later this week. Keep checking back!! You don’t want to miss this one, believe me.

Now, I know that it is spring, and in most places heavy coats are going back into storage. However, I have a tip for getting through security with coats of any size.

I have seen travelers fight their way through security with large overcoats, sweaters, and scarves, in addition to their suitcase and purse. If security has a really short line, you may be able to get the five bins necessary to get your stuff through the x-ray machine on the table without people getting mad. However, if you have a lot of extra items to put in bins, and you don’t want your fellow travelers to hate you, you may want to consider doing it this way instead.

Once you get into the airport and you don’t need your scarf/jacket/pashmina/whatever anymore, put them in your suitcase until you get through security. Move over by a wall or in a corner, unzip your suitcase, lay your stuff in there, zip up, and you’re ready to go! This should only take a few minutes, but can help you avoid headaches and frustration going through the security line.  It doesn’t matter at this point if your suitcase would be too big to fit in an overhead bin, because you can stop and reverse the process once you are in the gate area.

Now you are going through security with only your suitcase and purse/briefcase! So much easier.