Tag: "Travel"

HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE - MUST HAVES - Belkin Flythru Laptop Case

belkin flythru case

belkin flythru case pocket

GIFT IDEA -BELKIN FLYTHRU LAPTOP CASE

Anyone that hasn’t traveled with my Mom doesn’t know the exquisite pleasure of almost missing a flight because everyone’s bags were being painstakingly gone through looking for drugs. A baggie of laundry detergent can look a lot like drugs I guess. Any luggage or bags that would end the humiliation inspection more quickly is a must have in my opinion, which is why the Belkin Flythru Laptop Case is a must have.

About the Belkin Flythru Laptop Case

Things are getting easier at the airport-with Belkin’s FlyThru, you no longer need to take your laptop out of the bag in the security line. This revolutionary new bag isolates your laptop on one side, and the clear window makes it easy for TSA agents to identify it. Just unzip the bag and lay it flat. Keep your other personal belongings away from the laptop and you should get the all clear. Enjoy your flight!

Mom was flying out to the West Coast this morning with my brother. She was bringing her laptop. Mom travels with a scooter and can’t juggle things well. It somehow comforted me knowing that she’d have less to juggle and take apart because she was traveling with her laptop in this case. The bag unzips in half to reveal a clear window over the laptop so that compartment can easily go through the xray scanner. The case has a lifetime warranty and will accommodate most standard and widescreen laptops up to 15.6″. I would like to see the case available in a size that could accommodate a 17″ laptop.

The Belkin FlyThru Laptop Case retails for $59.99 and can be purchased online and in select retail locations nationwide.

WIN IT!

ONE winner will receive a Belkin Flythru Laptop Case.

HOW TO ENTER. (MANDATORY)

To enter check out some of the other Belkin laptop accessories leave me a comment on this post telling me another product that you’d like to have and why.

BONUS ENTRIES

1 - Subscribe to my newsletter. (at top of sidebar)
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1 - Visit HereAndThere.US (my Mom) and leave a comment on any post (except a giveaway post) there. Then return here and leave a comment on this post telling me one thing you read or learned on my Mom’s blog. (That’s two comments you need to leave for this bonus entry, one there and one here.) Unlimited entries for this method of entry.

Leave an additional comment for each entry you qualify for. You must have completed the first entry according to the instructions to be eligible for any bonus entries.

THE SMALL PRINT.

US addresses only please. This contest will end on Saturday 01/02/09 at 11:59 pm est. If you’ve entered any of my giveaways before then you know that only comments containing all of the requested information will be eligible for entry. The winner must contact me to confirm they wish to receive the prize within two days of my email notifying them they’ve won. Good luck to everyone!

The product(s) featured in this review was provided free of cost to me for the sole purpose of product testing and review. This review has not been monetarily compensated and is based on the views and opinions of my family and/or self. Please note that the opinions reflected in this post have not been influenced by the sponsor in any way.

THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED.

Dec 26, 2009 | 139 comments | View Post

Summer Travel Must-Haves from The MommyDocs

We go to Wildwood for a weekend every summer. We camp for a week every August. We go to Walt Disney World every couple of years, as family finances permit. We travel locally. Since CJ is not unfamiliar with sickness the first thing I do when we’re away from home is find out where the local hospital is. We’ve been pretty fortunate in that neither of the boys have ever gotten really sick while we were traveling.

Lots of folks are so excited or so busy preparing for a trip that they don’t think to pack anything in case one of the kids get sick. Then if someone does get sick you have to scramble to find a Walmart or a drug store. Boy does that stink when you’re in an unfamiliar area, especially if it’s the middle of the night.

Here’s some more information on safe travel tips from the MommyDocs (www.mommydocs.com), an online duo who provide pediatric advice to moms, by moms, via podcasts and articles. Dr. Jamie Freishtat is a board-certified Pediatrician. Dr. Rachel Schreiber is board certified in both Allergy/Immunology and Internal Medicine and was recently selected as one of “America’s Top Physicians” by the Consumers’ Research Council of America.

As parents pack that beach or travel bag, it’s important to always be prepared on the road even before the first signs of illness.

Hand Sanitizer. Limit your child’s germ-spreading and germ-getting by enforcing a strict hand-washing policy. If available, use water and soap, scrubbing for at least 20 seconds. Another great option is an alcohol based hand sanitizer. Just be sure it is completely rubbed in and kept out of reach of children.

Thermometer: Make sure you have a good thermometer and know how to use it. For infants, especially under 3 months of age, temperatures should always be taken rectally with a digital thermometer, like a Vicks digital thermometer. A great option once children have graduated from rectal temps is the Braun ThermoScan ear thermometer. It’s very quick, which kids (and parents) will greatly appreciate.

Nasal aspirator: Babies haven’t quite figured out how to clear their own tiny nostrils and will need help from mom. A nasal bulb syringe can help remove bothersome boogies from the nose.

Your Doctor’s phone number: Always have your doctor’s number on speed dial or somewhere very easy to find, such as in your wallet or glove compartment.

Tissues. Teach children to avoid touching their eyes, nose and mouth as much as possible since germs can spread this way. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze and remember to throw the tissue in the trash after you use it. Also, encourage everyone to direct coughs and sneezes into their elbows, not their hands.

I also now pack an over the counter fever medicine. I’d love to hear any suggestions you have for items to pack for travel in case of illness, or if any of your children have ever gotten sick while your family was traveling.

Jun 05, 2009 | 1 comment | View Post

Would you charge your parents?

My parents are leaving tomorrow morning on another trip. No, this one isn’t one of their Orlando vacations. This is a trip to a convention in Phoenix. The majority of the time my parents travel somewhere I end up being the person going to the airport to pick them up or drop them off. I have one sibling that has actually charged them to do this on two occasions. I would never charge my parents for a favor. I think of how many years they did for me and I could never do that. Would you charge your parents if they needed a ride somewhere?

Aug 19, 2008 | 2 comments | View Post

Home from Watkins Glen and a paint update

Well we made it home a short while ago. Yes, for anyone wondering, we did bring the ~~giant hunk of junk~~ trailer home with us. I noticed when we started unpacking it that the microwave had come loose and had gone cockeyed in its frame. A few more winding roads and it probably would’ve flown onto the floor. I’ve already mentioned the trailer’s electric no longer works. Did I mention to you that the faucet had broken before we arrived, so we had no water the whole time we were there? CJ wasn’t feeling great at two hours from home and by the time we got home he was sick (not the vomiting kind of sick) so RB just plopped him into the tub. For anyone wondering, RB did get the living room painted except for a small area around my desk that he didn’t do because he needed me home to disconnect all the computer equipment. It looks good. And he told me he had to give one wall another coat and then he’s going to start on another room.

Aug 11, 2008 | 0 comments | View Post

Take Advantage of great summer rates

A coworker recently bought a second home in Florida. With the price of gas being what it is now I told her it was cheaper to fly round trip and rent car while there rather than drive down. I found her some cheap flights and then tackled the task of finding her an affordable car rental.

It didn’t take me long to find Advantage, who is offering some specials for the summer. Advantage has 150 locations in the United States as well as 130 locations in 33 other countries. There are several locations right in Orlando where my friend will be flying into. They even have a frequent renter program, which would really benefit my friend, or anyone who travels a lot of has two homes.

Right now Advantage is offering up to 50% off when renting a luxury car or a convertible. With rates starting at just $20.99 per day my friend can now afford to rent something nice while she’s there, rather than having to rent one of those tiny sub-compact cars people get when they’re budgeting their money. If you’re making travel arrangements take a look at Advantage Rent A Car.

Jul 09, 2008 | 0 comments | View Post

RVs.com for old and new rvs

As I mentioned recently, we have a tiny travel trailer and have been considering getting something larger. My parents recommended we be triple sure that we could see ourselves in whatever we buy ten years down the road. I was in the mood to window shop a little bit today so I hit the internet. After I finished checking out some trailers I visited RVs.com, which is a website that helps people find, buy and sell both used and new RVs and motor homes. The best feature for me was the search by price option. Just by clicking search by price I was able to choose the year, make, model, category and price range I was interested in. I also enjoyed the blog, which was chock full of helpful hints and suggestions. If you’re considering getting an RV, take a look at this site.

Jul 02, 2008 | 0 comments | View Post

Tripflix review

We have a small travel trailer. We go camping in upstate New York every year. The reason we don’t camp more is because the trailer is so small we have no room to move and cannot enjoy ourselves. Lately we’ve been doing some heavy consideration of getting a bigger trailer, so we can enjoy some family time. Camping can be much less expensive than flying and staying in hotels. Some people don’t like the driving aspect of camping, but they probably haven’t seen the award winning TripFLIX dvd.

TripFLIX is a travel/educational/entertainment dvd that contains over two hours family friendly content. The dvd would probably work best before going on vacation, when you’re in the planning and idea stage. Kids could also watch it while traveling just for the entertainment. TripFLIX was created by Llana and David Bittner. While traveling through Maryland the couple received a pamphlet designed to make a trip more fun for children.

When you start the TripFLIX dvd you’ll be presented with a map of the US, divided into six regions. Each region features descriptions of several places to go or see within that region. A couple of the stops are well known, such as Sea World, California, but for the most part the stops are places offering something fun and educational and won’t cost your family an arm and a leg. I’d never ever heard of some of the places, but found them interesting.

There are two ways to watch TripFLIX. You can watch it in entirety, which takes about two hours. Or you can tell it you’re taking a trip. When taking a trip you choose what region you’re beginning your trip in and what region you’re ending your trip in. TripFLIX will then show you all of the stops it has between your starting and ending point. There are a total of 25 stops in all on the dvd.

The TripFLIX dvd is hosted by two teens Alex and Emily. These two kids have just the right amount of corniness to make younger kids really enjoy watching. They’re energetic and fun to watch. The kids incorporate a little of everything in each segment including history and fun facts. One of the chapters I enjoyed the most was The Adventures of Afraidiana Jones segment with the garden gnomes.

In between some of the chapters you’ll find a quiz that you can answer with the remote. It isn’t as easy as one might think. I learned two things from the quiz - Arkansas is the state that is home to the only diamond mine in the U.S. and hamburgers were invented in Connecticut in 1865. The TripFLIX dvd also includes a bloopers segment and a TripFLIX ChaChaCha with the dance moves taught by Alex and Emily.

This dvd is a great idea. Not all states have stops within them sadly, I found this to be the one downside of the dvd. I think it would be great if this was available with at least one stop in each state. Ideally I think small states would have one stop and bigger states would have more. With this approach the dvd could be reused in the vacation planning stages. They could even include fun facts like the state capital. Maybe trivia on what the state bird/flower/plant, etc is and why it was chosen.

TripFLIX is available to buy on the TripFLIX site and on amazon.com with a suggested retail price of $19.99. Thanks to Team Mom for giving me this review opportunity.

Jul 01, 2008 | 0 comments | View Post

Want a WonderFALL Caribbean vacation?

Recently as a member of MomCentral I received an amazing offer for a deeply discounted vacation at a place we’ve always wanted to see. I was so impressed with the offer that I sat down and told my parents about it. The offer is from Beaches, in the Caribbean.

Now before I continue, you’re probably wondering why I’m blogging about this. Here’s why. That offer I got is open to everyone, and it’s so good that I just have to share it. Now back to my story. I sat down and told my parents I wanted to tell them about a great deal that I thought they might be interested in. In case you didn’t know, they love to travel.

I explained that Beaches was offering savings of 40-45% off on fall vacations, with travel dates of 09/01/08 to 11/04/08. Dad thought the percentage of savings was pretty wonderful. He’s right. That’s probably why Beaches is calling this offer WonderFALL. I was met with some skepticism and lots of questions.

First my Mom wanted to know what blackout dates there were. Answer - none, all dates from 09/01/08 to 11/04/08 are available.

Dad wanted to know where Beaches was. I told him I really wanted to go to the Sandy Bay resort in Jamaica but that there were also two other locations in Jamaica called Boscobel and Negril and one location in Turks & Caicos.

Mom wanted to know if there was a minimum amount of nights in the stay. There are not. You can stay as few or as many nights as you want, and you can even get one or two nights for free depending on how many nights you book.

Before Dad could even ask his next question, Mom said she thought that this was a singles only type of place. I had to control my exuberance as I corrected her, I don’t often get the chance to do it so it tickles me pink. I explained that Beaches is a great place for families to go. My youngest would love the Crayola Art Camps and the Sesame Street characters that can be seen at the resort. Elmo, Cookie Monster, Grover, Zoe, Bert and Ernie and Abby Cadabby are all there and do things with the children as part of the Sesame Street Caribbean Adventure. There’s even a character breakfast. My oldest would love the waterparks and the Xbox 360 garage. (I’d probably never get him out of the Xbox garage.)

Mom wanted to know how much extra things cost? She didn’t believe me when I told her it was easier to tell her what’s not included (internet, dry cleaning, car rental, local excursions and spa treatments) so I had to go on the website and read her the long list. Included - all meals, drinks and snacks, scuba diving and watersports, golf, sporting activities, fitness centers, unlimited premium brand drinks, weddings, butler service, supervised childrens activities, airport transfers, hotel taxes, tips and unlimited use of all amenities.

Mom wanted to know if the great price was available because the room was a tiny little closet. I explained that different types of rooms were available but they all had air conditioning, hair dryers, safes, cd clock radios, satellite television and a private bath and shower.

Dad wanted to know about the restaurants. I told him there were many of them, up to ten per resort. Dad also wanted to know why I wanted to go to Sandy Bay. I explained that since it was so close to Negril, guests of Sandy Bay and Negril had privileges at both resorts, including the restaurants.

Finally they ran out of questions to ask. My Mom agreed that it all sounded nice and like we’d have fun. She thought the special was good enough that maybe everyone in my family would like to go.

We didn’t get to vacation last year due to my surgery, so we’re way overdue for a family vacation. I really want to go to the Caribbean. The description sounds terrific yes, but the photos make Beaches look absolutely amazing and beautiful. Go check out the Beaches site and you’ll see what I mean. While you’re there check out the WonderFALL special offer.

I want to go to Beaches! Doing a series of reviews of Beaches be fun!

Never mind Calgon. BEACHES, TAKE ME AWAY!

Jun 30, 2008 | 0 comments | View Post

Location, location, location

My brother is in the Navy and doesn’t make a lot of money. He’s been thinking a lot on if he’s going to reup or not when his five years are up. He told me if they stationed him in the right place he’d reup. He wants to go somewhere far away or somewhere here on the East Coast. If not that’d be it. It’d be nice if he got stationed somewhere far away if he could just book his flights online on a site like DialAFlight, who offers many flights to USA cities, and fly home for a reasonable price. They do offer flights to New York airports, some of which are about an hour and half away from us. It would be even nicer if he were stationed on this side of the country. I just want him to be happy, and hope he makes the best decision for him. He’s supposed to be getting deployed soon and I’m sure that will impact his decision, so I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Dec 04, 2007 | 0 comments | View Post