Travel Gear

My dad says the worst part of traveling is the traveling...in other words, the hassle of transportation like airports, finding accessible transfers, etc.  It's even worse if equipment you have lets you down.  Traveling with the right gear makes the going a lot easier.  Here is a list of some of the stuff we've found that make things smoother along the way-with links to online sources.

My backpack - I use a JanSport Antics Series Driver 8 Wheeled Backpack . It has three large comparments, a smaller wallet-sized pocket, and a good size mesh pocket on the side that, as you can see from above, I use as a cup holder.  In the larger pocket, there is also a sleeve to hold a laptop.  This pack got me through college holding all my books, notebooks, supplies, audio gear, bathroom gear, and the occasional soda.  It is also on wheels and has a telescoping handle that turns it into a rolling suitcase for travel.  It also fits my Invacare Storm chair perfectly and easily fits into a plane's overhead compartment.  I've found this pack to be much superior to the packs that are supposedly made to fit wheelchairs.

Our camera - We actually use a couple of cameras, but this Canon PowerShot A590IS 8MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom has just as good a picture as our larger Fuji Camera but in a pocket sized package.  With a 2GB SD chip, it can take over 1,000 high-quality pictures. We started using this camera on our France and Germany trip in September, check out the images from that report.

Urinal - OK, without getting into too many details, this is the best traveling urinal, at least for seated guys.  Works well in the seated position or laying down.  Has a great cap with good seal for storage, is easily dumped and cleaned and it will easily fit in a pocket on the backpack.  We have a couple...one for home and the other for the road.  It's pictured above with the female adapter but I couldn't tell you how good it works for girls, for guys, it's just about perfect.

Power converter - For foreign travel, you need to have this - make sure you don't just get an adapter, you need something that will actually convert the local voltage to 110 volts for your electronics and appliances.  The Power Line 0900-27 Global Power Travel Kit will do just that.  We run my mom's hair dryer, charge our cameras and iPods, and run our laptop with it.  For those with power wheelchairs and Lester chargers, the Lester Company does not recommend this for your chair and says you need to get a specialized dual voltage charger from them.  Not wanting to void my warranty, I have not tried this on my power chair.

That's it for now, if we think of anything else, we'll let you know.  (P.S. - if you buy through the links above, you will help this blog put some change into our pockets at no cost to you...thanks)  Have a happy holiday shopping season.

-Tim