When it comes to traveling solo, whether for business or pleasure, your smartphone can become your best friend — from helping you book hotels, to finding directions, to communicating in a foreign language. Here are some tips on how to plan a hassle-free trip for one, courtesy of OrbitOair.

Chances are, you’ve already splurged on long weekends and summer holidays, but if you’re looking to squeeze in one last trip before summer’s end or take off in the fall, here are some last-minute-travel savings tips to enhance your vacation — and your wallet.

Airport security these days is a bit of a kicker. We need it to be safe, yet at times it can be frustrating and annoying. However, as any savvy traveler knows, it’s a necessary evil — but a few simple tips can help you sail through security and ensure your favourite moisturizer isn’t confiscated.

I put my camera through a lot when I travel. It’s accompanied me while trekking in sub-zero temperatures to Everest Base Camp. And it’s been at my side while hiking in the jungles of Guatemala during the monsoon rains, protected from the elements by a zipper sandwich bag.

The magic of Burt’s Bees skin lotions, face creams, lip balms and soaps is just how gentle they are.
That’s the beauty of the natural ingredients used in Burt’s Bees products, and latest arrivals of affordable goodies are no exception.

My goal: To look effortlessly chic and comfortable, while sporting a big basketball of a belly. Enter one of my favourite go-to brands for style and ease — Naot. Known for fabulous footwear that travels impeccably well, the company has just introduced handbags to their collection.

One of my most treasured possessions is my Arc’teryx backpack — it’s been with me everywhere and it’s held up remarkably well over the years, from monsoon rains to being tossed around on top of chicken buses, even being left to sit in a pool of diesel fuel on a ferry in Honduras.

It was fear that prevented me from giving the Phillips Satinelle Soft Total Body Epilator a test drive.
Wuss, wimp, fearer of all pain, however you want to describe my aversion to physical discomfort … it’s all true. My pain threshold is low, even when the quest for beauty is at stake.

When people ask me what item I never travel without, that’s easy to answer: a cheap piece of waterproof urethane-coated nylon. My trusty backpack tarp has accompanied me around the world — and has saved my gear on more occasions than I can count.

If you’re among the traveling crowd who cringes at the reality of airport lineups, flight delays and rude security-check workers, it’s helpful to lighten up wherever possible. Enter ShowOffs travel bags.

If travel is on the agenda for 2012, consider a travel-inspired gift for your significant other, best friend or family member (or even yourself!). Here are a few picks that will come in handy for that next trip.

Considering that DEET can eat a hole through Gore-Tex (it’s a solvent, which means it can dissolve plastics and synthetic fibers), I’m not that keen to slather it all over my body. Yet the alternative — being eaten alive by mosquitoes — isn’t all that appealing either.