Save-A-Trip Kit: Tool Time

It's time we added some more items to your Save-A-Trip kit. Vicky and I pack some very basic tools with us on every trip, and this has paid off time and again. Here are the travel tools that we've found to be most useful. They take up almost no space at all but still manage to cover nearly every need that's come up while travelling. Most can be bought at your local dollar store if you want to avoid the big brand name versions and save a bunch of money.

What they're packin'

Let's go through them and see what we've got. First is the ubiquitous "Multi-Tool". You'll find a link to the best known version here, but mine was only a buck and does the job. It features pliers (I prefer the more useful "needle nose" variety) wrenches, knife, saw, ruler, all manner of screwdriver attachments, bottle opener, and an old-style can-opener. (This last item is a must-have, so look for that on the version you choose). I add a sturdy pair of tweezers and a very fine jeweler's type screwdriver for completeness.

Next is the "Swiss-Card" tool kit. (OK, this one is the real deal, but inexpensive knockoffs are readily available). It covers a range of very fine tools like delicate tweezers and scissors, a pin for removing slivers, a file, a toothpick, and even a very tiny ballpoint pen. It fits easily inside a wallet and is about the size of a fat credit card.

Then we have our Sommelier-style corkscrew (with bottle opener, and cap cutter). I know this might be overkill, and there are likely smaller options, but we open LOTS of wine, so the smooth and easy operation of this type of corkscrew is worth it, and it was also only a buck.

Lastly (and perhaps another little extravagance) is my beloved "Pocket Ulu" knife. (If you visit Alaska and leave without an Ulu knife of some kind, you did it wrong). It's small enough for fine cutting jobs, yet extremely sturdy, and strong enough for very heavy cutting jobs. I've even used it as a steak knife, or to slice some hard cheese in the hotel room to go with all that wine we opened earlier with our Sommelier corkscrew.

How they pack

Like all the other save-a-trip items we've covered so far, the range of potential uses for these tools far exceeds those they were originally intended for, and is limited only by your imagination and immediate needs. More importantly, they bear the precious gift of time, by allowing you to solve a travel problem quickly and without unduly cutting into your vacation experience.

Remember: "Good trips happen before you leave."


Fox & Vicky

The End Of Travel Wi-Fi Problems!

Aren't modern wireless Internet communications just the BEST!

If you think that, then you probably aren't travelling much. There are a ton of problems with using Wi-Fi on the road, and I'm actually happiest when I find a proper hardwired LAN port at the desk in any hotel room we're staying in. That way I can just plug my laptop into the wall jack with my retracting travel LAN cable, and I'm good to go, with what is usually a bulletproof Internet connection, and much better security.

Retractable Travel LAN Cable - Great When There's A Jack...

But that almost never happens these days, so I'm usually stuck with the hotel's Wi-Fi signal, which is often almost too weak to use. On a recent cruise, we had the misfortune to be a little too far from the ship's public Wi-Fi router down the hall from our room, and the steel door of the cabin almost entirely blocked what little signal there was. I had to set up a table near the door, which I propped open with a beach towel in order to get any Wi-Fi access at all.

One Version Of A Travel Wi-Fi "Signal Booster" Router

Then I stumbled on the answer to all my travel Internet problems, the portable Wi-Fi signal booster. These are readily available from many makers and can be had for as little as $12. I bought mine on eBay, but the menus on this one are all in Chinese, so I don't recommend this particular model to the average user. (It was NOT easy to figure out, but I actually recognize a few Chinese characters now).

Yours will be in English though, and while they're definitely not for everybody (some experience with computers would be helpful as they are by no means a plug-and-play device) I now consider it a must-have travel item.

NOTE: If you don't like tinkering around with your PC, don't know what an IP address is, have never heard of an SSID, or have never changed a setting in "Network Connections" on your computer, just pretend that the rest of this post reads; "Blah blah Computer Nerd blah blah" and skip it entirely to read the next one. You will probably just hate having a travel router :)

Still reading? OK then! In general -- and once only on arrival at any given location -- one sets up the travel router to repeat the Wi-Fi signal that you want to use. This can be done via a wireless connection, but it is much better to use a direct LAN cable connection between the travel router and a Laptop or Netbook PC. Then all your wireless devices can log-on to the now much closer and much stronger signal coming from your booster. In this case, the user-name and password are the same as that used for the regular hotel Wi-Fi, and your device will not know the difference. The problem with this "repeater" set-up is that the person staying in the next room will also be able to log on to your travel router, since it uses the same user-name and password and will have the strongest available signal.

Fortunately most of these travel routers are actually every bit as full featured as your router at home, so with an extra step you can set up your travel router as a "bridge" instead of as a "repeater".  A bridge takes the Wi-Fi signal you want to use and re-broadcasts it under a different name (any SSID of your choosing - my personal favorite is "FBI Surveillance Van 2") with a separate secure user-name and password (also of your choosing) with which to log on. The wonder of the bridge set-up is that you now have a private Wi-Fi hotspot with a strong signal that is available only to you. Without the password, others nearby cannot log onto it, and it places your wireless device behind your own router, which offers much better security.

The version I have even features a LAN port, so that for improved security I can turn off the wireless feature of my laptop completely, and connect to the travel router directly via a LAN cable. While it's true that the communications between your travel router and the hotel's Wi-Fi router remain wireless, it is much less likely for them to be compromised than if you were on the shared wireless connection with everybody else in the hotel.

These features work for the public Wi-Fi at airports, coffee shops, etc., making the travel router very useful not just as a signal booster, but also as an extra layer of security.

Enjoy your better Internet!

Fox & Vicky

How To Rescue A Blown-Out Flip Flop

Today we'll add a new item to your growing save-a-trip kit, and at the same time make good on our earlier promise to show you a handy trick to fix a blown-out flip flop.

A simple plastic bread bag tab will temporarily get a broken flip-flop back into service so you can finish your day in peace at the beach or pool without having to run out and buy another pair.

Small item - Big save

Usually the problem happens when one of the rubber plugs that attach the straps to the sole of the shoe tears through the bottom.

Nothing to it.

Simply snapping the bread bag tab over the rubber plug in question will keep it from pulling through again.

Back in business!

Throw a few of these into your plastic zipper bag with your other save-a-trip items. Have fun, and remember that, "good trips happen before you leave".

Fox & Vicky

Save-A-Trip Kit: New Items

Let's throw a few more things into your "Save A Trip Kit" zipper bag. If you don't have these around the house already, your local dollar store will likely stock them. Today we'll add: a clothes pin, twist ties, a mini-stapler, folding scissors, and a travel sewing kit.

Hey honey...do you have a stapler? Yes!

As always, the potential uses for these items are nearly endless, and all have proven valuable during our past travels. For example, the clothes pin can be used to hold the hotel room drapes together to stop that annoying shaft of early morning sunshine from ruining a nice late sleep. Note that regular individual twist ties are OK, but we prefer the "reel" that allows you to cut any length you need. You don't have to take the whole reel though, as you can just pull off a few feet of it for any given trip. We'll add some more items again later. Remember; a good trip happens before you leave :)

Fox and Vicky

Hey Fox! Have You Got A...?

When we're traveling, and Vicky asks if I have a (fill in any slightly obscure but useful item here) the answer will almost always be yes. Good trips happen before you leave. That's our trip preparation and packing motto. We always resented wasting any valuable time at our destination by having to go out and buy something that we forgot to pack, so when we thought of anything that would be likely to come in handy, we wrote it down. (This started long before computers -- yeah, yeah, we're old -- so our original packing list was hand written and tough to re-organize as time went on. These days you can just whip up a document on your laptop and print out a fresh one for every trip to use as a checklist).

The Mother Of All Packing Lists

Our packing list itself is worthy of a separate post, but we'll start by mentioning a few of the handy items that can be part of your own "save a trip kit." (This concept grew out of the "save a dive kit" that our dive-master taught us to pack for every scuba diving trip. A small problem like a broken fin strap would put an end to an entire day of diving once you're out on the reefs, so having a spare would "save a dive". Did I mention that we're divers as well? No? Hmmm...we'll get to that later).

Deep Water Sea Fan - Depth: 100 feet - Cozumel, Mexico

Let's get your own kit started. Grab a plastic zipper bag, and.toss in the following items: toothpicks, paper clips, elastic bands, and pushpins. One or two of each is fine. You probably already have most of them, and if not, your local "Dollar Store" will be a one-stop-shop for the rest.

The seeds from which a mighty "Save A Trip" kit will grow.

Naturally these items can all be used for their intended purpose, but their application as "save a trip" items is limited only by your imagination. For example, the pushpins were added to our list when we needed one to fix a watch strap. This stuff takes up almost no room, and can be left in the baggie in a pocket of your suitcase so that it's ready to go whenever you travel. So the next time your partner says; "Hey honey, have you got a pushpin?" You can answer: "Yes!" and save the day. We'll be adding other items for your kit in future posts.

Fox & Vicky