10 Tech Gadgets Everyone Needs & Always Leaves Home Without

The last thing you want is to finally get to your destination and discover that you forgot ___, or you realize that you can't do___ without having ___ (enter forgotten items). Especially if the kids are expecting you to bring them___ or you told them you would bring them home a ___. This leads to a list of must have tech gadgets for travel. While there are many, we are focusing on the top ten tech gadgets for travel.

Keep the water out of the camera. Type on the plane. Hide your goodies. Entertain the kids. Find out where you are. These are the travel gadgets you've been wanting! Vacation planning is already exciting and stressful. There are many little details to plan. As you consider the fun your going to have take some time and read this list. That way, when you get to the dock to get on the whale watching excursion boat you don't have to leave the camera in the car to keep it from getting wet!

The Sanyo VPC-WH1 Waterproof HD Video Camera

This is the one that all you water babies need. Remember the whale boat? This High Definition video camera can handle water up to 10 feet deep and comes in one of three colors, blue, yellow or white; so that you can easily spot it by the pool. This camera shoots 720p video @ 30 frames per second and stores them in mp4 format so you can just drag and drop them into your favorite video editor. Nice huh? Well, it will hold up to 5 hours of video on a 16gb SDHC memory card and the battery is rated to hold about a 3 hour 20 minute charge. The price is about $335.00 MSRP and you can find them on the official website or on a site like Amazon.com.

Genius Noise Canceling Headphones

These are considered a must for travelers. Hours on a plane will make that very, very clear. The Genius GHP-04NC headphones retail for about $50.00 they fold flat for storage and come with a leather carrying case. The design is all about comfort with soft, sponge-style headband and leather ear pads so that you can wear them for the entire trip. Once on, the world does seem to go away and you hear only what you want. Silence is golden. You can get one of these great headphones at the Genius site located at Geniuseshop.com.

The Olympus Stylus Tough 8000

Back to cameras for a moment, you'll need to take pictures, isn't that what a vacation is for? So, you're going to need a really good one but with kids and water and bike trails an ordinary camera just won't do. The Olympus Stylus Tough 8000 lives up to its name... Tough. This 12 megapixel camera sports a 2.7 inch LCD screen and built in panorama stitching and 3.6x zoom. It's also waterproof to a depth of 33 feet, drop-proof from 6 feet and freeze-proof. Yes, freeze -proof. So, if its San Moritz this year don't worry, you're covered. The quality of the camera easily merits its $400.00 MSRP, and so does the peace of mind. You can pick one of these cameras up on the official website, or at any online site such as Amazon.com, and you might even get one used at Ebay, if you are patient enough to sit through and wait for the auction to finish, that is.

Kensington Travel Plug Adapter

As anyone who has taken a laptop to Europe will tell you, "don't plug it in!" At least not without this essential bit of travel tech. For a mere $20.00 USD, the Kensington Travel Plug Adapter will give you the protection you need to safely recharge your, well... Whatever you need to recharge; and do it in over 150 countries. It's pocket sized and weighs only 8 ounces. You certainly don't want to find out the hard way why you need this little buddy. You can actually find this adapter at Apple's store, or you can get it on any online Amazon like site, probably much cheaper, too.

Kensington Portable Power Pack

Ok so now you know your cellphone is safely charging but what happens if the battery flashes just as your mother is calling? Well you reach into your kit, pull out the Kensington Portable Power Pack and plug your cellphone in. This unit packs up to 5 hours of pure smartphone power, or up to 50 hours of power for your IPOD. It's really no bigger than a smartphone and its only $60.00. Hey, you could use this at work too, couldn't you?

The Snapmania Photo Manager

The Snapmania Photo Manager is one of those essentials that you didn't know you needed. So, you have a couple of great shots of the Eiffel Tower but there's a kid in the way. So how are you supposed to take a perfect shot that is worthy of sending home to the family, with a kid in the picture? Well, take your pictures and then just up load your photos to this FREE, (yes free) service and run the Tourist Remover software. And in seconds... Poof! The kid is gone. This one is a real winner, especially when you come across those tourists who just simply refuse to let you take a picture-you know the type, they see your camera and they see you shooting the photo, but they walk in your line of view anyway. Right at that precious moment, you click the button. Grab this Photo Manager at Snapmania.com.

JOBO PhotoGPS

Travel is about pictures. Even business travel, right? Well, sometimes. After taking 300 pictures, you know that someone is going to ask, "...Hey, where was that?" Well with the JOBO PhotoGPS, you will know exactly where it was. Just mount the unit to your camera's hot-shoe and the click of the shutter will record the geo-data of your picture. It records Latitude, Longitude and height as well. It's accurate to ten meters and can hold up to 1,000 image locations. So, for just $159.00 MSRP, you'll always have the memories and know where you where when you had them too. This one hasn't been released yet, but according to Engadget.com, you'll be able to get your hands on it around the middle of 2010.

Balanzza Ergonomic Digital Luggage Scale

The Balanzza Ergonomic Digital Luggage Scale is definitely a must. With airlines charging fees for over-weight luggage, it could cost you a small fortune to travel if you're not careful. Especially for those who have to pack everything-including the kitchen sink. This pocket sided travel gadget will save you, for a mere $25.00 MSRP. You just hook your luggage on and lift, check the weight against the airlines limits, and remove the overage, if needed. Just once or twice and this bit of tech will pay for itself because you didn't have to pay the exorbitant fees.

Load-Ding Charge Station

There are some travel tech gadgets that you will end up using all the time, and this is one of them. The "Load-Ding" is simple technology that's just perfect. A hammock for your gadgets, it hangs right under the socket that you've plugged your power adapter into and holds your gadgets safe while they charge. That's it. No more dangling wires and gadgets, no more tripping over endless wire spaghetti... This brilliant idea will set you back a whole $13.00 (9.09 euros) and you can get it on their official German Language website (don't say I didn't wan you!). Certainly worth it, though, that's for sure.

Talk Abroad Travel Phone

The most essential piece of technology you'll ever use on your travels is a cellphone. Unless, of course, you're in the middle of the God-Knows-Where boondocks. In this case, the National Geographic's Talk Abroad Travel Phone will actually work. This unit from NG is just under $200.00 (there's an option to rent one too!) and can operate from over 70 countries. If you've ever seen roaming charges from the Ukraine you'll know that this is a real winner. It features free unlimited incoming minutes and 30 minutes of outgoing time as well. For more information on the phone, rates and plans-and where you can't use it, visit the Cellularabroad.com/travelphone website.

Ok, there are a few that aren't actually Technology related, but I think it takes a stressed out geeky guy to invent something like the following two items. These are my picks for honorable mention, items that you just have to spring for when going anywhere-or astaying at hoe, but hey aren't techie enough to make the actual tech and gadget list above.

BriefSafe

No, it's not a short sized safe, it is actually what the title states. Imagine this scenario... You are in a hotel and you go down in the hotel restaurant for dinner. While you are eating, someone decides to break in and go through your stuff, looking for some money or other itmes. The person comes across a pair of men's tightie whities with the customary skid marks down the back. Do you think the would be thief is going to stick their hand inside to see what's hidden in them? Well, no... Not really, I really don't think so! That is why they-it-is probably the safest place to hide your valuables. It has a pocket on the inside to place your valuables like money, credit cards-you name it. Who is going to want to be rummaging through your stuff and shake out a pair of these? No robber I know, that's for sure! And if you happen to get the DooDrops to go with them, you'll be stinking up-er, uh... I mean saving your hard earned cash from everyone-even you won't want to touch these. These bad boys will set you back about $25 to $40 MSRP, depending on where you get them. You will find them at Eefindoutthetruth.com/Diversion_Safes, along with many other equally disgusting but ingenious products to keep your anything safe.

References & Resources:
Engadget: Jobo Announces the PhotoGPS Add-on (Again)
PC World: Summer Travel Tips 12 Terrific Gadgets
Vagabondish: 26 Killer Travel Gadgets Every Geek Needs
Cellular Broad: National Geographic Travel Phone
SnapMaria: Tourist Remover
Fair Kaeuflich DE: Load-Ding Charge Station