The future of airport shopping has a name and it is ZoomShops.  These technology filled vending machines sell iPods, Sony gadgets and more.

The ZoomShop vending machine’s touch screen delivers an experience similar to online shopping, where shoppers can view product photos and access complete specs. Chosen items can be added to a shopping bag, and the transaction takes a few short seconds. After swiping a debit or credit card, a robotic arm gently retrieves and delivers the product directly to the shopper. The consumer’s card is not charged until the patented optical sensors of the ZoomShop detect that the customer has received the product. A receipt is printed and the ZoomShop shopper is on their way. 

Gone are the days when vending machines were only a place to get unhealthy snack and beverage before a flight. Visit zoomsystems.com before your next trip to find a ZoomShop near you.

Ever wondered what happens to retired airplanes…well in Sweden they are turned into budget accommodations, The Jumbo Hostel to be exact.

Located at Stockholm’s Arlanda airport, Jumbo Hostel is housed in a retired Boeing 747 that was built circa 1976.  The plane was gutted and turned into a 25-room boutique hotel…with room configurations ranging from dormitory style ($45) to the private Cockpit Suite ($170).

Jumbo Hostel opens for guests on January 15, 2009 and bookings can be made through their website JumboHostel.com.

Pleasant Holidays is some killer fly and drive packages to Hawaii starting at $269 per person for round-trip flight and a rental car for three days.  Click here to check it out….

For custom purposes when a baby is born during a flight, they are considered a citizen of whomever the airspace they are in belongs too….check out this article by USA Today “Baby born on trans-Atlantic flight to Boston” 

When buying an airline ticket on a budget, especially for fixed travel dates, I sometimes feel I do a very stressful dance called the budget-airfare-tango…it goes a little bit like this: I want this flight…I will not pay this price…this price seems cheap…but will it go down…should I buy…will I regret…

I recently discovered a website, Yapta.com, that helps end the stress of this risqué dance. Yapta searches for the cheapest flights, then monitors them for you and sends out an alert when the price drops.  Now if you take the gamble and buy at this first price drop, there is no worry if the price drops again…because if it does, Yapta sends you explicit instructions on how to claim a travel credit for the difference…and if paperwork is not your thing, they will do the dirty work for a fee of $15.

Now if you are really thrifty and looking to fly for free, Yapta can also track any flight and let you know when frequent flier award seats become available.

With Yapta.com the “I paid too much for this flight” saga draws to an end.

The web is so infinite with websites on every subject known to man…but just when I thought I had seen everything I discovered www.MizPee.com, a website dedicated to finding a clean place to do your business.

Just type in the address where you are at and a list of nearby restrooms appear, with cleanliness ratings, hours of operation and a list of available facilities…along with reviews from fellow toilet-seekers.

If you are traveling to Europe, check out their sister site MizPee.eu to locate the nearest loo when on the road.  In the US, not all cities are listed but the website is fairly new, so their coverage is constantly growing.

Renewable energy is where the future is, so why not take some with you while traveling…in the form of the Solio Hybrid 1000.  This five-inch long by two and half inch wide portable solar panel can be used to charge most mobile phones, PDAs, MP3 players, digital cameras and handheld games. When fully charged, the Solio will charge a typical mobile phone once or give 10 hours of MP3 music…just 1 hour of sunshine equals 14 minutes talk time or 40 minutes of MP3 music.

The Solio features a built-in-carabineer, which makes it easy to clip to a backpack and catch rays on the go…and only weighing 5.6 ounces; it is a light-weight travel companion.  The charger comes with three adapter tips that work with most gadgets, but if your phone does not play nice with the included tips, Solio sells many other adapters through their website.

Harnessing the power of the sun on the go will cost $79.95 and is available at Solio.com.

Ski Utah has created a Travel Tips page to assist skiers and snowboarders in their quests to ride The Greatest Snow on Earth® without breaking the bank.

Travelers are invited to contribute tips and tactics for creating affordable winter vacations and will earn the chance to win incredible prizes. Weekly prizes will be awarded to the most helpful suggestions. One clever traveler who submits the “ultimate” travel tip will be selected to receive a Grand Prize: A 2009-10 Ski Utah Vacation Package, complete with roundtrip airfare to Salt Lake City provided by Southwest Vacations.

Click here to enter your tip

Unknown to most Californians, the largest state park in the contiguous United States lies between Palm Springs and San Diego, the Anza-Borrego Desert…and adrift in the center of this sea of sand is a spa resort, Borrego Ranch.

Formerly called La Casa del Zorro, the resort was recently taken over by spa industry innovator Joseph DeNucci, former COO of the famed Miraval resort in Arizona. Under the new ownership the resort has undergone a makeover from quirky dessert retreat to sleek modern meets Spanish spa enclave…definitely a move in the right direction since their goal is to make this the ultimate high-end desert getaway.

At Borrego Ranch their philosophy is “So-B-It,” where guests are encouraged to vacation as they choose, whether it is going to dinner in your bathrobe or falling asleep on a couch while reading in the lobby library.  

Read more »