Nothing to screw up a vacation like clothes which are not suitable. Period. The wrong travel gear - Shirts & pants, shoes, jackets, backpack, suitcase, accessories -  If simply uncomfortable or just not suitable for the occasion, can have disastrous consequences on a vcation or trip.

There are a few things you can do to make sure you’re outfitted correctly, and that includes a bit of homework to find out just what kind of clothing is suitable at your destination, and for the kind of holiday you have in mind. But leaving aside this issue of matching places with clothes, let’s focus on what’s hip and cool this season, as far as travel gear is concerned.

What’s in is the rough-and-tough and durable safari jacket. Stain and water resistant, impervious to rough knocks and jagged edges, deflects heat when chosen in the standard issue dull cream, and best of all, when worn on top of a shirt with open buttons, makes you like Indiana Jones or Lara Croft. Perfect for just about any kind of weather, your chopice of destination, air travel, dusty and smoggy weather, and even better for a winter getaway. No better travel gear package of utility and trendiness than a safari jacket.

Availability - National Geographic travel store

Cost - $138 for both men and women.

Specifics - Teflon® coating , 100% cotton twill, machine wash, adjustable sleeves and elastic waistband.

You can find the latest and coolest travel gear, gadgets and gizmos at places like the Travel Gear Blog, which posts reviews of everything from camping tents to lightweight backpacks, waterproof cameras and ‘boots that were made for walkin’. As for nerds who suffer withdrawal symptoms without the laptop, Kim Komando, USA Today, has a detailed article which should help keep you connected to the ether and your laptop ticking along just fine.

But the best is yet to come. Researchers at Monash University, down under in Australia, are drumming up clothes which clean themselves. All you have to do is stand in the sunlight. That’s right - Just find a spot in the open, and you can see the dirt and stains and grime simply dissappear off your clothes. Surreal, but true. MIT’s Technology Review has the full story. The researchers, led by organic chemist and nanomaterials researcher Walid Daoud, have made natural fibers such as wool, silk, and hemp that will automatically remove food, grime, and even red-wine stains when exposed to sunlight. Daoud and his colleagues coat the fibers with a thin, invisible layer of titanium dioxide nanoparticles. In the paper, the researchers show how the material stands up to red-wine stains, which are notoriously difficult to remove. Titanium-dioxide-coated wool shows almost no sign of the red stain after 20 hours of exposure to simulated sunlight, while the untreated wool remains boldly stained. Other stains disappear faster: coffee stains fade away in two hours, while blue-ink stains disappear in seventeen hours.

I wonder if it works for humans? I mean, just coat your body with titanium-whatever and go do some sun-bathing. Gives a whole new meaning to a sun-bath, doesn’t it? :)

Posted on February 28th, 2008 by PLing
Filed under: Travel Tips