Start your engines—it’s summer road trip season. To help: This big, ol’ hardcover glossy-photo book packed with lesser-known travel inspiration throughout the country. It’s organized by state and includes often budget-friendly destinations such as small towns, museums and the state parks that tend to get less foot traffic. While it offers plenty of practical info, “Off the Beaten Path” is also a nice, hefty book to just flip through and dream. This is the third edition, including over 200 new listings, over 300 new photos, updated maps, expanded amenities for each site and seasonal events for each state. Travel on.

Lined, and includes a “wonder city” subway map. Notes on architecture not required.

Win POINT IT by leaving a comment below before 6 PM CST this Friday, April 10th. Anonymous comments and those without a valid email address will be disqualified. The winner will be chosen at random, then contacted via email by Tuesday, April 14th. If I don’t hear from the winner within 5 days, a new one will be chosen. Please enter/comment only once per giveaway. Good luck!

And congrats to Julia who won last week’s giveaway, the tugo luggage drink holder. I’m thinking Wednesday’s the giveaway day from here on out—nice mid-week pick-me-up.

One of the items in Breaking the Language Barrier, my latest “travel helpers” roundup for the Minneapolis Star Tribune Sunday travel section: This fantastically priced translator, which doubles as an alarm clock. Push one of eight buttons corresponding to popular travel categories to access over 4,500 pre-programmed phrases you can read on-screen or play out loud. (There’s a headphone jack for discreet learning.) It’s quite simple to switch between the seven languages; English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese and Japanese; and you can easily store your favorite travel phrases in a special button-location, for easy access. Two caveats: You must rely on the pre-programmed phrases—no ability to type in words willy-nilly. Also, Japanese shows up as characters, not translated into the Latin Alphabet. All in all, nice bang for your buck.

Enter away—good luck!

I love eat.shop guides for their “local-only” policy. They do a great job of ferreting out the best in independent restaurants and shops in 21 major US cities. The guides are lovely, too, with each business laid out over a two-page spread filled with pretty photos, an atmospheric blurb and a few integral pieces of info. The information’s well researched—you could even use them to learn about your own city. They come in either 6X6-inch paperbound copies or online versions. Buying for a frequent traveler you’re willing to break the budget for? Fifty bucks buys access to every online version for a year.

A run-down of every country in the world, plus targeted info, such as 30 hot destinations for the new year, to get any traveler’s wheels turning. Order through Lonely Planet and get “Blue List: The Best in Travel for 2008.” Maybe keep that one for yourself as a reward for online shopping well done.

Oh, it’s all about organization these days. Makes you feel smooth as a superhero, extracting the perfect item or bit of info without all that pedestrian rummaging, doesn’t it? I love Poketo’s journal, which helps you plan and organize your trip with a preparation checklist and day-by-day itinerary. It helps you keep track of thoughts and mementos on the road, too. Page through it post-trip to stir vacation memories. Comes with a protective Velcro pouch.

In addition to the journal, I’m including a lug buddy, a retractable clip-on ticket tote to keep your boarding passes at hand, an expandable roller bag for last-minute gifts and souvenirs, and a few other organizational travel items.

To enter: Leave a comment (see the comments tab up at the top of the post there) before 6 PM CST next Monday, December 1st. Anonymous comments and those without a valid email address will be disqualified. The winner will be chosen at random, then announced and contacted via email by or on Tuesday, December 2nd. If I don’t hear from the winner within 5 days, a new one will be chosen. Please enter/comment only once per giveaway. Check back tomorrow to enter to win the final giveaway item!