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.

Break the plastic-baggie habit with reusable, dishwasher-safe, 100% stainless steel food containers. I like the sectioned-off version for two kinds of travel snacks, but there’s a single-compartment option, too. That one fits a sandwich.

Enter to win this and other eco-friendly items over at Fun Finds For Mom, where Elaina is offering a bunch of giveaways in honor of Earth Week.

Schools and non-profits get two cents for each juice pouch they turn over to Terracycle, which scours, sorts, then double-stitches them into bags. Last year alone, 42 million pouches were saved from the landfill and made into funky, durable bags like these—great for overnights, camping supplies, beach necessities and more.

Incidentally, the story of the young “eco-capitalists” behind Terracycle is fascinating enough to warrant its own TV show, Garbage Moguls, which debuts on Earth Day (Wednesday) evening on the National Geographic Channel. The company was founded by a Princeton student so taken by a friend’s worm box that he quit school to make all-natural, all-organic worm-poop plant food packaged in used soda bottles. Products created from and packaged in waste are Terracycle’s thing, and their ever-expanding product line now includes kites made from cookie wrappers and the juice pouch tote above.

And hey—good news! You can win that earth- and travel-friendly Drink Pouch Tote by leaving a comment on this post before 9 PM CST this Tuesday, April 21st. Anonymous comments and those without a valid email address will be disqualified. The winner will be chosen at random and announced on Earth Day, April 22nd. 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!

As an admitted thrift store addict, I generally carry a tape measure with me to best evaluate tablecloth length, planter height, skirt waist and what have you. Looks like it’s time to get rid of the ridiculous black-and-yellow industrial behemoth I inherited from my handy husband.

Apologies for my extended absence, folks. I’m back! And I give you, direct from the 2009 Travel Goods Show, my new crush, this lovely white-leather laptop sleeve—sleek, but with a sense of humor. Fun to schlep around; fun to close. I heart it so much that I’ve developed a use for it beyond travel, one that plays into my ongoing quest to integrate both more organization and more relaxation into my daily life. My new goal: End the day by turning the laptop off and placing it, on my empty desktop, in this beauty. A laptop sleeve that inspires me to be a better person? Now that’s true love.

I’ll be back with more on Monday. Promise.

Snuggie Mania is sweeping the nation. As reported in a USA Today article, over four million people own what’s basically a fleece robe you wear backwards. Then there are the talk show references, the YouTube sendups, the hundreds of Facebook groups and even Snuggie pub crawls. Which begs the question: Why? According to the infomercial that made it famous, the Snuggie’s allure lies in its ability to keep you totally warm while allowing you the use of your hands, but my money’s on the “affordable kitsch” factor—two Snuggies and two book lights for twenty bucks? Hell, yeah. I hope to see people rockin’ these on airplanes, rather than solely using them at home, say, next to The Clapper and the Ch-ch-ch-chia Pet.

Wakes you up with an explosion sound, which you stop by unplugging the correct colored-wire connection, thus diffusing this “bomb.” (The diffusion code resets randomly after each use.) Clearly not your best choice for carryon.

(via Gear Diary)

Pretty TSA-friendly silicone tubes with a wide opening, for easy filling. Select the correct contents label to display in the ID window—key, since most toiletries look the same naked. Love the little suction cup on the medium size, for sticking temporarily to tile for hands-free dispensing.

(via jacob heftmann)

The stackable, re-arrangeable aluminum pieces come in a little velvet travel pouch so you and yours can easily light up each night, no matter where you are. They double as Shabbat candlesticks, too.

Powered by water, not batteries, making it greener, cheaper and easier to run than your typical travel alarm.