The anti-snack ban will come into effect this weekend until end of October. So if you’re thinking of enjoying snacks you brought with you while marvelling at Rome’s historical sites, think twice or you might be slapped with an $80 fine.

[ Source: MSNBC ]

Problem is, wireless mobile broadband is often long-term based subscription and tied to an extended contract. When you’re on the road and expecting to stay no longer than a week, the option of short-term wireless mobile broadband where you can rent by the day sounds very appealing.

RovAir, a New York based company founded last year, caters to this category of consumer travelers. The concept of renting WiFi internet data card was conceived when the founder rented a stroller for his baby. RovAir is now the leading day pass provider of wireless mobile broadband (WMB) aircards, datacards and evdo cards.

RovAir subscribes to long-term 3G providers (Sprint, Verizon and AT&T) and sell it to users who want short-term WiFi internet access minus the commitment. Subscribers to RovAir’s service are charged from as little as $5.95 a day on a 30-day plan. The daily fee triples to $15 if you rent it by the day (min of 3 days). That doesn’t include the shipping fee of $19.95 for RovAir’s AirCard.

RovAir promises a very mobile and versatile WiFi internet access without the necessary commitment. However, the cost for such convenience may be too high for many travelers with frugality in mind. RovAir is committed to bringing the cost of renting short-term WiFi internet access down. Business travelers on the other hand, flying in all-expenses-paid business trips who can’t be sure if there’s internet access available at their destination are the perfect market for RovAir.

Pharos Trips & Pics, a geo-logger tool for digital camera, uses Global Positioning System (GPS) to enable consumers to record trip and photo locations and display them on a map quickly and easily. Pharos Trips & Pics is compatible with any digital camera.

“Over the years, Pharos has enabled consumers to add GPS capability to laptops, Pocket PCs and Smartphones, driving a wide variety of location-specific scenarios on those devices,” said James Oyang, Ph.D. President of Pharos Science & Applications. “We’re pleased to extend this expertise to the digital camera market and make precise location information more broadly available.”

Pharos Science & Applications, Inc. is a leading provider of GPS navigation solutions and location-based services for mobile devices. The company is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, a charter member of Microsoft’s Partner Advisory Council, and a member of ITS America and CTIA. Pharos products are sold through a network of leading national retail locations and online stores. For more information, visit www.pharosgps.com.

While you can’t really get away from parenting duties on vacation (unless you can afford to treat your nanny to a vacation too), you can lighten the baby luggage load. Leave the preferred bag of diapers, baby food and other baby necessities at home. Avoid the headache of packing your infant’s necessities and instead, let Tinytotsaway help you organise the shopping, packing and carrying of your baby’s holiday needs, leaving you to enjoy your holiday stress-free!

Yes Tinytotsaway deliver all your little traveller essentials direct to your villa, hotel or apartment reception saving you the time and effort involved in managing your baby’s essential needs. You can be sure that the things you need are available the moment your arrive in your hotel room instead of realising that particular brand of baby food is unavailable at the local supermarket. No more searching the shops for things my baby needs.

I cannot stress how useful this service provided by Tinytotsaway is to new parents like us. It’s mind boggling how much packing for your tiny bundle of joy will add to your travel baggage. Apart from vacationers, Tinytotsaway is a great service for jetsetter parents too with little time to spare.

That sums up the goal of Pure Hydration (BW Technologies Limited), an independent British company that was established in 1993, when they set out to research and develop a personal water purification product called the Thirst Aid Bag.

Personal and portable water purification system is one of the most invaluable life-saving gadget an outdoor traveler could have. You will come across situations when the only water available to you is from a river or pond and its potentially dangerous contaminated water.

Furthermore, it’s true that water quality often suffers in remote destinations, but even at home or hotels in well developed countries, we are under threat. Thirst Aid Bag will come in handy for people who doesn’t have time to boil and filter tap water but have doubts as to whether the water from the pipe is clean to drink. I often find myself wondering the same during my travels so I’m certain the Thirst Aid Bag is really a handy addition to the health conscious traveler’s equipment.

The Thirst Aid Bag acts as a powerful water purification system with filtration technology to produces clean, clear safe drinking water from any contaminated sources be it from drainage ditch or muddy puddle to a standpipe. It’s advanced filtration system filters out contaminants and pathogens, bacteria and viruses; it also removes sediment, reduces heavy metals and leaves the water odourless and palatable.

Thirst Aid Bag provides a very handy and crucial solution to the problem safe water anywhere, anytime at maximum convenience and portability. It is lighter and more portable than a drinking bottle. It can effectively purify 350 litres of water which equals 700 x 500ml plastic water bottles before requiring a filter replacement. Cheaper than buying equivalent quantity of bottled water. Construction wise, it is built to withstand harsh and hostile environment which most travelers would subject the Thirst Aid Bag to.

Pure Hydration’s filters have been quality tested to the extreme limits and meet all criteria for EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] and NSF [National Sanitation Foundation] testing protocols for water filters and purifiers. In fact, Pure Hydration water filtration products are made to very high quality and safety standards that it is being used by the military, endorsed by Hospital for Tropical Diseases London and approved for use by the UK MOD. All products are manufactered under strict quality control in accordance to ISO 9000/9001 standards.

The latest addition to pod hotel concept is citizenM (short for citizen Mobile) Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The hotel is conveniently located just a short walking distance from from the arrivals and departures terminal at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.

citizenM Hotel room bed window

The concept of which citizenM hotel is built on caters for modern day travelers who wants a contemporary, comfortable, a more luxurious and convenient place to stay at reasonable prices. Value-for-money is what citizenM hotel is known for but unlike any regular pod hotels, it doesn’t skimp on space and amenities. Plus, the window and bed is huge, thank god.

A room may measure just 14 square metres each but it is well-designed to make use of every single inch of space. It is evident that citizenM designers gave careful, attention to detail and tedious thoughts into planning the room decor. Everything you need - bed, power rain shower, sink, toilet and other facilities - fits nicely and doesn’t make you feel cramped. Everything just seems to make perfect sense.

Take the bed for instance, you might wonder how cleaners could remove and replace the bedsheet without access to every corners of the bed. No they don’t climb on top the bed either. With citizenM’s patent-pending bed design, the bed can be pulled forward vertically and allow the cleaner easy access to replace the bedsheet. By the way, the bed is decked out with the finest linen.

Room entertainment includes an LCD television with free movie channels including blockbusters and classic favourites. Notebook toting roadwarriors will be pleased that citizenM offers WiFi internet access for free 24/7. Worried about charging your electronic gadgets? That’s taken care of with a global plug system. Philips ‘MoodPad’, an all-in-one remote control unit, controls the lighting, temperature, adjustable blinds, LCD TV and alarms.

Buses, taxis and trains are within walking distance and provide a 24 hour a day connection to the city centre of amsterdam (20 minutes by train) and all other major cities in the netherlands. Parking and rental cars are within walking distance as well

CitizenM Hotel opened just in time to help travelers offset the rising cost of travel and the high Euro conversion. And that’s always welcomed.

Although the Hong Kong carrier’s spokeperson denied the baggage allowance reduction is due in part to rising oil prices, they won’t fool anyone. Airlines around the world is taking every measure possible to cut operating costs. This move will reduce flight weight in order to save on fuel.

Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, one of the most spectacular buildings of the Victorian era, is ideally located by the exclusive boutiques of Sloane Street and Harrods, and directly opposite Harvey Nichols, cementing its reputation as London’s premier hotel for the avid shopper. It is the only hotel in London to be located on Hyde Park, allowing guests’ unrivalled views of extensive royal parkland from both of the hotel’s restaurants and many of its rooms and suites. Its position also offers guests an array of outdoor leisure pursuits including riding, cycling, tennis, jogging and rowing, as well as gourmet picnics which can be arranged by the hotel’s culinary team.

At GBP2525, the ‘Christmas Extravaganza’ holiday package deal is made especially for this festive season. Enjoy the following:

• 3 nights stay for a family of four in two deluxe inter-connecting rooms stylishly decorated with an aura of traditional English Christmas spirit. Christmas trees, Christmas stockings and many more festive decorations.
• Full English Breakfast at a family table in The Park restaurant every morning
• Now this would light up your children’s eyes: A Golden Pass to Harrods Children’s Christmas Grotto! Head over to Harrods department store between 12.30am and 1pm on Christmas eve for a wonderful family time.
• Christmas Day Lunch in The Park with a special appearance from Father Christmas and gifts for the children
• A family pass to London’s largest outdoor ice skating rink at the magical Winter Wonderland in adjacent Hyde Park
• Complimentary porter gift collection for Christmas gifts from nearby Harrods, Harvey Nichols and the surrounding luxury boutiques of Knightsbridge
• Access to the Mandarin Oriental box at the Royal Albert Hall for the Raymond Gubbay ‘Christmas Carols by Candlelight’ concert at 7pm on Christmas Eve

Prices are based on 2 inter-connecting rooms for a 3 night stay arriving 24 December 2008, for 2 adults and 2 children (0-12 years only) including a guaranteed early check-in at 9am and late check out to 4pm. This package is subject to availability excludes 17.5% VAT and 5% discretionary service charge. Bookings must be made two weeks prior to arrival.

Source: Mandarin Oriental

You feel like making a difference for the future of our planet do you? On the other hand, you feel alone doing so and insignificant but rest assured there are people out there who relates to your contribution no matter how small it is. This book by Fodor titled “Green Travel: The World’s Best Eco-Lodges & Earth-Friendly Hotels” gives you a start when planning an eco-friendly vacation.

Green Travel is the must-have guide to eco-lodges & green hotels around the world. Featuring 100 clean, green accommodations that are not only environmentally friendly, but work to support local communities as well, Choosing Eco-Travel celebrates the growing availability of green travel experiences. It also tackles some the more difficult issues that ethical travelers’ face— questions about poverty, the politics of boycotting certain destinations, and the environmental impact of travel.

Divided into six chapters (North America & the Caribbean, Central & South America, Europe, Africa & the Middle East, Asia and Australasia), the book includes:

• 100 independent reviews of green accommodations that have a minimum impact on the environment and benefit the local community in measurable ways.
• A full description of the green credentials of each hotel and lodge
• A range of choices from around the world: budget beds to luxury accommodations, solar-powered yurt camps to eco-chic city hotels.
• First-hand accounts of green travel experiences on each continent — from bear-watching in Alaska to wine and cheese trails in Britain
• Ethical travel dilemmas that tap into the key issues facing the responsible traveler
• Practical information about the greenest ways to get to your destination, social and environmental ratings for each listing, the best time to visit, and room rates.
• Clear locator maps and full-color images throughout

I’m glad that Hertz, the car rental company, has lent an ear and promised to deliver rented automobile to weary travelers within 10 minutes. If Hertz manages to adhere to it’s 10-minute guarantee 8 out of 10 times, I consider it a job well done. Look, after spending half a day in a plane, I’d rather not waste another second idling away at the airport.

Here’s what you have to do. Check in at Hertz.com and print out a confirmation. Rather than queueing up at the agent counter, use it at the self-service kiosk or express counters when you arrive at 50 participating airports. Hertz will have your car ready for you within 10 minutes. Or else Hertz will pay you $50 in credit.