My family likes to travel, and nothing has become more essential on our trips than the TalkAbout Radios. They help us maintain communication, even if the area has no cell phone service. Each is very light weight and comes with its own mini USB and rechargeable batteries. It also has a range of 18 miles, so you can easily stay in touch when traveling.

I’ve found this extremely helpful for our camping trips. The lightweight radio can clamp right onto your belt, making hiking trips much safer. I usually give them to the kids so they won’t get lost. It is very sturdy and comes with an audible low battery alert, so you will always know when your radio needs to be charged.

The weather channels have also come in handy. Whether we are at home, or out in the middle of the woods, the radio will transmit 11 different weather channels. That way we have a secure connection in case a big storm rolls in unexpectedly, which happens surprisingly often.  There is also a way to change it into a monitor in case you have small children. Leave it in the camper while they are sleeping and have a way of knowing if they are awake or crying.

I’ve found it very useful, and it hasn’t let me down yet. It’s very easy to use and operate, and even has a hand-free mode. Whenever the TalkAbout Radio needs to be charged all you have to do is place it in the double charger and plug it in.

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Many people just don’t realize how useful the Skyworth 12 Volt 15″ LCD AC/DC Portable TV with remote really is. It is a fifteen inch LCD television that is great for the car.

The TV provides the same features as a normal one, except it doesn’t take up the space and can be powered by the cigarette lighter. It comes with an earphone jack, stereo, A/V and S-Video Inputs, and VGA for PC.

I’ve found that they are a cost efficient way of keeping children occupied. If your family does a lot of traveling, it’s handy to have a TV in the back so they don’t spend the whole trip arguing. Kids can play watch TV, play video games, or watch movies. All you have to do is bring along your video game system or DVD player.

There are lots of other uses for the 12 volt television as well. It’s great for truckers who spend most of their time on the road. Although I don’t recommend to watching television while driving, drivers can plug the TV when they stop to have a little recreational time before they go to sleep. We found it was also great for camping as well, if you can’t live without an X-box for a couple of days. Instead of packing the box TV, we brought the 15″ flat screen. It packed much better in the car.

It comes with a stand and a mounting set which comes in handy. Since we use the Skyworth television frequently, we thought it would be best to have it mounted in the car. This protects the TV from accidentally getting stepped on or dropped.

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Allergies are common among many families in the U.S. You might not have them, but I know a lot of friends and relatives probably do. It’s the same way for me. I don’t have any allergies but my friends and family members do. One thing that I have found that works wonders to help them out is an air purifier. Now I know many people have them for their houses however that doesn’t help very much if they are always on the go. This is especially true if you have a truck driver in your family like in mine.

The air purifiers are nice because they are 12 volt items meaning all they have to do is plug it into the cigarette lighter. There are a couple different kinds but they both work almost identical. The first air purifier is nice because it’s a little more compact and it doesn’t use any chemicals or agents to get rid of the pollen, dust, and other things in the air. The second one is the one I like better as it has fragrance pellets to make the car smell nice. This one doesn’t use chemicals either and has an interior fan that’s quiet.
These also work great in RV’s if your family goes on trips. By having an effective air purifier it may help spare some of your friends and family members the agony of allergies when everyone’s trying to have a good time. As for me these worked great for gifts to all of my family members that have allergies.

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I’m sure everyone, especially truckers, can relate to traffic hour. It’s a headache for anyone trying to get to where they’re trying to go. For truckers it’s especially stressful because they have so many blind spots and they’re trying to avoid people. 12 volt GPS systems are useful to help find the fastest route. Soon there will be a new emerging technology for phones too. There currently is no real way to monitor real time traffic conditions. Some of the major highways have sensors every few miles to help identify the speed of traffic; however, besides being ineffective it’s relatively costly. Portable GPS systems can come in handy for these kinds of situations. This is because if you run into a traffic jam you can find alternate routes pretty easy using one.
As of today the University of California, Berkeley, is offering free downloads of a software program for cell phones that have global positioning systems. This allows for the information of the vehicle to be sent back to a computer system to be compared with all the other information of other vehicles in the same area and sent back to the phone. This means that you can find out real time traffic information where you are. While this may not be as useful as a GPS system, it does allow for you to know the traffic conditions. This technology when combined with a portable GPS system could allow for truckers and everyday drivers to save time, headaches, and avoid heavy traffic jams.

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I’m sure if you’re like me you have family vacations and there’s always someone in the background being distracting, whether it’s the kids being bored to death and fighting or your girlfriend next to you that can’t take long car rides. In my case it’s my girlfriend who can’t stand long car rides. While trying to find something for her to do I ran across a cool little 12 volt flip down monitor.

Since I have a portable DVD player this monitor actually worked out rather nicely as all I had to do was install it. Also since it’s a 12-volt based electronic (unlike my DVD player) this will allow you to save money on batteries by just plugging it in.
Besides being slim and portable the monitor has video and audio inputs and is even compatible with wireless headphones. That’s the most important thing as I like to listen to music when I drive and that would just be distracting for me. It also comes with a remote if you have someone watching it from the backseat.  Also if you’re not good at installing things, this actually has a very easy installation process. This little flip down monitor is handy for any family or couple that likes to travel. Even if it’s just yourself and you go on long road trips, it will allow you to take a small break from driving to make it easier on you. So if you’re looking for a way to occupy someone else, or yourself if you’re not the driver, this makes a perfect travel buddy.

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This site always has the niftiest little gadgets that are the most practical little things as well. This time around I’ve found another perfect item for anyone not just truckers. They have several of these little heated coffee mugs. If you’re like me and like any kind of hot drink, then one of these mugs would be a great investment. (I prefer warm tea or hot coco over coffee myself and having cold coco is not good.)

Not only do these make good personal use items but if you have any family members that travel a lot like myself, than this would make the perfect Christmas gift as well. (My father is a truck driver who likes coffee so this works well for my case.) The mugs themselves come in different colors like the blue and silver ones. They make them easy to clean by having a removable power cord so it’s not in your way. Besides the standard ones that plug into the lighter, they even have a thermal cup that plugs into a USB port! They are designed with a non-skid rubber base and they fit in all standard cup holders. They also have a value pack if you’re looking to pick up one for you and someone else. The multiple pack worked best for my girlfriend and I as we are traveling bodies and are always out and about.

So whether you travel a lot or just like to have a warm drink when you do, these little guys make the perfect travel companions.

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