Road test: gear for your travels

If you’re going to be limited to one piece of carry-on luggage, don’t lug a gloomy bag onto the plane. Instead, take aboard one of these trendy totes.

Camping is about immersing yourself in nature, getting away from the stuffy confines of modernity and losing yourself in Mother Nature’s wonderland.

Back In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, secret agent Angus MacGyver foiled evil plots and vanquished bad guys on TV with nothing but a Swiss Army knife, some chewing gum and his extra-sharp wits.

Just who was it, way back when, who decided a passport had to be just the wrong size for most pockets and containers?

These three gadgets help you work out on the go without burdening your luggage.

When the women of my family dine out together, we often wonder whether the waiter will ask us, “Would you like this to go or to wear?”

California generally has so little rain during an average year that it’s easy for you to forget to take rain gear when headed for places more apt to have stormy skies.

Sure, you have more than a thousand songs crammed into your MP3 player, but what good is all that music if you can’t hear it over the jet, train or automobile noise?

First look: Eagle Creek’s 22-inch Hovercraft Rolling Upright is a fine, lightweight case made by a manufacturer known for its adventure gear and travel luggage.

The moon is that big silvery object in the night sky, and the sun is that bright glowing orb that is responsible for all life on this planet.

I must have caffeine on a long road trip, preferably of the hot liquid variety.

Whether you’re stranded at the Denver airport or knocking around Central Park, there are several options for charging your cellphone in a pinch.

Visiting the gym every day isn’t easy; when you’re on the road, it’s almost impossible.

You’re planning a business trip when you notice your meeting site is near a prime fishing lake.

Luggage with wheels. What a concept. It’s a pity it took the world so long to think of it.

It contains digital family photos. It holds your business contacts.

An iPod. A BlackBerry. A GPS device. A Palm Pilot. A digital camera.

It’s a weekend adventure trip. You’ll hike. Maybe you’ll bike.

The morning breaks to the sound of a chirp. Or maybe it’s more of a twitter.

Summertime — and that means picnics and barbecues, at the park, beach or the mountains.

Among the world’s most popular inventions — alongside the microchip, duct tape and the thong bikini — we must include the digital audio player.

Do you worry about bad guys tripping up your trip?

ROAD TEST One of the highlights of any camping trip is sitting down to a meal cooked over an open grill, the scent of flame-broiled vittles wafting through a pine canopy.

You love the outdoors, and you do it all: hike, bike, fish, kayak ... and sweat.

We rate five that soothe, screech or slip under a pillow.

ROAD TEST | MAPPING SOFTWARE John Muir used to say that getting lost in the wilderness is a good way to find yourself.

These mufflers keep the journey quieter in the air and on the road.

Ah, the joys of the tropics: warm weather, clear skies, sunburned faces.

Although it’s widely thought that the world can be divided into butter people and olive oil folks, the two groups often overlap.