travel product review: olympus omd em10

I took this picture while the Olympus OMD EM10 was on automatic mode
as our plane was about to land at SJD. (Unedited)

I am not a photographer and do not know tech speak. But, I know I love traveling with the Olympus OMD EM10. (By the way, this is NOT a sponsored post.) Why?

I took this picture during sunrise in Bagan, Myanmar (unedited).

wine skin review

I assumed I would be buying wines, olive oils and/or vinegars on my trip to Italy and I didn't want an "accident" to wreak havoc in my luggage, so I looked into buying something to protect my purchases in transit.  After reading a bunch of reviews on amazon.com, I decided to buy Wine Skins (about $8 for a 2-pack).  It is basically bubble wrap in the shape of a bottle which you can seal securely so that your bottle won't break - or if it does (argh!) - at least the spill won't ruin your luggage.

So did it work?

toob travelbrush review

Are you constantly buying those mini travel tubes of toothpaste and then losing them or worrying that there isn't enough toothpaste left in the tiny tube to last you for the entire weekend?  I find myself buying them all the time and after a while, I realized that it was getting rather expensive since each tiny tube usually ranged from $0.99 to $1.29, while a full sized tube of toothpaste was usually less than $4.

On a recent trip to Adventure 16 in West Los Angeles, I saw this toob travelbrush which is a travel toothbrush with a plastic case (more hygienic) and a refillable mini toothpaste holder that fits in the toothbrush handle.  Apparently you can use part of the plastic case as a makeshift "cup" when you are camping or something but I doubt I would ever need that.  Generally, it seemed like a good concept to be able to refill your own toothpaste so I decided to get it.  It was $5.95 so I figured I'd have to use it on at least 6 short trips to make it worthwhile.  It wold also be nice to use my own toothpaste which I often can't find in the travel-sized version.  (Note: I found the same thing on amazon.com for $7.16 so it was actually cheaper at Adventure 16.)

tieks review - good travel shoe?

Tieks Website

i was on the hunt for comfortable and stylish shoes for travel and during my research, i kept coming across youtube videos and articles about tieks.  i was intrigued.  they are basically ballet flats that claim to be "reinvented" and Oprah is allegedly a fan.  when i checked out the website, i had to admit that the shoes looked cute and there was an impressive array of color choices.  they were handmade in italian leather and seemed to fold up nicely and take very little space in luggage.  but the prices!  $175 to $345!!!  for ballet flats!  yes, they are handmade, but could they possibly be worth it?  let's find out!

i decided to order a pair and give them a try.  i figured that i could return them if they were immediately uncomfortable (even though several of the reviews I read noted that a breaking-in period was required).  i have tried shoes with a similar concept and they were obviously uncomfortable and/or lacked support.  i had faith that my sensitive feet would not lead me astray, so i took the plunge.