Spring and summer are among the best times to get outside and have fun with your family and friends. And one of the best ways to spend time outdoors is having a picnic on the beach while enjoying the sand and surf or in a beautiful park enjoying the spring breeze. Getting outside with your significant other, your friends, family, or all of the above and taking part in a picnic is simply a great way to spend time together, enjoy a great meal, and relax in a beautiful location.

Next to choosing the location for your picnic, the most important thing to do is to figure out what you want to eat and get it all packed up. Traditionally, in years gone by, preparing for a picnic simply involved cooking your meal, packing it in a basket, and grabbing your picnic blanket. LuggagePoint.com makes it easy to get back to those simplistic picnic ideals. They offer a variety of picnic bags. Among the most popular are lunch coolers, lunch tote bags, picnic backpacks, and picnic blankets bags.

Lunch tote bags or lunch coolers both have the same purpose of storing your food at a desired temperature (hot or cold for up to four hours). Thus, when you arrive at your destination and will start eating, you can still enjoy warm soup or your cold cut sandwich. These lunch coolers or tote bags can also be used to bring lunch at work or at school due to their smaller size.

The picnic backpacks are very easy to transport your picnic smorgasboard. Most of the picnic backpacks featured at LuggagePoint.com come fully equipped with enough plates, cups, silverware, and napkins for either a two or four person picnic. Just load up your food and you’re ready to take off on a picnic adventure! Many of the picnic baskets, bags, and backpacks featured on LuggagePoint.com alson include blankets. This is a helpful feature since you can have your picnic basket and blanket all together ready to go at a moment’s notice. The choices are endless at LuggagePoint.com when it comes to our selection of picnic gear. Whether you’re looking for a traditional wicker style picnic basket, a tote bag style basket, or a backpack…we’ve got ‘em! All of these different bags are very easy to carry and better yet, they are easy to store at home.

So what are you waiting for? Picnic season is upon us and LuggagePoint.com has many of these wonderfully appointed picnic baskets, backpacks, and totes on sale right now. Order today!

The Delsey Helium Breeze 17” Trolley Tote with 15” Laptop Sleeve is full of features that make it an appealing choice for business people who are constantly on the go. This trolley tote is unbelievably lightweight and requires minimal effort as compared to lifting your bag or briefcase or slinging them on your shoulder. The reason behind the tote’s unbelievably light weight is its graphite frame, which is the same material used in the construction of golf clubs and tennis rackets. It has two interior mesh pockets and wet pack for easy storage and security.

The tote is fully lined for the protection of its contents, has a removable suiter, and tie-down straps to secure your contents. The recessed locking trolley handle is made of industrial aluminum, accounts for its light weight as well. It has an easy to use telescoping handle that allows one hand operation. It also has protected and recessed Velocity in-line skate wheels that roll easily and will provide long-lasting service. These in-line skate wheels also allow easy turning through corners without any fear of overturning. Additional bags can be carried effortlessly with the trolley tote’s adjustable webbing strap. This will translate to additional comfort as you hurriedly make your way to your boarding gate.

The included laptop sleeve affords even more multi-tasking abilities for this ingenious bag. You can store up to a 15″ laptop in the sleeve. This addition makes this tote an attractive carry-on bag for business travelers as well as the occasional traveler who wants to safely transport their laptop.

The Delsey tote is big enough to accommodate the usual stuff a traveler carries; yet small enough to conveniently be pulled in crowded spaces. It is made of durable Ballistic Nylon with EVA foam backing. The trolley tote weighs in at 8 pounds…adding to its appeal as an ideal carry-on bag for flying. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price for this wonderful trolley tote is $180.00 but is now on sale at Luggagepoint.com for $39.95, resulting in a huge savings of $144.05 or 80%! Order now while it’s still on sale and save big on this great bag.

For garden enthusiasts, spring is one of the busiest and most favorite times of the year. As spring is the time for plants to “wake up”, it’s also the time for mulch to be revitalized and for winter clean up to be done. As the first warm days of spring arrive, enthusiasts cannot resist going out in the garden to take a look at the things to be done and to plan for all the work to be accomplished for the days ahead.

At LuggagePoint.com, we have several staff members who are garden enthusiasts. Because of their “green thumbs”, we are pleased to offer a great line of attractive, functional garden sets that will be great gift ideas for moms, newlyweds, and anyone who wants to turn the soil with their hands a little bit and tinker with plants in the garden this spring and summer.

The Tuscan Collection Gardening Basket

This garden tools basket is an excellent gift idea for gardeners who desire to venture out in the garden on the first warm day of spring to attend to various plants that will wake up after the gloomy days of winter. It contains a set of three gardening tools, a pair of scissors, and a pair of gloves all neatly arranged and organized in an attractive wicker basket. The basket also features a section that will be a great place to keep packets of seeds as well. It is priced at $56.00 at Luggagepoint.com and will ship free of charge.

The Arbor Basket Gardening Basket

This willow basket includes all the necessities and tools needed for tending a garden and is an ideal gift for any occasion. It includes a spade, a weeder, a hand held rake, and a garden fork, all with wooden handles. It also comes with a pair gloves. The basket measures 12.75 inches in height, 5.75 inches in depth, and 10.75 inches in length. This gardening basket is available at Luggagepoint.com at $36.00 with $8.95 shipping cost.

The Terrace Gardening Bag

This floral patterned gardening bag comes with five convenient gardening tools. It comes with a trowel, a spade, a weeder, a hand-held rake, and a garden fork, all with wooden handles. It also comes with a pair of gloves. This gardening basket measures 12.25 inches in height, 2.25 inches in depth, and 12.25 inches in length. The main pouch is large and able to contain many other gardening supplies that you may want to carry with you as well (seeds, plant food, etc.). This wonderful gift idea from LuggagePoint.com costs only $40.00, plus shipping. This soft-sided bag is a great gift idea for Mother’s Day, as a wedding shower gift, or any other celebration.

The Terrace Cradle Gardening Bag

This gardening bag is another excellent gift idea for the garden enthusiasts. The bag includes five popular garden tools: a spade, a weeder, a hand-held rake, and a garden fork, all with wooden handles. It also comes with a pair of gloves. This is a slightly smaller version of the Terrace Gardening Bag. It features the same attractive floral pattern, but the bag is slightly smaller and features a different design.
Any of the above-mentioned garden baskets or bags are excellent gifts for garden enthusiasts who will be out in the garden. These attractive, functional baskets and bags are also great gift ideas for wedding showers, birthdays, and Mother’s Day (which is approaching quickly).

Several outdoor sports such as cycling, hiking, and running are done primarily during the warmer months of spring and summer. These are the seasons where the weather is always better for these kinds of activities unlike during winter or fall where it can be too cold for you to enjoy your favorite sports. However, a drawback during summer and spring is the relatively high temperature which may make you dehydrated especially while during rigorous physical activities. Taking precautionary measures should be done prior to venturing outdoors in order to avoid dehydration and possibly heat stroke.

Dehydration may occur if your body no longer has the required amount of fluids that it needs. And one of the ways to prevent this from happening is to buy and use a hydration pack. LuggagePoint.com offers a variety of hydration packs that are all easy to carry and very affordable. They are available in different brands, styles, and colors but all have the main purpose of helping you avoid dehydration.

Hydration packs are usually backpacks that conceal or store a water bladder with a tube that serves as a way of drinking without using your hands. These packs are primarily designed for cyclists, runners, or hikers that desire a way to stay hydrated in a hands free way. Aside from variations of style, color, and brand, hydration packs also differ on the amount of water they carry as well as the pack’s ability to carry additional items. Some hydration packs simply contain the water storage bladder while others offer additional storage areas for clothes and other items runners, cyclists, and hikers may want to have with them.

Currently, LuggagePoint.com carries several hydration packs offered by High Sierra and Ogio. These hydration packs come in a variety of styles and sizes. If you’re sports interests require the need for a hydration pack, then look no further than the  great selection offered at LuggagePoint.com.

Computer technology, audio technology, and visual technology all require the collection of a lot of stuff. Computer users are particularly concerned about backing up their files for protection against hard drive crashes and other incidents that may result to the loss of the important documents, photos, music, movies, and other data they have saved on their hard drives. The same can be said about those who use MP3 players and iPods. Everyone wants to protect his or her files. To safeguard these precious files, many technology users have resorted to backing their files up by using external hard drives, flash drives, SD cards, and other media storage devices. These forms of data storage often have to be carried around from office to homes and to other places where the stored information might be needed, making it very easy and convenient for people to access stored information whenever it is needed.

Carrying around external hard drives and other forms of data storage often leaves them exposed to potential damage which may might result in data loss. In order to eliminate these potential risks, it’s important to have good storage cases for these devices when the need arises to take them from one place to another. A good storage case can potentially be a “life saver” – whether it’s protecting important business related documents on a flash drive or your collection of family pictures on an external hard drive, a media storage case is an essential piece of frontline protection.

LuggagePoint.com offers an excellent media storage case that will protect your stored music, video, documents, and data as you moved around during your normal day-to-day activities. The Sumdex X-Sac Media Storage Case is a very compact case that is intended not only for portable hard drives, but also for storage and organization of other computer accessories too. This compact case includes pockets for memory cards, batteries, external hard drives, and other data storage devices. The Sumdex X-Sac Media Storage Case has a protective cover that will easily fit into your pocket, briefcase, backpack, carry-on, or messenger bag during the course of your trip or daily commute. It easily holds any 2.5-inch portable hard drive such as Western Digital Passport and other similar sized devices.

The Sumdex X-Sac Media Storage Case has a padded main compartment for the added protection of your devices and it has a zipper closure for added security. It can easily accommodate memory sticks, compact flash, smart media flash, and secure digital media cards, in addition to spare batteries. It also has a slip pocket on the back of it.

The Sumdex X-Sac Media Storage Case has a lifetime manufacturer warranty and it is made of water repellent ripstop polyester. It measures 4 inches in height, 2 inches in depth, and 6.25 inches in length and it weighs only one pound.

The Sumdex X-Sac Media Storage Case is a great way to keep your media storage devices organized and protected wherever you may roam!

Father’s Day isn’t that far off. Go ahead and get your gifts purchased now so you won’t have to rush around looking for a gift at the last minute. LuggagePoint.com has a wide array of gift ideas for that wonderful man in your life – your dad. Some of the excellent gift ideas for Father’s Day are the following:

Samsonite Travel Accessories Worldwide Adaptor Plug

For fathers on the go, this worldwide adaptor plug from LuggagePoint.com will be an excellent gift. It is a compact, all in one adaptor plug that will fit electric outlets in most commonly visited countries throughout the world. It works perfectly with U.S., British, and European appliances and can be used in conjunction with a power converter or transformer. It comes complete with safety lock and surge protector. However, this Samsonite worldwide adaptor plug is an adaptor plug only and may not be used as a voltage converter.

Voltaic Solar Panel Converter

A backpack is definitely a welcomed gift by fathers who are on the go. The Voltaic Solar Panel Converter is great for use as a small daypack and laptop bag. It is fully padded to protect laptops with up to 15″ screens. It also features loops with a fastek buckles at each corner to attach to other bags. Its large solar panel generates up to 4 watts of power, enabling it to easily recharge cell phones, iPods, and other portable electronic devices.

Royce Leather Framed Card Case

For Father’s Day, you can choose from several business card cases available at LuggagePoint.com. One card case that stands out from the rest is the Royce Leather Framed Card Case. This uniquely designed card case with a chrome frame comes in either black or brown leather. By lifting the front flap, 50 business cards will slide up for easy access. It also has an extra pocket in the back for those cards that you pick up from your business contacts.

Case Logic Medium SLR Camera Bag

This camera bag is compatible with most SLR cameras with zoom lenses and is a wonderful gift idea for any photographer. Its hammock system suspends your SLR camera above the bottom of the case, thus providing superior impact protection. It has a water-proof EVA base that can withstand the elements and allows the case to stand up on its own. The memory foam interior helps protect the delicate LCD screen of your camera. There are two large side compartments where your dad can store additional lenses and accessories. The zippered compartments on front and rear can store memory cards, batteries and other small camera accessories.

CD Wallets Hard Shell 24 CD Wallet Case

This is a wonderful gift idea for your dad. It can hold up to 24 CDs/DVDs/CD-ROMs. It has removable sleeves and is made of durable materials to protect the media. If your father is a music fan or movie fan, CD/DVD cases are always a welcomed and appreciated gift.

These are just a few examples of the great gifts offered at LuggagePoint.com for Father’s Day. We are confident that you will be able to find a great gift for your dad on our site!

The airline industry, while heavily focused on developing a renewable, efficient method of powering their jets in order to decrease their dependency on fossil fuels, is overlooking an important initiative for ecological responsibility – recycling the products discarded by the millions of people who fly on their planes every day. Imagine the amount of trash generated by millions of airline passengers on a daily basis. Where does all of that trash go? Green America estimates that airline passengers generate as much as 881 million pounds of trash every year. Unfortunately, most of this trash just goes directly into landfills at the moment.

The Natural Resource Defense Council estimated that airlines annually throw away around 9,000 pounds of plastic and aluminum cans—enough to build 58 Boeing 747 jetliners. They also throw away enough newspapers and magazines that would easily fill a football field 230 meters deep.

A simple investigation of most airline practices shows that they do not recycle most of the major items that are normally recycled such as aluminum cans, paper, glass, and plastic. Airlines do not have comprehensive programs in place for minimizing waste during flights. Composting food waste is an unheard practice in the airline industry as they simply dump them together with other onboard trash into the same garbage containers. Snacks served during flights are over-packaged with non-recyclable materials; another practice that clearly shows the airlines lack of concern for the environment.

Airline passengers who are concerned about maintaining eco-friendly practices will easily see that flight attendants who collect trash during flights do not segregate trash but rather dump it all into a single bag for disposal. Empty soda cans, plastic bottles and cups, magazines and newspapers, which could be salvaged and recycled simply end up as garbage that will fill up landfills.

This apparent lack of concern for the environment by the majority of the airlines has angered many environmentalists who have called the industry’s attention to the matter. The most common excuse advanced by most airlines is the absence of recycling facility in most of the airports where they operate. However, this seems to be a very flimsy excuse since individual airline companies could set up their own recycling program. With the amount of products thrown away by passengers, the cost involved creating and managing such a program should be offset by the income generated from recycling itself.

While U.S.-based airlines show very little interest, if not total indifference, on the recycling program, its European counterparts have achieved much progress in this area. Lufthansa of Germany, for example, is very deliberate in its policy of waste segregation—a practice that is yet to be duplicated by most US based airlines.

Airline passengers can play a very important role in compelling the airlines to adopt a more aggressive eco-friendly policy with regards to onboard trash disposal. They can exert pressure on airlines through the use of letters, phone calls, commenting on blogs, social media, and email. To learn more about the poor state of recycling among the airlines and what you can do to bring about change, please download and read the following report that was created by Green America Today.

Richard “Rick” Steves is a television host of a public television series on European travel and a public radio travel show. He is also an author of many great, informative and helpful travel guidebooks. He started his career in travel by teaching travel classes at the University of Washington in Seattle and also as a tour leader during summer.

In 1979, he wrote the first edition of Europe Through the Back Door, a guide on how to travel in Europe, based on his lectures from his travel classes. He later became a consultant on traveling, organized group tours, and updated his books. During the 1980s, his business known as Europe Through the Back Door or ETBD steadily grew and he published more guidebooks.

As his business grew, Steves began producing TV shows about European destinations. The shows were produced using his own funds and were offered to public television for free, making Steves a nationwide figure and as a result his tours, guidebooks, and merchandise business continued to expand. His television series “Travels in Europe with Rick Steves” made him very famous and made him one of public television’s top pledge drive hosts, raising millions of dollars for public television stations across the nation.

Due to Rick Steves’ popularity and his contributions to travel, LuggagePoint.com carries the Rick Steves line of travel products that are very well made and focused on travelers’ needs. These products are the most commonly sought items that a traveler will need such as a money belt to safeguard cash while exploring unfamiliar streets and shopping alleys of a small town in an unfamiliar country. Items such as a convertible back pack carry-on, deluxe neck pillow for comfortable sleep in a plane or in a train, and other items that are must-buy for travelers.

Among the popular items in the Rick Steves Line at LuggagePoint.com are the following:

• Rick Steves Packing Cube Set that can be purchased for $16.16
• Rick Steves Silk Money Belt for $12.95
• Rick Steves 21″ Roll Aboard Carry-On Luggage for $125.96
• Rick Steves 24″ Roll About Luggage Upright for $152.96
• Rick Steves Civita Day Pack Backpack for $22.46
• Rick Steves Deluxe Neck Pillow for $12.56
• Rick Steves Silk Neck Wallet for $11.66
• Rick Steves TSA Combo Travel Lock 2-pack for $17.06
• Rick Steves Luggage ID Tag set of 2-blacdk for $10.76
• Rick Steves 50″ Travel Towel for $22.46
• Rick Steves Avanti Rolling Tote for $89.96
• Rick Steves Hide-Away Tote Bag for $17.96
• Rick Steves Travelin 7″ Toiletries Kit for $16.96
• Rick Steves Appenzell Pack for $35.96
• Rick Steves Veloce Shoulder Bag for $44.96

LuggagePoint.com is pleased to offer these items and many more that have been inspired and designed by Rick Steves. Most of the items in his product line are usually priced with a 10% discount and many of them qualify for free shipping as well.

Traveling to Europe or anywhere else will be enjoyable, comfortable, and easy with the products from the Rick Steves Line!

Air travelers are concerned not only with the accommodations provided by the airlines but also the amenities that they find in the airports themselves. An air traveler may get to enjoy all the best amenities during his flight, but the trip can still be ruined by baggage that does not come out on time in the carousel in the claim area, or has to endure unclean restrooms, uncomfortable terminals, etc. Concerns about accessibility, check-in procedures, the security process, the level of comfort in the terminal, food choices offered by concessionaires, and baggage handling are all given close scrutiny by air travelers.

Six international airports in the U.S. have continued to improve their services and strive to provide amenities for the traveling public. Each of these airports was voted as one of the best airports in the United States for their efforts to meet the needs of travelers. Each of these airports appears on a multitude of lists in articles all over the Internet. At LuggagePoint.com, we thought it would be fun to create a list of some of our favorite airports and why we like them:

San Francisco International Airport (SFO) – This airport has four terminals that radiate out like spokes from the main hub, so strolling around the whole terminal takes only a few minutes. The airport is provided with an automatic people mover – Air Train- that can take people between the terminals, rental car area, and to the parking garage. Being one of the busiest international airports in the country, the airport has a lot of Internet kiosks and restaurants. Wi-Fi is available throughout the whole airport for a price of only $10 a day. Workstations are also available in the Business Center where business owners, executives, and employees can do business while waiting for their flights. And for the travel weary, a full service spa is also open daily.

Dallas-Ft. Worth International (DFW) – A passenger train system makes this airport one of the easiest to navigate as passengers cruise to one of the five terminals and gates available in the airport. A tram, which is accessible by the use of an escalator to the upper levels, makes the transfer to connecting gates and terminals very easy. Wi-Fi is also available all throughout the airport for a fee of $10 a day. Free business centers with semi-private workstations are available for travelers to do their business while waiting for their flights.

Denver International Airport (DEN) – Despite flight cancellations and delays during winter, this airport is considered among the best in the nation, as it is proud of having the highest percentage of on-time plane arrivals. Underground trams depart every couple of minutes and move passengers between Concourses A, B, C, and to the main terminal in which you can find the baggage claim area. There is also a multitude of ground services, shops, and restaurants. Wi-Fi connection is available for $10 a day and work kiosks for $15 per hour.

Minneapolis-St. Paul’s International Airport (MSP) – This airport is very much concerned with the needs of traveling businessmen. Wi-Fi services are available for $8-$10 a day and ‘hyper-charge’ stations that can rejuvenate laptops, cell phones, PDAs, and other electronics are available. There are private office workstations for rent on an hourly basis and self-service stations that offer laptop rentals at a rate of only $18 an hour. MSP also features many great stores and restaurants in its common area.

Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) – Free Wi-Fi is available throughout the entire airport. The airport offers a business center, a day spa with oxygen bar, and free electrical outlets for travelers who need to charge their laptops and cell phones. Ticketing and gates are on the main level while the baggage and the ground transportation may be found at the lower levels. CLT also features an impressive array of restaurants, shops, and services in each of its concourses.

Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW) – Recently this airport received the highest grades among largest airports in the US (those servicing 30 million or more passengers per year) in J.D. Power and Associates survey. In a city plagued with massive job losses and a slumped housing market, this is welcomed news. It’s well earned recognition though! According to a recent CNN article, “Air travelers seem to like the airport’s “two clean, pleasant and efficient new terminals with fun shops and restaurants…” Next time you fly and get the chance to go through Detroit, we know you’ll enjoy the experience. Their new terminal and recently renovated terminal are very enjoyable.

These are a few of our favorite airports here in the US. Do you have a favorite? If so, what makes it special to you? Let us know…we’re curious and we’d enjoy your input on the subject. Thanks!

As families prepare to take advantage of their kid’s spring break from school and summer travel, they also need to focus attention on suitable luggage for their trips. Luggage for children should be considered too since they always seem to have plenty of things that they need to pack. They always prefer to have their own stuff in a separate bag. In addition, giving kids their own luggage to carry during trips gives them a feeling of maturity and a sense of having their own identity.

LuggagePoint.com offers a wide array of kid’s luggage, such as the suitcases from Trunki and Walt Disney.

Trunki Wheeled Carry-On Kid’s Luggage
This award-winning luggage for kids has a fun eye-catching design that will surely attract kid’s attention. It is both sturdy and durable…rugged enough that it can be pulled with your child riding on top of it. It is airline approved as a carry-on bag. This suitcase is lightweight and has 5 gallons of storage capacity. It is fitted with a rubber rim to keep little fingers safe.

The original Trunki is solid blue, however they have just released two new models: Tipu the Tiger and Harley the Ladybug.
Tipu the Tiger features a fun eye-catching tiger design that is naturally an orange color with black tiger stripes while Harley the Ladybug is red with black spots so it looks like a ladybug.

The Trunki’s carry handle allows for a quick grab when one has to dash through the departure gate. It has a towing handle that keeps the kids in tow while you carry your own hand luggage. Trunki luggage guarantees safety as it is equipped with stabilizers to prevent excited tots from toppling off. The integrated wheels have an extra wide base for superb cornering, adding to its safety. It also has comfortable saddle to guarantee that your child has a comfortable seat while waiting in long lines. The Trunki has locking catches so toys and other important items will not fall out. It also has “teddy bear seatbelts” to prevent toys from tumbling out when it is opened.

Walt Disney Wheeled Luggage
Weighing only 3.8 lbs, this fun wheeled case featuring Lightning McQueen is easily and proudly pulled around by any child. Each case has special LED lights within the inline skate wheels, making it really attractive for kids as the bag creates a dazzling effect with its wheels while it’s being pulled. Lightning McQueen would be proud to have this suitcase! The case is provided with a zipper closure system that when opened will reveal a beautifully lined interior with Disney print patterns. There is also a zippered divider that allows for internal organization.

Walt Disney Luggage for kids comes in a variety of styles featuring Disney’s famous princesses, Nemo, Minnie Mouse, Mickey Mouse, Tinker Bell, Winnie Pooh, and Lightning McQueen. These are great suitcases for any young child. Order one today from LuggagePoint.com for your child or grandchild so they can travel in style this spring and summer!