Increase in-flight comfort

No more blankets or pillows mean you’ll probably have a long, cold flight and worse, you’ll arrive with a crick in your neck. Packed flights mean you’ll have lots of potentially noisy seatmates. Suppliers of travel comfort items feel your pain and have designed products that go a long way toward cozying up a long flight.

I recommend: Check out the Dream Sack Travel Blanket and the Eagle Creek Comfort Travel Pillow that requires only two puffs to inflate. To help tune out noisy neighbors, look into noise-canceling headphones. Instead of alcohol or sleeping aids, try slipping into relaxation with all-natural Badger Sleep Balm. If that doesn’t work, watch a movie instead.

Protect valuable data and electronics.

Business travelers are notorious for hauling along thousands of dollars worth of equipment crammed with critical information, then doing little or nothing to protect the data from snoopy seat mates or the equipment from theft.

I recommend: Check out a notebook/LCD privacy filter. It will make your laptop screen invisible to the person next to or behind you and it protects the LCD display from fingerprints, scratches and abrasions. You can protect your laptop from theft too, or download critical data to a removable flash drive no bigger than your house key.

Use gadgets to protect yourself

Business travelers, especially those who travel frequently, often neglect to consider personal safety. There are lots of easy-to-tote gadgets that add a measure of security for those unexpected situations.

I recommend: Secure money and vital documents in specially-designed pouches. Carry a door alarm to protect against hotel room intrusions. Pack a super-bright flashlight. Carry a mega-decibel alarm to scare off attackers.

Get to know the best sources for all travel-related gadgets

There are so many travel gadgets that searching for them can be daunting. The Internet is a great resource for gadget shopping.

I recommend: Scout out more information and handy travel tips too at Magellan’s, Brookstone, TravelSmith, Sharper Image, Travel Essentials and Sky Mall.