Light luggage: You want to lug as little as possible, especially in these days of high bag fees. The newest Delsey line, Helium Super Lite, is durable as well as very light, and there's an overweight indicator that turns red if your bag is more than 50 pounds (which would mean you'd pay more to check it.) It's available at Sam Moon, Dillard's or Macy's starting at $69.99.
Convenient corkage: For your favorite oenophile, the Twistick is a little corkscrew that fits on a key ring and is seriously tiny. (Yes, you can take a corkscrew in your carry-on luggage, as long as it doesn't include a knife.) It's $9.99 at stuffjunction.com. Consider adding collapsible wine glasses ($8.95 each at letravelstore.com). Made of Lexan Resin, they're virtually indestructible.
Carry-on Coat: OK, this one's over-the-top, but the airlines asked for it when they started charging us for checked luggage. Scottevest.com just came up with the Carry-on Coat, a trench coat that has 33 pockets, most of them inside the coat. That's right, 33 pockets — some big enough to house a pair of pants. It's $225 on scottevest.com.
Tiny diapers: Here's one for parents: A Diaper Bud is a regular diaper compressed into a wad a tad bigger than a golf ball. Each is vacuum-sealed in plastic for the parent on the go. I had my daughter try these out on her baby. She says it's a quality diaper and easy to use. Best benefit: A dad can put one in his pocket. Get a large pack for $17.99 (number depends on size) at diaperbuds.com.
Musical language lessons: SubLingual's "Learn French through Music" (and it's available in other languages) includes a CD of music and a book with the songs' English lyrics. There's also a grammar section and glossary. I wish it had a pronunciation guide. But the music's good (Carla Bruni, Pink Martini etc.), and it's fun to learn, by repetition, lines like "It seems happiness is just an arm's reach away" and "You don't know how much you annoy me." Beats the ones I already knew: "Are you sleeping, brother John?" and "Alouette, I am going to pull out all your feathers." It's $19.95 on amazon.com.
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