Tom Bihn Cache Laptop Sleeve Travel Gear Review

It’s bad enough that high school, college students and executives have to lug around heavy laptop computers all day long. Why add further weight to an already over-loaded backpack or messenger bag?

The Cache Laptop Sleeve by Tom Bihn

Introducing The Cache by Tom Bihn, a light weight padded sleeve designed to protect your laptop from scratches and scrapes. Designed to be used inside a backpack, briefcase, messenger or travel bag, the  Seattle, Washington based travel gear company has created a simple sleeve. Affordably priced at $30, The Cache is checkpoint friendly, meeting TSA-approved guidelines for laptop bags. No longer will you have to send your laptop through airport security machines unprotected.

Travel Gear Review of Tom Bihn's Cache Laptop Sleeve

The Cache comes in black or charcoal grey colors and multiple sizes to fit laptops, including the MacBook Pro. Check the Tom Bihn website for their Laptop Bag Fit Guide.

Tom Bihn’s Carry On Laptop Backpack sounds like another winner.  What are your favorite travel products?

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Tom Bihn Checkpoint Flyer TSA approved laptop bag

Norwegian Sami Dolls on a trip to Bergen, Norway

Whenever I’m asked what I do for a living, the title of travel writer elicits responses of envy. It’s true, I have one of the best jobs in the world. However,  travel writing does require hard work, plenty of research and writing and endless amounts of time spent at airports waiting for flights.

For those who hope to follow in my travel writing flight path, I wish you smooth sailing, be it over San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge in a Zeppelin or on the Hurtigruten discovering Norway’s authentic West Coast.

To my newspaper, magazine and on-line readers, my continued thanks for subscribing to the Contra Costa Times, Diablo magazine and this What a Trip blog.

2010 Travel Writer Year in Review – What a Trip

January: The cowboys and cowgirls of Kay El Bar Ranch invited me to launch Writinghorseback at their ranch in Wickenburg, Arizona. I couldn’t have started this horseback riding vacation blog without the support of Trisha Miller of Travel Writers Exchange. Trisha was kind enough to feature me in her travel blogger case studies.  Additionally, I look forward to miles and aisle of new food trends at San Francisco’s annual Fancy Food Show.

February: I was looking forward to my first visit to Yellowstone National Park via Cody, Wyoming. However, a torn rotator cuff on my husband’s left shoulder left me playing Nurse Nancy.

March: Anyone who knows me is aware of my keen fondness for Alaska. I was thrilled when the PR gurus behind Travel Alaska invited me to cover the 2010 Iditarod Sled Dog Race.  Thanks also goes to Karen Lundquist of Fairbanks CVB for arranging my Alaska lodging, travel gear and visits to Chena Hot Springs and the World Ice Art Championships. I think the sled dog ride was a highlight of my 2010 travel experiences! That’s not to say I didn’t have a wonderful trip my first time visiting Ojai, California.

April: For the horse lovers out there, my visit to Graham, Texas and Wildcatter Ranch was my first encounter with Long Horn cattle and horseback riding by the Brazos River. Steak lovers will love this place!

Surfboards in Oahu, Hawaii

May: The Netherlands invited me to visit Holland during a cold snap in early May. This was my first trip to Brussels,  Bruges and Ghent in Belgium, as well as The Hauge, Zeeland and Zeil in the Netherlands. If you plan your trip for early May, be sure to catch the Holy Blood Procession in Bruges – it is quite a visual and auditory treat for the senses with its floats, costumes and music.

Have you heard of the No Hoku Hanohano Awards? I was a guest of the Hawaii Tourism Authority for a culture-focused trip to Honolulu. There is plenty to do on Oahu, including the Prince Lot Hula Festival.

June: I love meeting CVB and PR people on Twitter. One of these social media pros is Lisa Gerber of Big Leap Creative. Gerber hooked me up with a Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho adventure, as well as horseback riding at Red Horse Mountain Ranch, an all inclusive resort in Harrison, Idaho.

July: Travel bloggers know that we often spend as much time in front of the computer as we do traveling. This July we gathered in the Big Apple for TBEX New York, our annual travel blogger conference. While in New York I asked a group of travel bloggers for their insider tips on things to see and do in New York. Next year TBEX will converge in Vancouver, Canada.

Each year we take a family vacation to Sunriver Resort in Central Oregon. When the kids were young, we traveled as a family of four. Now that we have two teenagers, we travel in multiple vehicles as the kids like to bring friends on our family vacation.  There are many things to do on an outdoor vacation in Oregon.

August: Late summer I went horseback riding in the Sierra Foothills of Copperopolis and then traveled to Half Moon Bay for horseback riding on the beach.

As my father’s side of the family hails from Norway, I was delighted to be a guest of Innovation Norway. In addition to horseback riding on a Fjord horse in Bergen, I was able to visit many Norwegian cities sailing Norway’s authentic coast on the Hurtigruten.

Travel Writer Nancy D. Brown lands a Chinook with Canada's West Coast Fishing Club.

September: For the fishermen and women out there, I have a favorite new fishing lodge thanks to a Twitter introduction from Hawksworth Communications in Vancouver, Canada. The West Coast Fishing Club in Canada’s Haida Gwaii offers luxury accommodations, first rate food and excellent halibut and salmon fishing. For those who ask if I ever travel with my husband, it is difficult to coordinate schedules with jobs and teenagers. We were fortunate to celebrate our 24 year wedding anniversary and watch the leaves change colors at Cathedral Mountain Lodge in Yolo National Park and Moraine Lake Lodge in Banff  National Park.

October: Thanks to Albuquerque Convention & Visitors Bureau and the folks at Geiger PR, I was able to go up in a hot air balloon at the International Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico. What a trip!

Travel Writer Nancy D. Brown about to lift off at International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, NM

November: Having never visited Hawaii’s Big Island, I was happy to join Jessica Ferracane of Iron Dog Public Relations and the Big Island Visitors Bureau for a trip to the Kohala Coast.

Thanksgiving had me visiting Carmel, California to give thanks with family. I was supposed to go horseback riding with the Pebble Beach Equestrian Center, but a scheduling snafu prevented a glorious day of horseback riding on Pebble Beach.

December: Celebrating the holidays in the San Francisco Bay Area and busy working my public relations job at KRT Marketing.

Where will your travels take you in 2011?

Surfboard photo courtesy of Hawaii Tourism Authority Joe Solem

Give the Gift of Flight with Airship Ventures

Travel Gift Guide for the Globetrotter in your life

Whether you prefer travel by land, sea or air, this travel holiday gift guide has a gift in mind for every traveler. From high ticket, luxury travel experiences to affordable stocking stuffers for the travel girl or guy in your life, this list has something to please everyone.

Up In the Air Travel

Love taking aerial photographs, but not wild about hanging out of a helicopter while being harnessed to the door frame? Take a ride in Airship Ventures Zeppelin. From Los Angeles to Monterey and San Francisco, this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is the ideal gift for the adventure seeking traveler. Visit the Airship Ventures website for special holiday pricing.

Hornblower Cruises or Hurtigruten – Sail the West Coast

Be it sailing California’s West Coast with Hornblower Cruises or plying Norway’s West Coast waters with Hurtigruten,  sea-worthy travelers will want to keep their eye on the horizon. For gift ideas such as a holiday wine tasting cruise on San Francisco Bay or a whale watching cruise in San Diego, Hornblower Cruises has got California’s west coast destinations covered.

For a sailing adventure further afield, look to Hurtigruten to offer seven day coastal voyages on Norway’s West Coast. There are plenty of things to see and do in Norway while sailing aboard one of 14 Hurtigruten ships.

California Hornblower Cruises Under the Golden Gate Bridge

Travel Gift of Goodwill – Donate to Passports with Purpose

Here’s a holiday gift idea that will make everyone feel good and doesn’t even require gift wrap. Passports with Purpose is helping to build a village in India.

For a $10 donation you will be able to select a prize that a travel blogger has donated in support of Passports with Purpose. My sponsors, HurtigrutenUSA and Briggs & Riley have each donated an item. HurtigrutenUSA has donated a seven-day Norwegian Coastal voyage for two, valued at $2,074. Briggs and Riley donated a 22” Upright carry-on, a $290 value.

Carried Away on the Streets of San Francisco

Leave your car keys and your cares behind for a day of fun on the streets of San Francisco. Carried Away is a new car tour company run by two fun, energetic and knowledgeable ladies from the San Francisco Bay Area. Foodies will love the Snacker’s Delight tour, while the Big Soak will give you a full day of things to do in San Francisco .

Hands Free Travel

The Scottevest allows for hands free travel

We all know a gadget guy or girl. Someone who has state–of-the art ear phones plugged into their iPod in one hand, while an Otterbox smart phone case protects their precious iPhone in the other hand;  an iPad is tucked into their carry on bag, that hangs over the shoulder. Imagine if a stylish travel vest existed that allowed the gadget guy to carry all of his travel items in his vest, while leaving him hands free to breeze through airport security. Such a vest exists and its called the Scottevest.

As an equestrian, I wear the Scottevest, priced at $100, on my horseback rides. Of course, the vest also comes in handy while I’m traveling. Their latest product for the traveler is the SEv Carry-On Coat.

A major airline refused to run an advertisement for the SEv Carry-On Coat in their in-flight magazine. Why? Because the $225 coat contains 33 pockets – enough to eliminate the need to check baggage on a weekend trip.

Safe Travel

Are you a woman who travels often for business or pleasure? Are you a collage student or backpacker staying in inexpensive hotel rooms? Priced at $19.99 the Ila WEDGE portable door alarm makes a great stocking stuffer for the security minded traveler.   Turn the power switch on and slide the wedge under the door as an extra security measure. The locked door will be difficult to open and the ear-splitting alarm will ward off intruders.

Lightweight Travel

Sick and tired of paying checked luggage fees? Back hurt from lifting heavy luggage into the overhead airline storage bins? Check out Briggs and Riley’s BRX Explore 22″ Upright Carryon. At seven and a half pounds, this light weight carry-on luggage from Briggs & Riley will have travelers worldwide singing Joy to the World this holiday season.

Mosquito Free Travel

ExOfficio has joined with Insect Shield to create insect resistant clothing

The fisherman, equestrian or adventurous traveler on your list will thank you for their insect shield clothing from ExOfficio.

ExOfficio has joined forces with Insect Shield to create insect shield clothing, proven effective up to 70 washings. I have the Halo woman’s long-sleeve shirt, retailing for $60. Kids with limited budgets might consider giving the Insect Shield Vented Hiker Sock. Priced at $14.92 on the website, and made from 17% wool, these socks protect you from bugs and keep your toes warm.

Related Posts:

For the book lover on your list, Ten Perfect Gifts for Travelers Who Read.

Travel Clothes – Holiday Gift Guide

What are your holiday gift ideas for the traveler?

Airship Ventures photo by Nancy D. Brown, California Hornblower photo courtesy of Hornblower Cruises and Events.