Gear + Gadgets

Ahead of the rest

Grand Trunk Hooded Travel Pillow

By Judi Dash

Special to The Miami Herald

Here’s a travel pillow that’s new in the hood — or rather, with a hood. The Grand Trunk Hooded Travel Pillow is a U-shaped pillow that has a built-in hood to warm your head while cushioning your neck. Made of fleece-covered, form-fitting memory foam, the pillow measures 12 inches by 11 inches by 9 inches high, and weighs about a pound. The hood, which has an adjustable draw string, stashes behind the pillow when not needed. An adjustable cord lock at the chin makes for a comfy fit, and the memory foam insert is removable when you want to wash the fleece cover. Takes up more space than inflatable models but significantly more cushy, and a great resource to keep in the car.

Grand Trunk Hooded Travel Pillow is $39.99 at www.grandtrunkgoods.com; 847-763-0005.

Read more Just In! | Travel News stories from the Miami Herald

Gear + Gadgets

Got your backpack

Always improving its lines of luggage for the adventurous, Eagle Creek has fine-tuned its new Afar Backpack to be all business and a pleasure. About the dimensions of a standard wheel-aboard bag (12.5 inches by 20.5 inches by 8.5 inches deep), the Afar weighs in at a mere 1 pound, 11 ounces. It is equipped with a slew of great features: well-padded contoured shoulder straps, a tuck away padded hip belt, adjustable sternum straps, external compression straps and a sturdy top grab handle. A padded breathable mesh back panel makes for comfy cushioning. The back panel cleverly incorporates a zippered padded compartment for a laptop (up to 17 inches) that doesn’t broadcast your precious cargo to would-be thieves. The spacious main zippered compartment is blessedly unstructured, three roomy external mesh pouches are great for jackets, water bottles, snacks and maps, and a very well-designed zippered front organizer pocket has pouches and elastic slots for a cell phone, camera, sunglasses, pens and other essentials. Double-lock zippers, hidden slip pockets for documents, and reflective accents for nighttime visibility are smart security elements. Available in a dreamy slate blue, sunny ochre and basic black.
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Take the tour
Travel briefs

Legoland’s new attraction, The World of Chima, will open July 3 at the Winter Haven park and recruit guests into a very wet battle among animal warriors. The centerpiece will be a water ride with water cannons, The Quest for CHI. The new “land” will also include Speedorz Arena, where players will build and race Lego Speedorz; Cragger’s Swamp, a water play area; a new 4D movie; character meet-and-greets; and of course a retail store. Cruises

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