A guide for what you need to buy, read or consume to enhance your recreation and travel experience
BUY
• Rise & Hang Weekender Duffle Bags
$125, http://www.riseandhang.com/products/rise-hang-weekend-bag
You, the savvy traveler, know enough not to check luggage on flights unless you're going to Spain or Finland on a year's sabbatical. But cramming clothes and grooming products into an overhead compartment-friendly bag can leave your linen and cotton garments a mess. The luggage company Rise & Hang has released a duffle bag featuring secure drawers and compartments that unfold, accordionlike, when opened for easy hanging in a hotel closet. At $125, yes, it's a little pricey. But so is checking bags on many airlines.
BUY
• Specialized Radiant Gloves
$57, http://www.specialized.com/us/en/ftr/gloves/cold-weather-gloves/radiant
Cycling in the winter months, even in a relatively mild climate such as Sacramento's – can get chilly, especially in the extremities. Few things bum out a cyclist more than frozen fingers, and even the best gloves aren't completely successful in keeping your digits toasty. But these gloves are purported by the company to keep out the cold down to 20 degrees, certainly warm enough for riding on the Yolo Causeway in the morning. Plus, the gloves have, according to Specialized, "WireTap technology (that) makes these gloves touchscreen-friendly." In other words, no taking off the gloves to change tunes on your iPod. (Though, of course, no one ever rides while listening to music. Not safe, right?)
READ
• Ballooning over Myanmar
After reading – and ogling the photographs from – Christopher Michel's ballooning excursion at the ancient kingdom of Bagan in Myanmar (formerly Burma), you'll want to call your travel agent. Amateur photographers will love the detail in these shots.
THE LIST
• Huffington Post's "10 Small Towns to Explore"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/smalltowns
Writer Lynn O'Rourke Hayes used these criteria: "Culture, adventure, shopping, eating, breathing, dancing, skiing, the arts, horses, bears, miniature golf, the Navy, music."
California gets snubbed, once again.
1. Telluride, Colo..
2. Sisters, Ore.
3. Red Lodge, Mont.
4. Cody, Wyo.
5. Williams, Ariz.
6. Princeton, N.J.
7. Annapolis, Md.
8. Ocracoke, N.C.
9. Stowe, Vt.
10. Brunswick, Maine
THE QUOTE
From comedian Rosanne Barr: "Men read maps better than women because only men can understand the concept of an inch equaling a hundred miles."
– Compiled by Sam McManis
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