This year's coolest gadgets for the avid traveller

Are you the person who is always on the go, and always has the latest, coolest, or most helpful gadget? If not, you might know someone who is. As laptops get smaller and smart phones get smarter, Nate Schrader presents these nifty gadgets sure to be useful to the frequent traveller for years to come.

For the sleepless traveler: Travel Sleep Sound Machine

This little guy is not your everyday travel alarm clock. This clock from Sharper Image offers 17 therapeutic sounds to tune out even the loudest flight mate after a long, exhausting day. It also includes four different alarms, and if you don’t like those, the clock has a voice recorder to make your own! Even though cell phones are sure to have this feature, a true traveller never knows when their battery will die. That’s why this clock’s AA batteries will save the day, and maybe a couple hundred quid for not missing your flight!

For the frequent flyer: PocketFinder

It makes sense that the more you travel, the more likely you are to lose your luggage. Luckily, we now have GPS technology to track down your missing baggage. The PocketFinder is a little chargeable GPS sensor you place in your bag which is tracked using GPS and a laptop or smartphone app. There is a monthly fee for the service, but it could be well worth it when you need to know where your business suit is.

For the travelling presenter: Victorinox Presentation Master Swiss Army Knife

If you give presentations, you might agree a laser pointer is probably your best friend. Victorianox realized this, and put a laserpointer inside their Swiss Army knife, along with a Flash drive with up to 128GB of memory. Don’t want your precious data falling into the wrong hands? This gadget even has a fingerprint biometric sensor to keep your files safe. Also, the blade detaches to guarantee it gets to fly too.

For the foreign tourist: Lingo Navigator 12 Language Talking Translator

Ever wish you could hire a personal interpreter to erase the language barrier? Well, this talking electronic translator speaks 12 different languages to ensure you’re understood correctly, including English, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, and German. For someone learning a language, the translator says the correct pronunciation to improve both speaking and listening skills. Features also include a travel alarm, night-time backlight, and currency converter.

For the heavy packer: Balanzza Ergo Digital Luggage Scale

There’s no worse feeling while registering when your flight is on time than getting hit with a fee for a bag over the requested weight limit. If this sounds like a similar situation, a portable luggage scale will save you some time and maybe lighten your suitcase a little. Measuring up to 100lbs, the scale tells you the exact weight of your bag just by attaching the strap and lifting it off the ground. I wish you could bring that extra sweatshirt too, but with the money you saved you now have an excuse to buy another!

For the instant photographer: Gorilla Adjustable Tripod

For the road rocker: Sony Ericsson Wireless Headphones

Don’t get tangled up in cords when you don’t have to! Besides offering high-quality stereo music, these 5-ounce wireless earbuds from Sony are perfect for the person wanting to put the mp3 player on shuffle and set it aside. Microphone and on-off call controls let you handle phone calls, and it also includes echo cancellation and noise reduction features.

When he’s not using his study abroad experiences to write for TravelProducts.com, Nate Schrader enjoys training for extreme outdoors races, snapping landscape photos, and reading about the latest technology to make his life even easier.