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Don’t Pack It, Rent It: You Might Want To Have These Items Delivered

Everyone loves having a meal delivered to their hotel room from the onsite restaurant. Room service is a quintessential perk when traveling.This post originally appeared on Map Happy.

But what about those items you’d like to have, but don’t necessarily have the space or the time to pack? We sussed out third-party services that will deliver some surprising items to your accommodation (be it an apartment rental or hotel) to save some space in your luggage.

1, 2, 3, say “Cheese!”
Borrow Lenses, a subdivision of Shutterfly, will rent and ship any number of pieces of camera equipment, saving plenty of space and removing weight from a carry-on bag. Photogs can choose individual pieces, like, a specific lens you might want to try out for that safari you’re finally (finally!) taking, or renters can go the packaged route by dropping one of their “Wildlife” kits into their shipping cart.
Depending on budget and tastes, packages can start as low as $158 for a beginner Sony wildlife kit or for a bump over $1K, renters can opt for the advanced Nikon wildlife kit, which includes camera body, three lenses, a polarizing filter, memory cards and a battery.

Rental periods are generally for a week but it can be customized as needed. Shipping, of course, is extra, but when you’re done, everything can be shipped back in its original packaging. If you’re in the store’s one of six regional U.S. locations, you can also drop off the items off at select brick-and-mortar photo stores.

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6 Life-Saving Travel Accessories Under $10

You know that feeling you get when, just as you get to the airport, you realize you forgot your phone charger? Well, while it’s a heart-sinking feeling, it’s not a matter of life and death. Except for your cell phone battery, anyway. But when it comes to matters of life, death, and just general safety on vacation, some of the smallest investments can reap the greatest rewards.

To help you spend and pack wisely, we’ve put together a list of 12 travel accessories under $10 that will absolutely save your bacon — because no bacon should ever be squandered.

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Antarctica: To the White Continent by Ice-Blue Sea

We are on a bus, which is carrying us to a port, where we will load up a ship. Nothing unusual about that.

Nothing strange, except for our fat wool hats, our puffy penguin-y parkas, our knee-high insulated boots. Nothing weird but where we are: Punta Arenas at the southernmost tip of Chile. And where we are going: to the isolated, ice-walled bottom of the world.
We know that cruises are supposed to be warm. But do we care? We thumb our facemasked noses at the idea of palm trees. We are explorers who are booked on Lindblad’s steel-prowed, spray-glazed Endeavour.

Stadium-sized icebergs, the Falklands, South Georgia Island, and the continent of Antarctica itself are our goals.

Antarctica. No one lives there except for a handful of scientists. It’s the world’s driest desert and its ultimate cold spot, thanks to winds as sharp as 199 miles an hour and temperatures reaching as low as -128 Fahrenheit.

Lindblad Expeditions was the first outfitter and cruise line to bring tourists here on a regular basis—they’ve only done it since 1966—and the 110-passenger Lindblad/National Geographic Endeavour is engineered for ice. There’s a 40-foot-high crow’s nest up at the bow to keep an eye out for dangerous floating chunks of the stuff, and the chairs in the dining room are wave proof: they are chained to the floor.

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The Best Gifts and Gadgets for Serious Travelers

Sadly, not every item we covered in last year’s gift guide made it to the list this year. Some just broke along the way and ending up being sad disappointments. This, unfortunately, includes our beloved Muji suitcase and Bellroy Travel Wallet.

The good news is that there are a bunch of newcomers mixed in with some old faces that are standing the test of time. Skip the travel socks this year, here’s stuff that will actually delight most hardcore travelers.

This post originally appeared on Map Happy.

Bags
There are no winners in the bag category this year. This includes brands we’re currently testing like the Minaal, Tom Bihn and others. There was no standout.

Technology
Satechi Travel Router
There’s power adapters and there’s power adapters. This power adapter lets you convert to all the major plugs out there, has two slots for USB charging and GET THIS, even turns into a router. Because when you get into the hotel, chances are you’ll have more than one doodad that needs a little bit of Internet juice. This is singlehandedly the best travel gadget I own.

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45 Gear & Gift Ideas for Father’s Day ‘Round the Campfire

Or: The Burly Dad’s Ultimate Camping Gear Guide
There he stands—a handcrafted hunter’s axe upon one shoulder, bits of bison meat in his beard, and a faraway look in his eyes as he stares through the campfire. The flame-charred Dutch oven is scraped clean of his award-winning, camp-cooked, seven-layer Mexican lasagna. The kids are giggling and licking marshmallow off their fingers, mom is getting the beds ready in the glowing tent, and Dad—he surveys the scene, calmly, comfortably, and holds it all together.

So let’s set him up with the proper tools for the job. The ideas in this gear guide are somewhat random, and range from a $2.99 coffee maker to a $600 tent and a few dozen options in between. Most of these gifts revolve around the principle of craftsmanship: i.e. a perfectly pitched tent, a one-match fire in gusting winds, a gut-warming dinner, and a clean, safe, organized campsite. Anything you can give your father to better these campcraft skills is a gift that keeps on giving. In other words, give a Dad a pizza and he eats for one day; give him a Dutch oven, some welder’s gloves, and a cookbook and he’ll feed his family all summer long.

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5 Game Changing Skis for 2014

With every new ski season comes new technologies that promise to let you skip the bunny hill and fly down the slopes in bigger and cooler ways. Some companies are really killing it with the gotta-have-it-now innovations, so Active Junky has gathered five of our favorite earth-shattering skis for 2014 (with one bonus brand to keep an eye on) to keep you primed for the white stuff.

New model this year (Design) — Moment Deathwish

The anticipation over Moment’s Deathwish is palpable — this is the shape of things to come. Handmade with a core of aspen and pine, the Deathwish is made to grab on groomer turns, hold up in crud and slice with ease through powder. But the new Dirty Mustache Rocker technology is the truly revolutionary part of this ski. It offers four contact points along each edge to bite into even the toughest hardpack while a micro-camber and tip/tail rocker make for a sweetspot that floats over whatever Mother Nature may throw your way.

Updated physical specs (Construction) — Icelantic SKNY Series

Taking inspiration from East Coasters and Europeans alike, Icelantic has slimmed 20mm off the waist of some of their most popular models to form the new SKNY Series. With the same sidecut radius and construction as their chubbier relatives, the new SKNY Scout, Pilgrim, Nomad and Shaman are perfect for carving, cruising and tearing it up on-piste. This season’s super-psychedelic, Travis Parr sculpture- inspired graphics don’t hurt one bit, either.

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The Faithful Shopper: Mountain Magic

Hard as it is for some of us water babies to believe, not everyone heads straight for a beach during the summer. Others prefer to spend their time exploring some of the many hills and mountains outside the city. And of course, we have plenty of stores to get you ready for your camping and hiking trip:

Eastern Mountain Sports – 530 Broadway – 2152 Broadway
If you need gear, apparel, footwear and really good advice, come here for one stop shopping.

REI – 303 Lafayette Street
Another location that can take care of all your needs, with a significant fitness component too. And dedicated to preserving the environment it prepares you to experience!