WaffleBox

A great story and an even better product, Trunki is ridable luggage for kids. These dinosaur looking cases are designed by Rob Law, a Dragons’ Den reject. What’s Dragons’ Den? It’s a UK television show where inventors get to present their invention to potential investors. Law’s invention was not well received, to say the least, by the judges. Here is what one had to say about him after he introduced his Trunki:

And the notoriously brusque tele-communications tycoon Peter Jones declared: “I meet people like you all the time - you think you have something. I tell you, you don’t.” - DailyMail

This guy must have been high, of course these inventor shows are complete rubbish anyway, highlighting the panel of “experts” over the inventors.

Anyone who has ever spent any amount of time in an airport notices kids who are tired after a flight with nowhere to sit and rest… Hell you could make one for adults, I’d ride that thing around!

They are not available in the U.S. yet, but you can pre-order them: Trunki US Site.

Do you hate these?

photo credit: © 2007 yuan2003

Would you prefer being here?

photo credit: © 2007 flydime

Then head over to StartBackpacking.com, a site dedicated to educating people about backpacking around the world!

We recently returned home from a short holiday in Austin, Texas and I have to say that The San Jose Hotel is the most amazing hotel we have ever stayed in. Whenever we travel we usually stay at the Motel 8’s of the world, but we had heard such good things about The San Jose Hotel that we decided to throw down an extra few bucks ($99/night) and stay there. What a fantastic decision! The place is more like a resort minus the pampering, with lush greeneries blanketing the entire hotel.

The staff is incredibly friendly and very helpful at recommending places to eat at venues to check out. The room we had shared a bathroom with two other rooms, but we actually never even saw anyone near their rooms. Guests really like to mingle, hangout and socialize with each other.

They also offer all sorts of services like DVD rental, bike rental, massages, cameras and even a typewriter!

Also, next door is the fantastic outdoor cafe Jo’s. Here is Jo’s Yelp Profile.

The San Jose’s “Hallways”

The Bar and socializing area

The Entrance

Do you bring your laptop on holiday?

Over all Austin was really fun, it was our first time visiting Texas. We saw some really great shows (Beerland) and ate a ton of Tex-Mex and Beef BBQ…A first for me. And even more BBQ.

Sorry about the blur in the bottom left corner… Smudge on my lense.

About a month ago we were down in San Antonio visiting friends so we of course visited the River Walk which we really loved. It is very touristy, but strolling along the river, stopping in bars and restaurants was very relaxing.

When we got home, we realized that there is really no other city in the U.S., that we have seen, that has a river walk like the one in San Antonio. It was kind of surprising since so many cities are built around rivers.

Chicago was build along Lake Michigan with the Chicago River running right though it and even surrounding the Loop. There are restaurants along our Chicago River, throughout the Loop area, but they are very sporadic and detached.

Well… The Chicago River Walk was re-opened on Friday, but it will be some time before it becomes a “true” river walk. You still have to walk up flights of stairs to main street level to walk between areas. But still, it is a great step forward in our cities attractions, long overdue.

Photo Gallery of Chicago’s River Walk