Tuesday, July 16, 2013

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CNNGo.com


Luxury necessities: Best new travel accessories

Posted: 15 Jul 2013 11:01 PM PDT

Austerity is for bureaucrats. Here's to the gear, gadgets and gewgaws of the dignified traveler

Whether you're treating a case of wanderlust or traveling for work, there's no reason luxury should be a packing casualty.

These latest luxury necessities will get you comfortable and prepared for your next flight.


Omega Men's Seamaster Professional Diver ($4,180)

Omega Men's Seamaster Professional Diver"Gentlemen, synchronize your extremely impressive watches." Omega has been James Bond's watch for the last two decades, and when Daniel Craig rebooted the franchise in 2006 with "Casino Royale," it was with the Seamaster on his wrist.

If it's good enough for the ultimate international spy, it's good enough for a sales trip to Ypsilanti.

www.omegawatches.com


Brunello Cucinelli Leather and Flannel Overnight Bag ($2,190)

Brunello Cucinelli Leather and Flannel Overnight Bag ($2,190)Primo stuff requires a primo bag. Just because you're making a last-minute trip doesn't mean you can't rush off in style.

Nearly every Cucinelli 2013 item seems to be made with the fashion-forward adventurer in mind.

www.neimanmarcus.com


Sennheiser MM 450-X Travel ($450)

Sennheiser MM 450-X TravelPhones call. Noise cancellation, premium sound quality and no cords to tangle -- that's pretty standard stuff for headphones these days.

These ones also come with Bluetooth capability that allows you to take calls and the TalkThrough feature lets you have a conversation with the flight attendant without doffing your cans.

Just make sure the guy next to you doesn't catch on to that function.

http://en-us.sennheiser.com


Leica X2 ($1,995)

Leica X2 No "oh snap" jokes, please. This beauty lets you capture just how breathtaking your surroundings are without forcing to you to lug a large, scoliotic camera around your neck.

Designed to look like the machine your dad toted around on family road trips, this 12-ounce, pocket-sized shooter snaps images the old man couldn't have dreamed of.

www.bhphotovideo.com


Globe-Trotter Centenary Collection Luggage ($723-1807)

Globe-Trotter Centenary Collection LuggageIt must be said, Winston Churchill had a lot of baggage. Globe-Trotter has been an elite name in luggage since  people began trotting around the globe for pleasure. They've carried the necessities of Captain Robert Falcon Scott and Sir Winston Churchill.

Handmade with Victorian machinery, these timeless suitcases will stay in the family for generations and get cooler with wear.

www.globetrotter1897.com


Alden 405 Indy Boot ($500)

Alden 405 Indy Boot ($500)Bet you didn't know his real name was Henry Walton. If you're planning on adventure, you might seek fashion inspiration from another pop hero.

Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones Jr. laced up his handcrafted, impossibly comfortable Alden 405 boots whenever he left campus to track down Nazis and archeological wonders.

www.jcrew.com


Chassis Double Zip Travel Companion ($655)

Chassis Double Zip Travel CompanionJust don't call it a man purse. Stashing your phone, cards, cash and passport in a flashy Louis Vuitton travel wallet is a good way to get your most important items snatched up. This subtle yet distinguished accessory provides an alternative.

www.dunhill.com


Swarovski 10x32mm EL SwaroVision Binoculars ($2,239)

Swarovski 10x32mm EL SwaroVision BinocularsGood-looking pair. If you're going to be seeing the best sights a country has to offer, you'll want the best sight you can afford.

The SwaroVision glasses come with the highest quality optical performance you'll find in a binocular that comes in a size you won't mind hauling around.

www.binoculars.com


Killspencer Dopp/Folio 2.0 ($189)

Killspencer Dopp/Folio 2.0 TBH, we're not totally sure what this dopp kit/computer combo is all about -- we just like it. This sleek dopp kit doubles as a portfolio for your tablet, laptop or files. Just  make sure you don't use it for both purposes at once. Altitude pressure + shampoo = sudsy iPad.

http://killspencer.com


Hermes Ulysse Leather Notebook ($200-560, refills $30-80)

Hermes Ulysse Leather NotebookWrite right. If you want to document your journeys, you'll need a quality notebook that can survive each one.

http://usa.hermes.com


Ralph Lauren Folding Sunglasses ($425)

Ralph Lauren Folding SunglassesTrust Ralph Lauren to protect you from the glare of the bright lights. These timeless aviator tortoise-shell sunglasses go with a business suit or swimsuit.

And you'll have no problem taking them with you wherever you go since they easily fit in almost any pocket.

www.ralphlauren.com


Garmin Montana 650t ($600)

Garmin MontanaKnow yourself. Or at least your whereabouts. It's impossible to get lost with this abuse- and water-resistant GPS.

The device even tells you your exact altitude by tracking changes in pressure.

BaseCamp software helps you plan your excursion beforehand, and the camera feature geotags images instantly so that you'll know the exact spot where you took each photo.

https://buy.garmin.com


Philips 1280X SenseTouch 3D Electric Razor ($350)

Philips 1280X SenseTouch 3D Electric RazorSharp style. This wet-and-dry shaver helps guys look presentable on the go.

The contour-adjusting head helps prevent irritation and the SenseTouch's quiet motor makes sure you don't wake up any travel companions who, unlike go-getter you, are sleeping in.

www.usa.philips.com


Microsoft Windows 8 Surface Pro tablet computer ($900)

Microsoft Windows 8 Surface Pro tablet computerBridging the gap between computers and computers. Travel with a tablet and a laptop?

Don't be ridiculous -- you can bring a computer that functions as both.

Connect a keyboard to the tablet and it functions as a laptop -- not just a tablet with a keyboard.

www.microsoft.com


Eddie Bauer Airstream ($75,495)

Eddie Bauer AirstreamMan van or can? Everything from the cabinetry to the goose-down pillows in this aluminum fortress on wheels was designed for travelers for whom camping means not having to give up a single convenience.

There's enough room in front to sleep four comfortably, and the rear storage will fit a couple kayaks and loads of luggage.

www.eddiebauer.com


MasterLock TSA-Accepted Combination Lock ($9)

MasterLock TSA-Accepted Combination LockSafety first. If you're packing all of this luxury gear, you'll want to be sure it doesn't come across any baggage handlers with sticky fingers. MasterLock makes locks that allow TSA agents to open them with universal master keys.

www.masterlock.com

How to survive in the wilds of Australia

Posted: 15 Jul 2013 03:00 PM PDT

A new tour gives a hands-on look at how Australia's Aboriginals once survived -- boomerang throwing included

Wiradjuri ranger Shane Herrington made this rope by hand, without any tools, in a matter of minutes.
With white picket fences and tree-lined streets, Tumut, 400 kilometers west of Sydney, is as quaint as a rural Australian town gets.

It also has a dark past. 

For centuries the Tumut River was a meeting place for members of the Wiradjuri, Wolgan and Ngunnawal Aboriginal nations. Sometimes they went to war, but mostly they lived in peace.

As expert hunter-gatherers, they rarely went without.

Their world came to an end in the early 1800s when white settlers streamed in from coastal settlements to clear land for grazing.

The tribes resisted, but the technologically superior invaders made short work of their foes.

Survivors were herded into Catholic missions where they lost the will to share the rich oral history and survival skills passed down for countless generations.

Wiradjuri ranger Shane Herrington also plays a mean didgeridoo. It may have been lost forever if not for a New South Wales Parks and Wildlife initiative that facilitated hundreds of hours of face time between rangers and Aboriginal elders.

Among the participants was 36-year-old Wiradjuri ranger, Shane Herrington.

"I was born in Brungle Mission, an Aboriginal settlement 20 kilometers north of Tumut, but I never learned anything about my grandfather's people when growing up," he says.

"I knew what a boomerang and clap sticks were, but nothing more than that."

Today Herrington is a walking, talking encyclopedia on the Wiradjuri Nation and Australian bush survival skills.

He knows what foods they ate, what medicines they used, how they made tools, weapons, rope, nets, fire, shelter, boats and clothing out of possum and wallaby skins.

He's the Bear Grylls of the Great Dividing Range -- and he's willing to share his skills with anyone who joins the Wiradjuri Wonders Aboriginal Discovery Tour.

More on CNN: Surviving the world with Bear Grylls

Don't eat the mushrooms

Herrington is in his element as we walk down a fire trail in the Wereboldera State Conservation Area –- a 10-minute drive from Tumut, but a million years behind as far as civilization is concerned.

There's nothing out here but trees. And they all look the same until he starts pointing out their nutritional and medicinal values.

If it's fluorescent, it's probably dangerous. "This is a curry bush," he says, picking off a few leaves and crushing it in his fingertips.

"It's an herb like rosemary for cooking meat, but if you boil it in water, the vapor helps clear congestion, coughs and colds.

"This is custard apple berry," he continues, picking a small fruit from the next tree and giving it to me to eat.

It's not all that appealing. It tastes like foam.

Herrington picks up a rotting berry from under the tree and gives it to me. This one tastes like raspberry jam.

I try false sarsaparilla and native cherry, but abstain from munching on a fluorescent mushroom.

"I am very skeptical of anything that is fluorescent in the bush," Herrington says. "It usually means danger."

So how was all this stuff discovered? Through trail and error on human guinea pigs, Herrington explains.

"I wouldn't have wanted to be a weak or sick person or someone who couldn't contribute to the tribe," he says.

"They were the ones used to test foods to see if they were poisonous."

More on CNN: 10 amazing Australian hikes

The art of war

We progress to the business of making weapons and tools.

"Nine times out of ten when my ancestors went to war, it was about women," he explains. "Because women were hoarded."

Visitors on one of the Wiradjuri Wonders Aboriginal Discovery Tours get to try that essential Aussie experience -- boomerang chucking. We get to work making an axe by grinding the edge of a round river stone against a larger, tougher piece of quartz. It's a two-man job; I'm required to pour water to wash away the powder and filaments so Herrington can keep on grinding.

I pour from a "coolamon" –- a multi-purpose, canoe-shaped vessel made from red box tree and hardened by fire to give it a lip to retain water.

With our axe head made, we find a Kurrajong tree and start stripping the bark we then weave together to make string and rope.

It's boring, monotonous work, but it's a survival skill every indigenous Australian had to master.

"There's a misconception that women did the weaving and men made axes," Herrington says. "But men had to make rope to finish their axes and women had to make axe heads to cut meat before they cooked it."

More on CNN: The real bush tucker: How to dine like a native

After attaching our axe head to a stick using our bush-made string and sap from a green wattle tree, Herrington teaches me to use other weapons.

The boomerang is surprisingly easy to throw but aiming it is impossible –- a problem Herrington and his ancestors got around by practicing to the point where they could anticipate the boomerang's trajectory.

Stencil images are found widely in Australian Aboriginal rock art, usually of hands or arms. We also throw spears using a "woomera" – a wooden spear-launcher that lets spears travel much faster and more accurately than if thrown by hand.

Herrington uses it to launch a spear 30 meters into the woods, though mine lands limply on the dirt not far from our feet.

Fortunately, we don't have to rely on my aim to eat and lunch is delivered by another ranger in a hamper.

There's barbecue kangaroo with bush peppers and small bush tomatoes, damper bread with wattle seed and a delicious radish-like salad made from the fruit of the Kurrajong tree.

It'd been prepared the day earlier, but it's nothing Herrington couldn't rustle up on his own.

"I can survive here indefinitely," he says.

Wiradjuri Wonders Aboriginal Discovery Tours (+61 0 2 6947 7025), Tours are by reservation only and depart from the Old Butter Factory on the Snowy Mountain Highway, Tumut. Tours for up to 10 persons are A$188 ($171) for half a day or A$376 for a full day, with gourmet bush tucker lunch included. 

More on CNN: 6 great Australian train journeys

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