Of course, getting to the snow is the easy part for North Americans - well kinda. There are so many great ski resorts in North America from California, up to Park City in Utah, Vail in Colorado and accross to the Catskills in NY. You can even head up to Whistler if you want to go north of the border (yeah, for those of us who don’t  live in North America, we ARE jealous).

But getting there is only half the battle - next you’re gonna have to get the gear. Again, if you’re inside North America, then the best the world has to offer is there for the taking. Top of the line, Burton snowboards and gear from Santa Cruz, K2 and Flow is all there at pretty reasonable prices.

Of course, if you can get your boarding gear for free, then that’s even better. These guys are offering a pretty awesome free deal for snowboard and bindings so check it out. With some free gear, you’re gonna be able to save cash on your trip - so maybe you’ll be able to go twice
Oh, and be sure to send us some photos!

You see, some of us NEED to be connected.

But, typing on those ultra small devices is a pain in the neck and packing a decent sized keyboard for your travels if you are a user of a PDA or some other smallish device can be a real pain.

Enter the Eleksen wireless fabric keyboard - a great little invention specifically with us travellers in mind.

It runs on a couple of AAA batteries and weighs in at 68 grams. It is small enough to fit in your pocket if you need it to too and connects up to a PDA or smart phone wirelessly.

I want!

At 5.1 Megapixels, the C-5060 has a 4x wide angle zoom (equivalent of 27mm). Other features include a nift swivelling LCD viewer which performs well in sunlight and the ability to throw on an extra flashlight. The camera also takes both compact flash and xD Picture cards at the same time.

If you are familiar with the older C-5050 then the C-5060 will be a pleasant surprise with very similar controls. The controls are quite comprehensive and intuitive once you get used to the camera.

The casing is magnesium alloy, so travellers should be able to bash this unit around a little without too much of a problem. A nice big grip also makes it easy to hold when you’re on the move and the 500 gram weight shouldn’t be too taxing for carrying.

The C-5060 has an advanced spot metering mode with up to 8 spot readings with exposure conpensation from +2 to -2.

There is also a white balance function which also allows you to mess around with the amount of red or blue from +7 to -7 steps. There are also 4 customisable white balance settings. There is also a frame assist mode which shows gridlines through the viewfinder to help with framing your shots.

Turning the camera on takes about three seconds which is not great when you are in a rush to get a shit off - not particularly great for travellers. However, the 0.4 second lag time for capturing images (once the thing is on) is actually very fast for a digi compact.

The battery’s capacity is at 10.8Wh making it ahead of the bunch in that respect (another big consideration for travellers) - if you turn off the LCD and use the normal viewfinder, the battery life can be extended a lot longer.

The pic resolution is 2592×1944 pixels and the ISO range is from 80 to 400.

There are a couple of macro modes on the C-5060 allowing you to get within a few inches of the subject.

All up, the long batter life, good pic quality, durability and utility of the Olympus C-5060 makes this one of the better choices for travellers who want one of the better 5 megapixel cameras around.

Buy Now

The Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard by I-Tech can be used for laptops, desktops, PDA’s, or Smartphones. Its laser lights eject an image of a keyboard layout (evoking a sci-fi feel) which could read around 400 characters a minute. It even makes clicking sounds while you’re typing, to let you know that it’s registering to your PC. However, the sound feature is optional. The same thing goes for the intensity of the projection of the keys and the battery timeout. You don’t have to worry about cables either – this keyboard is rechargeable.

A flat surface is recommended for the laser keyboard to function properly. It can be very convenient for those who need to take their work with them everywhere they go. The device is lightweight, weighing 2.8 ounces, and is easy to store, with dimensions of 3.5 x 1.3 x 0.9 inches. Some may find it quite expensive for a keyboard, but this is about as portable as they get.

There are those times on the bus, train or whatever else where you just need something to do and well, for some of us, books went out with grunge rock. That’s where a portable gaming device comes in pretty handy.

The PSP has all the bells and whistles - USB 2.0, a bigass screen with 480×272 res and WiFi support. At 10.3 ounces it ain’t really going to weigh down your pack either.

It can also carry your MP3 collection though the standard memory isn’t going to set the world on fire too soon so you may want to upgrade that.

One downside (which seems to be common to every piece of electronic kit that’s coming out lately) is that these are easy to scratch up which is a bit of a downer for us travelers. If you do get one, then try to get a carry case so it lasts a little longer than 10 minutes.

These guys are offering one up for free so it’s worth checking out.

We’ll also leave the offer up on the hot deals page until it expires.

In September of every year, tribes from all over PNG get together for this shindig and the dress code is a long way from formal. Up to 40,000 painted warriors from accross the country dance to the beat of the Kundu drums in an event that began in the 1950s as a social gathering and soon became a huge annual event.

As you can see, things get pretty colourful and photographers go wild - it actually looks pretty difficult to take a bad photo with all that colour flying around.

Frankly the Mud Men of Asaro have scared the shit out of me ever since I was a child - I still get the occasionaly nightmare. Even so, this is one of the events I am definitely going to make it to during my lifetime.

When: September
Where: Goroka, Papua New Guinea
How: Papua Trekking

Technorati Tags: Goroka, PNG, Papua New Guinea

The funny thing is that hawkers can almost always correctly pick the newbie traveler to pick on - after all they are the one who is most likely to part with their cash just to get rid of them.

So how do you avaoid these guys fleecing you?

There are a few rules:

Dress Down

The trick is to look poorer than the next tourist. The hawker is always going to go after the fat guy wearing the Tag watch and Polo shirt. Don’t be that guy. If you look like less of a prospect than the next tourist then you will be relatively safe.

Hide the Gadgets

Again with the rich theme - if you have laptops, cell phones, GPS devices and Palms then you look rich. You are probably carrying devices worth 6 months wages to half the people around you. You don’t want that, so put them in your (suitably drab) bag.

Don’t Slow Down

If you are walking when you are approached by a hawker DO NOT slow down. This is a huge mistake that many newbies make. Slowing down gives the hawker a chance to block your path and shows them that you MIGHT be interested. Just maintain a steady pace and direction - simple!

Don’t Pick it Up

Under no circumstances should you EVER take what is offered. Once you have picked up the merchandise that was offered to you, you will NEVER be able to get rid of it or hand it back to the seller. It is a hard sell tactic, but it works and it is used a lot. Don’t be caught out.

Keep Your Sense of Humour

It is pretty easy to lose your cool with people in some places. That is a bad idea. They are just trying to make the best of the shitty hand that they have been dealt and fleecing rich tourists pays better than many other jobs in the third world - but it still sucks so cut some slack. The best way to diffuse any tense moments is to laugh and share a joke - after all you are there to have fun.

Unfortunately, when all your friends live inter-state that gets a little expensive.

We uncovered a free airline tickets offer that might smooth the way though, and get you annoying the crap our of your old pals / ex-girlfriend / relieved parents, quicker than you can say “where’s the beer?”

A few tips to make sure you have the best time:

1. Arrive unannounced
2. Bring at least 2 bottle of spirits (maybe one and a half if you got started on the plane)
3. Bring other friends
4. Leave the current girlfriend/boyfriend at home

We’ll keep the free flights offer up on the Hot Deals page as long as the offer stands, but it seems like a decent one.

This time of year, it might even be fun to hit the beach for a weekend on some free tickets.

Now who do I know in Florida?

Check out the deal here.

These subterranean catacombs of Lima’s first cemetary have been around since the 16th century and are located under the San Francisco Church in Lima’s downtown Plaza de Armas. They were rediscovered in 1951 and contain the bones of around 25,000 people.

When they were discovered, the bones were in disarray and scattered everywhere as they were originally dumped uncerimoniously into a pit (after they bodies had decomposed in teh church graves). An archaeologist thought they would be a bigger drawcard for tourists if they were laid out in artistic patterns.. and well, it looks like he was right.

Astonishingly, the catacombs have survived, despite a series of earthquakes. If you’re really keen to see this site, they have tours of the church that you can go on.

The guy who took this photo says the green glow coming from the top skull was not put in by him. Sorry, but we have to call bullshit on that one.

The Philips Pet724 is one of the hot gadgets of the moment.

It’s strengths lie solidly in the relam of picture quality. While it has a standard 480×234 pixel screen (which is about what most portable DVD players have) the picture quality is among the best in the business with the Philips LCD screen. That means a huge selection of colours and good tonal range.

Sound wise, it’s solid but nothing to write home about. In fact the volume control doesn’t really go loud enough unless you’re wearing headphones (which most travelers probably would be).

It has a great battery life at over 4 hours in some tests and you can get an adapter to charge it in a car (another consideration for travelers).

On the downside, the motor is loud (remember the volume problem?) and the battery pack is a little bulky (a definite drawback for travellers) and sticks out.

At around the $150 mark, the Pet724 might be worth checking out for those of you who simply can’t live without your electronic entertainment on the road.