COVID-19 poses a greater risk for travellers as people go through major hubs such as airports, train stations, and cruise ship terminals, stay at hotels, ride on public transit systems, rent cars and eat at crowded restaurants. All of these venues expose people to the risk of contracting COVID-19. However, it is not difficult -in our opinion- (mind you- we are not experts in this field) to keep the virus at bay with 10 simple preventative measures:

1. Wash Your Hands Frequently and Completely: This is easier done than said. All you have to do is wash your hands with soap and water, make sure you cover in between fingers and fingernails, and spend at least 20 seconds rubbing your hands with water before rinsing. To be safe, wash your face as well in case you touched your face by mistake. By  doing so, you may prevent virus on the surface of your face entering your nose, mouth and eyes if caught early on. 
2. Do Not Touch Your Face: This one easier said than done. Most of the times, we do this without even thinking. We wet our fingers to turn a page, we scratch our nose or forehead, or we simply lean rest on our hands to read a good book or take a quick nap on the go. We have to be alert at all times and make sure that we stop the habit of touching our face. This will take practice but it is of utmost importance. We may not prevent touching infected surfaces since most of the things we need to do when we are outside in public require physical contact with surfaces such as opening doors, grabbing our luggage at the airport, and picking up products from shelves. But we can sure stop spreading the virus from our hands to our face and into our bodies from there.
3. Stay Away From Public Venues If Not Imperative: This is not too difficult to do really. For example, we can read your books at home do conduct your research at home instead of going to the library. Sure, it can get pretty boring to stay home for an extended period of time but there are places you can go outside and still stay away from people.
4. Prefer Nature Hikes to Walks In The City: Staying away from other people and crowded places does not necessarily translate into staying home all the times. There are safer ways to get outside and enjoy life. For example, you can take a hike through the woods or by the beach to reduce your risk of contracting COVID-19. Walking in the city, compared to hiking in nature, poses higher risk as you will come close to other people in the elevators, doorways, and sidewalks. If you live in the suburbs and have a car your garage, it is even better. You can get into your car and drive to a park for a hike in the woods.
   
5. Shop Online Instead Of Going To The Market: Nowadays, many groceries can be bough online and delivered home. Many grocery chains offer online shopping either through their own website or through third party apps. Some markets are exclusively for online shopping without brick and mortar stores. Your chances or getting your groceries online are higher if you live in or near a city. Shopping online for groceries can be more difficult if you live in a rural area. If there are no markets that offer online shopping where you live, you may check out Amazon or Walmart as they do sell some food items online now. Especially after Amazon purchased Whole Foods, many items offered through Whole Foods can be ordered online now. You may have difficulty getting perishable items online but you don't necessarily need most perishable items to get by for a while. Alternatively, you can come up with your own solution. For example, if you cannot order bread online, you can order flour through Amazon or another online store and bake your own bread. It is always a great idea to bake your own bread even without a pandemic anyway. It is healthier as you probably will not put any preservatives in your own bread.
   
6. Carry Disinfecting Wipes When You Go Outside: If you must go to the market, have some disinfecting wipes with you so that you can wipe the surfaces you touch such as the shopping carts, luggage handles as you retrieve them at the airport, etc. Just don't go too crazy with this because it can get out of hand very easily.  You just need to find the balance between being prepared and responsible and what may appear to be an overkill. 
7. Stay Home If Feeling Sick: This goes without saying but we still need to say it anyway since some people don't seem to take this seriously enough. Remember the case where a JetBlue passenger did not disclose before boarding that the passenger was tested for COVID-19. When the results came in after landing and the information was shared with the airliner, JetBlue decided to ban this passenger for life for putting all on board at risk. So, don't make the same mistake. If you think you are feeling sick, just stay home.
8. Hold That Handshake: This is another trend developing to prevent contracting COVID-19 across the globe. There are many alternatives to handshakes you can choose from. Elbow bump or hand over chest gesture is the two most popular nowadays. Besides, you don't even find an alternative to a handshake. A simple "hi" will do.
9. Clean Your Suitcase and Carry-Ons: When boarding a plane, train or a bus, please remember to sanitize your luggage to lower the risk of contracting COVID-19. If you are receiving your suitcase at an airport carrousel and you are not sure of the measures taken at the airport in terms of disinfecting luggage before they reach the passengers, you can simply clean the handles and surfaces of your suitcases with a disinfecting wipe. It is, however, recommended to eliminate travel all together if it is not important. Note that it is not important to go on a vacation to ride out the storm in a tranquil place. You can simply postpone or cancel your trip.
10. Use Your Common Sense: This is more of a catch-all rule rather than a specific one and it applies to all times and scenarios rather than a specific pandemic. Whenever you are faced with a decision (i.e. shopping, travel, concert, hand shake) please use your common sense and listen to your adult voice. As we all know, there are many types of voices and not all meant to be listened to. If you don't trust your own inner adult voice (a.k.a. common sense), please ask someone you trust. An independent view can sometime be more reasonable as long as the third person you are soliciting input from does not have any stake in the game. 

These rules above are not meant to be medical advice from an authority. These are simply our own opinions. They may or may not be scientifically true so read and follow at your own risk and always do your own research and follow the guidance provided by the authorities. One more thing to note, we may think these 10 rules are reasonable at the time of writing this but they may be irrelevant in the future and we may simply forget to update this article. So, be cautions and don't hold us responsible for possible inaccuracies. Simply, go to WHO and CDC websites and your own government's health authorities and family physicians for most accurate and up to date information on how to stay safe during this COVID-19 pandemic.

There are a number of carry-on bags offering a range of functionalities. ProGo is a new product that offers the following:

• Laptop and iPad compartment
• Shelf compartment for clothing
• Toiletry pouch
• Bottle/yoga mat pouch
• Bluetooth tracker (our favorite)
• Shoe compartment (great idea!)
• Cable output
• Accessory pouch
• Hidden pouch for passports and other valuables
• Mesh pouch for earbuds or cell phones
• Sunglasses holder

ProGo is also made from tarp for water resistance. More information is available on Kickstarter. Price is $216 USD. Funding goals is met with 36 days to go. Expected delivery is May 2016.

What is one of the most annoying things that can happen to you at an airport terminal? Realizing that your smart phone is running out of battery. The struggle is something we all experienced at some point in our lives. Road warriors are more familiar with this issue than infrequent travellers. The agony associated with finding a power outlet, pulling out your charger, and waiting by your smart phone as it charges is real for many people. 
A new Kickstarter campaign is launched to introduce a suitcase with a built-in wireless charger. Your phone is running out of juice at an airport? Just place it on top of your suitcase. It is as simple as that. Creators of this product call it VoltVoyage. Funding deadline is September 17, 2015. Over 20 backers pledged over $15,000 fo sar. Project funding goal is set to $36,000. That means, if the project does not reach the funding goal by the deadline, it will most likely not materialize. However, it appears this project may be a winner. Wireless charging capability sounds like winner for frequent travellers.

A new kickstarter campaign introduced a regular size suitcase with built-in shelves that makes everything more visible, accessible, and organized. The product is called ShelfPack and it has over 100 backers. With 15 days left until the end of this kickstarter campaign, the project is already fully funded. Original funding goal was $20,000. Current funding is exceeding $30,000. 
What do we think about this product? Although it appears the shelves might take some valuable space that you might otherwise use for personal items, it can be a good idea for travellers with convenience in mind. If I can just open my suitcase, lift the shelves up, and be done with it, why would I want to unpack my luggage, organize everything into a hotel drawer only to pack them back again in a few days? It sure sounds convenient.