I remember walking into Barnes and Noble a couple years back looking for the perfect travel organizer for my first backpacking trip.

Perusing the journal section, I was instantly enamored by Abroad’s wanderlust inducing cover design without even flipping through it!.

Aesthetically attractive, this rectangular-shaped travel journal authored by Julianne Balmain and illustrated by Bas de Graf is filled with great tools for organizing your journey.

It provides sleeves and pockets for plane and train tickets, a world map including timezones, sections for logging contact information of fellow travelers, pages for sample day-trip itineraries, a mini address book for hostel/hotel details and other pertinent information.

And of course, ample space for journal entries.

So far, I’ve been through 3 of these travel organizers and usually carry one on long trips abroad!

Price: $13.46 | BUY

Are you ready to graduate from your point-and-shoot camera but aren’t ready to plunge head first into the expensive world of professional photography?

Consider the Nikon D40 digital SLR. It’s the perfect camera for those testing the waters of digital photography as a serious hobby.

For less than $500 with prices slowly dropping every three months or so, this 6.1 megapixel camera comes with a 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX zoom lens, shoots 2.5 frames per second, and provides tons of in-camera processing options such as D-Lighting, Red-Eye Correction, Trimming and Overlay functions, and an array of filter effects.

Shooting modes include Automatic, Auto (Flash Off), Portrait, Landscape, Close-up, Child, Sports, Night Portrait, and a variety of manual settings.

Price: $474.06 | BUY

This pocket-sized external drive is all the storage you need during your travels.

With its sleek design and light weight (only a few ounces), the Passport provides enough storage (320 gigabytes to be exact!) to store your high resolution, RAW format photographs as well as other documents.

A major plus of the Passport is that it requires no external power adapter and connects to your source device via a simple USB cable only.

If you’re taking a ton of pictures during your travels, be sure to make the Passport an integral part of your travel kit.

Price: $129.19 | BUY

We all love mouthwatering travel anthologies and Tales from Nowhere edited by Don George provides an array of appetizing stories that leave you wanting more.

With its base message being you can experience the sense of “being nowhere” anywhere, its travelers’ tales cover remote regions such as Timbuktu and Antarctica, as well as airports and more popular locations.

Featured travel writers include Pam Houston, Tim Cahill, Simon Winchester, Pico Iyer, and many more.

Grab your copy today!

Price: $11.24 | BUY

I love waterproof cases!

These compact cases are extremely portable and great for organizing items that need to stay dry while kayaking, canoeing, and swimming… you get the drift.

With a clear snap top and rubber liner, these attractive cases can also waterproof your toiletries and other personal items like keys and wallets while camping and hiking.

For outdoorsy ladies who still want to look cute while roughing it, they make great makeup cases!

Price: $17.50 | BUY

It wasn’t until days after a 45km trek to Machu Picchu that I realized I never got a single blister en route.

Thanks to Keen’s Targhee Hiking Boots. From moderate day hikes to multi-day challenging treks, this sturdy lightweight (just 1 lb 12 oz!) boot provides rock-solid traction and grip support on uneven, jagged terrain like the infamous stone steps of the Inca trail.

Excellent in damp conditions, its waterproof eVENT® liner evaporates internal moisture caused by perspiration while preventing outside moisture from soaking through the boot.

These super cute boots come in fancy color combinations like black olive/mineral blue, walnut, and deep lichen/rattan.

Remember to get one size larger than you’ll normally wear when buying hiking boots, and be sure to break them in a couple weeks before you set off on your treks.

Price: $119.95 – $120.00 | BUY