Here’s a pretty sweet little device: The Tom Tom GO 720. This handheld GPS device allows users to edit maps from its 4.3″ LCD touchscreen. You can add your favorite locations, enter details about roads under construction or correct any inaccuracies you run across during your travels. Other users can download your map fixes - and you can download theirs. Mount it in your car or pop it in your pocket when you’re on the go.

So you’re heading off for a family vacation, maybe a visit to Grandma and Granddaddy. You’re looking forward to getting away, but you aren’t looking forward to stuffing the car full of baby supplies, strollers and toys or hauling your twin toddlers’ double baby carriage through the airport while everyone gives you dirty looks for holding up the security line. Travel BaBees might just be the solution.

Available in Los Angeles, San Diego, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Scottsdale and the San Francisco Bay Area, Travel BaBees allows you to rent baby equipment and have it delivered to your destination. There are must-haves like car seats, cribs, baby monitors and strollers, as well as plenty of fun accessories like the Exersaucer, bouncy seats, toy tubs and activity gyms. You can also rent all everyday items you use at home - like a Diaper Genie or potty chair - or snag things like safety gates that you might need to childproof your vacation rental or hotel room. Prices are reasonable, ranging from $2/day or $10/week for small items to $12/day or $60/week for a full crib with linens.

Which travel companies make Christopher Elliott’s blacklist? Drawing from his widely-read troubleshooter column, Elliott puts together a list of four companies who repeatedly end up on travelers’ sh*t lists. And the winners are (drum roll puhlease):

1. US Airways

2. Days Inn

3. Thrifty

4. Princess Cruise Line

To find out why each company made the list, read Elliott’s Blacklisted: 4 Travel Companies People Avoid on MSNBC.

Yes it will take longer than flying, but you could get from Los Angeles to Las Vegas for just one buck once Megabus starts service on the West Coast Aug. 8th. A few $1 tickets are available on each Megabus route. After they’re snapped up by the early birds, they’re gone - passengers pay more believable fares. In addition to Vegas, Megabus also has routes from Los Angeles to Oakland, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose.

To appeal to the growing number of families staying in its UK hotels, Travelodge announced that it will remove adult movies from its TV programming menus. Instead, the hotel will pump millions into outfitting its rooms with flat-screen digital televisions with 18 free family-friendly channels.

Porn Films Banned In Hotel Chain’s Rooms

Traveling today? Never fear. Friday the 13th doesn’t necessarily have to mean bad travel karma. We’ve got some time-honored tips for traveling smoothly today - and, for that matter, any day:

1. Before you leave home, make sure your you’ve taken steps to Keep Your Home Secure During Vacation.

2. There’s no reason to ever get stuck paying for overweight bags. Pick up one of the Best Collapsible Travel Bags and say never again.

3. Don’t let your bags go on vacation without you. Put identification inside bags, as well as out.

4. Don’t trust your eyes to find airport power outlets, trust the Air Power Wiki.

5. Ask about your hotel’s early check-out policy before skipping out. Some hotels even have special check-out policies to help you maximize your stay.

6. Heading out of town for a wedding this weekend? Check out the Frequent Guest’s Wedding Travel Survival Guide before you go.

7. Driving to your destination? Don’t pay too much for gas. Let your cell phone find cheap fuel.

8. Renting a car? Get the low-down on car insurance from George Hobica before you fork over cash for the rental company’s insurance.

9. Hate the smell in your hotel room? Learn How to Handle Hotel Room Odors once and for all.

10. And remember, if things don’t go your way, you can always fight stress with a D.I.Y. in-flight facial.

Want a solid grill that can go anywhere you want to barbecue? Coleman’s Roadtrip ProGrill even folds up into a rolling case that you can easily stow.

Now that car rental companies Dollar and Thrifty are offering Garmin nuvi 660 navigators, it should be (theoretically speaking, at least) much more difficult to get lost in one of their cars.

My tech difficulties are persisting today, hence the lack of image with this. But just click through the link above for all the specs on this widescreen personal navigation device.

Dollar and Thrifty to Offer Popular Garmin nuvi 660

Ask George: We rented a car in Costa Rica a few years ago, and the rates seemed reasonable until you added in the mandatory insurance. We showed the rental car agent our American Express rental car coverage, but they insisted that the law required us to buy additional insurance anyway. Is this still the case?

Answer: From what I can gather, it is. You are required by the government to buy liability insurance, which covers you, for example, in case you hit a pedestrian, but does not cover the rental car itself. This insurance can add $10-$20 per day to the cost of the rental. Many people don’t realize it, but their credit cards do not cover personal liability when renting a car, leaving them open to potentially devastating law suits (personal auto insurance on your own car may cover you in the United States , but not overseas). In addition, when renting a car in Costa Rica (and many other countries), you may be required to purchase collision damage insurance (CDW or LDW), which costs an additional $10-20 per day depending on vehicle type. But this insurance has loopholes too: as its name suggests, it covers only collisions with another vehicle. It does not cover a collision, say, with a building, nor does it cover vandalism to the vehicle or a damaged wheel if you have a close encounter with one of Costa Rica’s notorious potholes. So you may want to buy additional insurance that reduces your liability to near zero. You’ll also be stuck with an airport concession fee of 12 percent and a fee for additional drivers. These extra charges can easily surpass the daily rental fee itself. Almost makes you want to take a taxi everywhere or public transportation!

George Hobica is a travel writer living in New York City.

Do you have a question to ask George? Send us your question, and George may feature it in an upcoming column.

Carey of Houston is planning to add wireless Internet access to its Houston fleet. The service will be available, free of charge, to travelers who hire the car service’s sedans, limousines, mini-buses and executive vans.