Yeah, last minute travel can be cool. But it can also leave you cash poor, especially when you’re talking high-season travel in major vacation destinations. But as with most things in life, a just little edumuhcation can go a long way. Case in point: Kayak.com’s Fare Alerts.

Create a Fare Alert (or 12) on Kayak.com or SideStep.com for the summer getaway(s) currently sequestered in your noggin by clicking on the “Get fare alerts for this trip” link on the top right-hand corner of the flight results page. You can track fares for specific dates, a flexible span of time (e.g. summer weekends or, say, the month of June) or an entire region (e.g. Europe). When your daily or weekly Fare Alert (you choose how often it arrives) touches down in your email inbox, you’ll be able to make informed travel decisions.

Depending on what you ask it to track (specific dates, flexible span of time or even top cities in a region), each Fare Alert can show you:

- How much the fare for specific dates has increased or decreased in dollars since the last alert

- The airfare history for your trip dates based on searches made by Kayakers over the past 90 days

- A snapshot of prices in Kayak.com’s matrix view, so you can quickly compare prices by carrier and number of stops

- The lowest fare available during a specific span of time (e.g. the next four weekends)

- The best fares available for popular destination cities in a region you want to visit (e.g. Africa)

Who knows, maybe you’ll still pay craptons to travel to the most expensive resort on the hottest island right in the middle of the high season. After all, it’s high season for a reason. But at least you’ll be pimping it out with full knowledge of your unbridled American excess. Just remember the wisdom of G.I. Joe.

(**Editor’s note: Yeah, Kayak.com owns us. You wanna make something of it? I’ll have you know I was surreptitiously using Fare Alerts to aid in making my personal travel plans long before Kayak.com bought our parent company SideStep.com in December. Nepotism, bias, blah, blah, blah. Fare Alerts just make good travel sense.)

You may not be able to get a hold of an Amazon Kindle, the hotter’n Hades electronic book platform that’s quickly becoming a must-have for frequent travelers who counting reading as their fave travel diversion. The $399 wireless devices are currently sold out on Amazon.com, and customers are placing pre-orders for the next available shipment.

But what you can get a hold of lickety split is a new case designed to protect your Kindle, whether you’re one of the lucky ones who already has one or whether you’re waiting for yours to arrive in the coming weeks. The slim Kindle Slip Case by WaterField Designs comes in an array of colors and features water-resistant material on its exterior, a padded scratch-free liner and impact-resistant plastic to protect the Kindle’s screen. After all, you wouldn’t want your new techie travel toy to get all scratched up like your reading glasses. Nerd. Cost: $27.

We know a good deal on cool travel gear when we see one. Today, I spotted the Burton AUDEX iPod AK Backpack for sale at the Snow Shack for $90. The pack retails at $279.95, though I found it for less on several web sites that I checked and available on eBay for $115. Still, Snow Shack is offering the best deal I can find.

Made for skiers and snowboarders with fun features like external pole and shovel storage spots and a panel for holding snowboards horizontally across the back, the Burton AUDEX iPod backpack would be ideal for frequent travelers who like to keep their tunes at the ready. An iPod storage pocket keeps your little white bundle of musical joy safe, while an iPod controller on the shoulder strap lets you, uh, control your music from the, uh, shoulder strap. No surprises there. The strap also has a headphone port. Plus, it just looks cool.

Watch out iPhone. Here comes the Garmin nuvifone. Let the games begin. On Wednesday, GPS maker Garmin announced its first mobile phone, and it looks to be a beaut. For the frequent traveler, this new tech toy offers something no other mobile phone can boast: the power of a Garmin GPS personal navigation device. Google local search capabilities allow users to find specific destinations or destination categories (coffeeshops, hospitals, gas stations) in relation to their current location on Google maps and tag photos taken with the built-in camera to certain locations. The touchscreen smartphone also features iPhone-esque web browsing, video camera, email, SMS, etc.

The device is slated for release in Q3 2008. No word on pricing or carrier yet, but Gizmodo suspects AT&T will be the likely choice for the latter.

Garmin® nüvifone™ Takes Personal Navigation and Communication to the Next Level

Tee hee hee. For some reason, it makes us chuckle that even the TSA has its own blog. First Bill Marriott, now the Transportation Security Administration. Loftily titled The Evolution of Security (funny because, standing in most security lines more often than not leaves me wondering whether evolution could be working in reverse these days), the blog describes itself as a platform for communication and feedback among the TSA and the millions of passengers who encounter its security rules, airport policies and personnel each day. As the blog astutely points out, “There isn’t much opportunity for our Security Officers to explain the ‘why,’ of what we ask you to do at the checkpoint, just the ‘what’ needs to be done to clear security.”

Laughing aside, I’ll be reading it, and I suspect many other travelers and travel bloggers will be, too.

Expected to debut sometime in spring or early summer, the Motorola EQ5 Portable Wireless Speaker is already on my travel wish list. The palm-sized speaker connects to Bluetooth-enabled devices, including phones, and features echo-cancellation and noise-reduction technology for high-quality sound. Looks like a great little device for on-the-go travelers who want to take their music with them everywhere. You can also use it as a phone speaker for conference calls. Connects to non-Bluetooth players via the 3.5mm jack.

Can’t make it to Yellowstone National Park in person to see famous Old Faithful do its thing? Dry your eyes. The National Park Service just launched a live webcam that will let you see the magic happen from your desk. The live footage is accompanied by narration from a guy with a sort of corny, Ranger Rick demeanor. But it’s fun to listen to if you want to geek out on geysers (Liquid hot magma chambers? Cone geysers vs. mountain geysers? Where do I sign up?).

The Old Faithful Area Live-Streaming Video WebCam

Okay, we don’t know if we’d call them “next-gen” seeing as they really are so year 2005, but at least Continental is bringing them to the sky. The airline announced that it will begin offering in-flight wireless Internet access and 36 DirecTV satellite television to passengers for a reasonable $6 per flight.

Continental to Launch Next Gen Flight Services

Shoutout to Denver International Airport for joining the ranks of free airport wireless Internet zones. Passengers can now access the Internet for free from any part of the airport. The ad-supported service is managed by FreeFi Networks.

Denver International Airport Offers FreeFi Networks’ Free Wi-Fi Service to Passengers

A little chorus began singing in my head when this press release popped up in my RSS reader today:

Southwest Airlines Bringing the Internet to the Sky Via Satellite

If all goes according to plan, Southwest Airlines will begin testing in-flight Internet services delivered via broadband satellite on four aircraft this summer. The service, delivered by Row 44, will allow passengers with wi-fi enabled devices full access to the Internet and email.