Here’s a cute stocking stuffer for traveling iPod users: the iTravel Mini for iPod Video, available at Kaehler World Traveler. In white or black, this compact shell features plug-n-play stero speakers for bringing your audio and visual iPod content with you when you’re away from home, as well as a digital alarm clock. The book-like shape lets you prop this little techie travel gadget up when you want to and stow it away when you don’t. Plus, it protects your iPod and includes a headphone jack. Cost: $79.95

Here’s wishing you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving - wherever you are and however you choose to celebrate. We’ve got a lot of things to be thankful for this year. The most recent of which is yesterday’s mention of the TravelPost.com Airport Wireless Internet Guide in Daily Candy’s travel section. Thanks for the shout out, guys.

Today we’ll be off dosing ourselves on tryptophan, baking rolls, finishing the sweet potato brulee and drinking good wine. Check back tomorrow for your regular weekly helping of celebrity travel news. Until then, have a safe and happy holiday.

Welcome to the TravelPost.com Insider It Gear Report

Show ‘Em What You Got

Aren’t dopp kits usually like the most boring travel accessories in the world? Well, not this one. The X-Posed XRay Dopp Case by Fred is one way to bring the fun back to an experience many frequent travelers have come to loathe. Okay, okay. Schlepping this through airport security may not actually be any more fun than carrying an undecorated alternative, but we think it’s cute. So there. Oh and thanks, Fred. Whoever you are. Cost: $12.

Hide Those Hooters

Lest you think we’ve become a wee bit obsessed with hooters lately, let me point out that Bebe au Lait’s new breastfeeding coverlet is actually called the Original Hooter Hider Nursing Cover. We’re not making that up. Designed by Claire Ekelund, this travel accessory for nursing moms comes in European silks, as well as organic and cotton fabrics and features a structured neck that allows mom (and only mom) to see baby nursing. No more slipping blankies and angry, anti-nursing-in-public airline attendants. Cost: $35.

Dude, Where’s My Wi-Fi?

Good traveling folk, we may soon see an end to the dreaded hotspot shuffle (which, if you don’t already know, is the increasingly common dance one must often perform to find a strong wi-fi connection in an airport, coffeeshop, hotel, etc.).

The ThinkGeek Wi-Fi Detector Shirt detects wireless Internet networks and announces their signal strength using an animated, glowing decal only a true geek could love.

Suddenly, just by wearing a shirt, you’ll know exactly where to plop down and fire up your laptop in airports and hotels (places where signals are notoriously uneven). But how, you may be asking yourself, will I be able to wash this new specimen of high-tech fashion? Easy. The decal is detachable (as is the AAA battery pack). This geek-tastic piece of apparel will be in stock by the end of October. Cost: $29.99

Source: Gizmodo

Toss One Back

These days, seems everyone in water bottle land (a highly populated, very wet place) is talking about Swiss-designed Sigg aluminum water bottles. Patagonia’s new all-black version is sure to appeal to traveling granolas, while the Sigg Lifestyle water bottle offers a hydration solution for style-conscious eco-ists (and, um, thirsty people).

For those of you thinking, why should I care about this aluminum water bottle, here are a few important advantages of this alternative to plastic: they’re ultra lightweight, extra durable, leak-proof and made with a non-toxic liner that is designed to be safe and devoid of taste or smell. You know, so your beverages taste like they’re supposed to. And when you’re done with the bottle (maybe after you’re dead, unless you bequeath it to your beneficiaries), you can rest easy knowing it’s 100 percent recyclable.

Insider It Gear is a regular series from TravelPost.com that showcases new travel gear, products and accessories that today’s active traveler simply can’t live without. Okay, maybe you can, but we’re having a hard time. Got ideas for an upcoming edition of Insider It Gear? Contact Us. We won’t bite. Often.

Not that we’re all that surprised, seeing as we are well aware of how awesome SideStep is, but it’s always reaffirming to get a pat on the back from the likes of Travel + Leisure magazine. In its recent feature on the Top 25 Travel Web Sites, SideStep was at the top of the list. Here’s what the mag had to say about TravelPost.com’s parent company:

Comparing top aggregators Sidestep and Kayak, we found that eight-year-old Sidestep’s flight tool has a slight edge: A handy matrix at the top of the results page gives an overview of the lowest prices pulled from 600 airlines across 200 sites. And refining the search by departure time or airport is a breeze.

Woot! Other sites I was glad to see on the list? Foodie site Chowhound, Xe.com, The Bathroom Diaries and many more!

We can all embrace the D.I.Y. ethic from time to time, but there are certainly plenty of situations what many of us would like to pawn off on someone else, especially if the price happened to be right. Meet Sunday, a new-ish service that offers busy travelers services of the sort you’d normally have to hire a personal assistant to complete. Things like:

- Someone to spend time researching options for using miles to pay for an upcoming flight

- Updates on flight delays and cancellations wherever you are

- Help finding a hotel room in New York for under $250/night

- A person to investigate why frequent flyer miles you should have earned mysteriously failed to appear in your account

- Someone who’ll book your reservations at the French Laundry

- Directions to the nearest pharmacy when you’re in an unfamiliar town

It’s kind of like having your own personal Jeeves. Sunday tackles requests of all kinds - related to travel or otherwise. For $29/month, Sunday will handle up to 30 requests (you pay $2 per request after 30). For $49/month, Sunday will make up to $50 requests a month on your behalf ($1.50 per additional request), including international calls and 24-7 access to Sunday’s email and telephone support.

Jeanne Leblanc of the Hartford Courant blogs today in Coach Class about the availability of hotel wi-fi and her experience with wildly varying fees at similarly-priced hotels. Jumping off of her post, I have two suggestions for travelers:

1. Check out TravelPost.com’s Hotel Chain Internet Access Guide for the standard Internet policies in place at U.S. hotel chains. That way, you’ll know in advance what you’re going to have to shell out to get online.

2. If you’re traveling with a companion, consider springing for an Apple AirportExpress. Since the device turns any wired Internet connection into a wireless one, multiple laptops can use the Internet while paying just one connection fee.

Summer may have come to its official end last weekend, but you can still make the sun work for you during cooler months. Case in point: the Solio Hybrid Charger. This handy little eco-gadget can be charged using a conventional outlet or the sun and then used to power up handheld devices, cell phones, iPods, etc. One hour of sun supposedly gives this little guy enough power to play an iPod for an hour or talk for 25 minutes on a mobile phone. The snazzy fan design makes the most out of this device’s tiny size. Great for juicing up your favorite travel electronics on the go, wherever you happen to be.

Solio Universal Hybrid Charger

If there’s anything hotels could use more of these days, it’s power outlets. During my last trip, I had to rotate between charging my cell phone, laptop and using the lamp in my room. Here’s a travel-sized accessory that will remedy the problem - and maybe even make you some friends at the airport (who doesn’t love an extra power outlet in an airport waiting area?): Monster’s Outlets To Go. It’s small, creates four outlets from one and even has a cord control feature that makes it ideal for slim briefcases and laptop bags.

Alaska Airlines has announced plans to bring in-flight wireless Internet access to its fleet next year. YES. Oh wait, I never fly Alaska. CRAP. But anyway, the airline is partnering with a company called Row 44 to use its satellite-based broadband technology on one Boeing 737 to start out. And that plane will - we hope - be followed by the rest of the airline’s planes later next year. I don’t even need to tell you what this means. When fully functional, the service will allow passengers to work the entire time they travel. YES. Wait, do I really want to be able to do that? Of course, it might mean I would actually have time to update my MySpace page, invite everyone I know to join me on LinkedIn and delete the 1,000 extraneous emails in my inbox.

Yesterday Avis announced the addition of a new handheld booking tool that will allow customers to rent cars not just online, but also using any device with an Internet connection. Meaning your phone or PDA or whatever amalgam of the two you now carry. To access the service, navigate to Avis.com on your handheld.

Another Technology Time-Saving First From Avis: Book Your Rental Online Via Your Handheld Browser