PICK OF THE WEEK
Fun Tag
(PlastiCor, $4)
“Paws off my bag,” yowls Purscilla Cat. “Don’t touch my trunk!” snorts Larry Elephant. These characters, and a zoo full of other cartoon characters, hold their most meaningful “conversations” on baggage carousels, where they announce ownership in a playful way. They make their statements on oversized bag tags measuring 4-by-5 inches. Tag fronts depict the bossy animals in crayon colors and comic-book lettering. On the back is room for the bag owner’s name, address and phone. Sandwiched between front and back surfaces is a thin slice of sturdy foam, which makes the Fun Tag durable, yet as lightweight as a handful of packing peanuts. A black plastic strap that buckles and snaps in place secures the tag and its message to the bag’s handle. Available at Deutsch Luggage in Chicago, Skokie and Oak Brook.
Bag Tags
(3M, $5 for pack of five)
Maybe you’d rather have a bag tag you can customize any way you want. This do-it-yourself kit lets you turn business cards, photos, artwork–whatever you can fit within its 2 3/4-by-4 inch borders–into a bag tag all your own. The clear plastic is heavy duty and self-laminating. You don’t need heat or a machine. I tried it with two business cards; by placing them back to back, I made a tag with two faces. The part of the kit that becomes the tag is actually two sheets of plastic that are “hinged” along one edge. One side is simply clear plastic; the other side is coated with a clear adhesive protected by paper backing. I centered my cards on the non-sticky side of the plastic. Then I pulled the backing off the sticky side and rolled the top sheet into place over my cards and the bottom sheet. I rubbed all the edges to make sure they sealed. All that was left was to slip the bag loop–that’s the other half of the kit–through the ready-made slot in the tag. Available at office-supply stores.
TRAVEL VIDEOS
“Hotel Mexico: Playacar”
(Instacom Internat’l Productions, $14.95)
This video may set some sort of record for the number of tile floors, marble-countered bathroom sinks and brightly patterned bedspreads shown in a 45-minute period. The creators of “Hotel Mexico” got the idea for the video series–the one we viewed was for Playacar–when they found that they could not get “anything other than a small picture of one hotel in the area” when they were planning their own trip to this Mexican resort area. Their idea was to show people who’ve never been to Mexico, or at least certain parts of Mexico, exactly what the accommodations look like at a string of resorts. To make a long 45 minutes short, all of the properties in this screening look remarkably alike. That’s probably because “Hotel Mexico” is intended to showcase what its producers describe as “premiere hotels.” There is logic to the material’s organization: the video shows a map and a string of hotels from north to south, which it proceeds to show room-by-room, pool-by-pool. And judging from the lightly attributed testimonials on the Hotel Mexico Web site, there are those who appreciate the chance to see these things in detail. Unfortunately, the voice-overs sound like advertising, though the producers say the video is an independent effort made without any support form the hotels mentioned. Perhaps this video will reassure inexperienced travelers that they can expect a certain standard of accommodation in Playacar’s “premiere hotels.” But then so would a little common sense: This is, after all, a resort area. These are, after all, among the best lodgings there. (shipping and handling $3.50 additional; www.hotelmexico.com)
“Alaska’s Gold Rush Train”
(Acorn Media, $19.95)
`Tis said that a hundred-thousand men headed north in the Klondike gold rush. Fewer than half of that number, perhaps only one-third, ever made it to the gold fields near Dawson. The route, just to get to Bartlett Lake, was tough and two-pronged: Prospectors could take the shorter, steeper Chilkoot Trail out of Dyea, where the mountain pass was so high even pack animals couldn’t make it. The men had to carry their required “ton of supplies” on their backs in countless shuttles up the mountains. Or, would-be miners could take the longer White Pass Trail out of Skagway. It was less steep, and the pack animals could make the trip–at least in theory. In practice, more than 3,000 horses perished. Those who board the White Pass & Yukon Route railroad are shown where many of the animals died. So are those who view “Alaska’s Gold Rush Train.” In a little under an hour, the video follows the White Pass & Yukon and shares its most memorable sights, from glaciers and waterfalls to wooden trestles and historic points. The train ride is one of North America’s steepest, leaving Skagway at sea level and climbing to 2,885 feet in 20 miles of track. From restored parlor cars, passengers on this 100-year-old route can still see the original White Pass Trail that the prospectors used. The story of the train and the trails is often told by tour guides whose grandfathers and great-grandfathers sought their fortunes along this route. Viewers get a condensed version of the entire rail journey, from the cruise ship–that’s how most tourists arrive–to the summit at White Pass, and are shown other options that can be combined with the rail trip, such as a hike through a forest where one of the trees shows fresh claw marks from a bear. The video covers the history of the gold rush and the building of the railroad–vintage photos of workers dangling by ropes from a cliff are particularly dramatic–while it shows what modern-day passengers can expect to see if they take the trip. And it achieves what the best travel stories always do: For those who may never make the journey themselves, it fulfills the armchair travelers’ need to feel as if they’ve been there. (800-474-2277; or at www.acornmedia.com)
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Contact Resourceful Traveler in care of Toni Stroud at tstroud@tribune.com.
