I’ve Never Slept Better When Traveling Thanks to This Tiny Sound Machine

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Traveling to an unfamiliar place means experiencing a new culture and making incredible memories, but it also means you might be out of your comfort zone — especially when it comes to your sleep environment. If you’re someone who can fall asleep anywhere, like in an airport seat waiting at your gate or in a small pod hotel, I envy you. When it comes to falling asleep, I’ve always needed some sort of fan or white noise to help me drift off when traveling, though, I’ve ended up sleeping in silent hotel rooms that keep me tossing and turning. 

That’s why I finally invested in a portable sound machine, and it’s now one of my favorite travel accessories I’ll always pack. While I’m sure I could use some sort of app on my phone to produce the same noises, I’m not worried about leaving the Lectrofan Micro2 Sleep Sound Machine on all night long, and I think it’s actually louder than a typical phone speaker. 

LectroFan Micro2 Sleep Sound Machine

Courtesy of Amazon

To buy: amazon.com, $30

Measuring in at only two-inches tall and wide, this sound machine is small enough to fit in most pouches of your carry-on bag, but it’s mighty in sound. It has 11 different sound options including your choice of five different fan sounds (my favorite!), four white, pink, or brown noise variations, and two ocean surf sounds. And if you’re a light sleeper but hate wearing earplugs, you’ll also love that the LectroFan as an easy solution to falling asleep faster for longer. Plus, with more than 2,500 five-star reviews on Amazon, other customers seem to  agree with me this is one of the easiest-to-use portable sound machines that actually works and is worth carrying with you. While LectroFan’s original noise machine ($50; amazon.com) has 20 different sound variations, the LectroFan2 is way more portable thanks to its tiny size. 

But what I love most about this little sound machine that fits in the palm of your hand is that it also doubles as a Bluetooth travel speaker. hen you’re listening to music or your sleep sounds for the night, you can also swivel the Lectrofan so the speaker faces you. At full charge, the Lectrofan can last up to 40 hours in sleep mode, so you won’t have to worry about charging it too often while on the go. 

When you can’t justify another night of bad sleep on the road, the LectroFan Micro2 is here to help — because there’s nothing worse than being too tired to enjoy The Louvre in Paris or a beautiful beach day in the Bahamas. And really, what’s another travel gadget to carry when it’s this small?

You Can Wear This Portable Air Conditioner Underneath Your Shirt Collar

Courtesy of Sony

As oppressive temperatures sweep the world this summer, you don’t need to abandon air conditioning once you leave the office. Sony is developing a personal “air conditioner” you can keep in a special pocket to keep you cool during the hot summer months.

The “Reon Pocket” is a wearable air conditioner controlled via a smartphone app. It slips into a pocket beneath the collar on the back of a custom dress shirt and works with the same type of technology that makes refrigerators keep their cool. Wearers can control the temperature on their phones or allow the device to self-adjust to external temperatures.

Sony has answered our prayers and created a "wearable air-conditioner". pic.twitter.com/zCe4VHd66o

— SCMP News (@SCMPNews) July 24, 2019

The device is apparently capable of cooling your body by up to 23 degrees Fahrenheit or heating you up 14 degrees. Sony says the device is “smaller and lighter” than a mobile phone (weighing just under three ounces), making it one of the most portable cooling devices out there.

The Reon Pocket works for 90 minutes after about two hours of charging. Enough to get you from air-conditioned place to air-conditioned place. And it’s also all-seasonal; the device can also work in the winter to heat the wearer.

The device is currently seeking crowdfunding and will likely only be available in Japan for the foreseeable future. It is expected to cost about $130. It seems as good a reason as any to book a shopping trip to Japan to pick up the clothing of the future.