10 Travel Gadgets for Seniors

Gopen says the walkie talkies come in handy no matter where they travel. While visiting different ports in the Caribbean, for example, she can spend as much time as she likes shopping while her husband explores the islands on his own.

"It gives me a sense of security," she says. "I have a husband who likes to wonder off. As long as we can reconnect, I don't get upset about that."

The Gopens are like many retirees who enjoy traveling. But while many seniors in their younger days were willing to put up with certain inconveniences, today they prefer a certain level of comfort and ease. That doesn't mean four- or five-star hotels are mandatory. Some innovative — and inexpensive — travel gadgets can make even the most budget-constrained trip more enjoyable.

The travel-company representatives we spoke with say seniors are packing more comfort-oriented accessories than they did just five or 10 years ago. "Older people on our tours are usually very well-seasoned travelers," says Cameron Hewitt, senior editor for the Rick Steves' "Europe Through the Back Door" guidebook series. "They've seen Europe through the gutter when they were younger and now they want to see it again with a little more comfort." Magellan's, a web retailer of travel-related products, says its comfort-oriented sales have increased some 20% over the last year.

So before you pack for your next trip, here's a roundup of some of the newer products on the market that could make traveling even more memorable.

1. Two-Way Radios (a.k.a. Walkie Talkies)
Why they're useful: You don't have to remain attached to your travel companion at the hip. Walkie talkies are preferable to cellphones for foreign travel because they work in places where most U.S.-based phones don't. Frugal retirees also like the fact that they won't have to pay expensive roaming fees.

Products: Motorola offers a number of two-way radios. Technology news and reviews web site CNET likes the Motorola Talkabout T6500 ($59). It's easy to carry, weighing just five ounces, and has a range of five miles, says CNET. Midland X-tra Talk GXT400 ($41.99) is rated slightly lower, but CNET says its display is easier to read.

2. Digital Camera
Why it's useful: No need to haul around a dozen rolls of film in your carry-on case. When the memory card fills up, all you have to do is go to a local photo shop or Internet café and download the pictures onto a CD or upload them onto your favorite web site, says Rick Steves' Hewitt. Digital cameras are so small, with some weighing as little as four or five ounces, that seniors can easily slip them into their pockets.

Products: Seniors should look for a camera that's compact and easy to use. Check out a web site like Consumer Reports that rates different models and provides key details, such as weight, screen size and picture quality. Two models worth considering are the Canon PowerShot SD300 ($310), which weighs just five ounces, and the cheaper, albeit larger, Olympus D-580 Zoom ($160), which weighs eight ounces.

3. Hand-held Navigational System
Why it's useful: It gives you the freedom and confidence to travel off the beaten path without the fear of getting lost. Moreover, seniors might look less vulnerable in a foreign city holding a hand-held navigational system than trying to make heads or tails of a paper map.

Products: The Garmin StreetPilot i5 ($499) is about the size of a baseball, and helps you navigate the cobblestone streets of Florence just as easily as the boulevards of Paris. It even helps you locate the closest restaurant. Spend a little more on the Garmin nüvi 350 ($899) and you'll also get 200 megabytes of internal memory for photos, music and audio books, as well as a nine-language electronic translator. One shortcoming: There isn't much mapping information for Asia, says Garmin's spokesman Ted Gartner. "The data just isn't there yet," he says.

4. MP3 Player
Why it's useful: MP3 players can do a lot more than play music. Hewitt recommends them for downloading audio books, which are much easier to carry than bulky paperbacks. Seniors can also download their digital photos onto an Apple iPod.

Products: The most popular MP3 players come from Apple. The iPod nano (starts at $199) has either two gigabytes or four gigabytes of memory and stores 25,000 photos. Retirees might prefer the more traditional iPod ($299-$399) since it has more memory, 30 or 60 gigabytes, and a larger 2.5-inch screen.

5. Electronic Translators
Why they're useful: Thumbing through a traditional language dictionary can be a chore. The solution? An electronic translator that allows you to type in an entire sentence. Translators are especially helpful for seniors who have medical needs or dietary restrictions and need to communicate well with a pharmacist or in a restaurant, says Lynn Staneff, spokeswoman for Magellan's. Newer models contain five to 10 languages, cutting down the need to lug around multiple dictionaries on multicountry tours.

Products: The Lingo Talking Translator ($199) has a vocabulary of more than 200,000 words and 23,000 phrases in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. It features audio playback, a currency and metric converter, and a calculator. If you're traveling only to Europe, you can save a little money with the Lingo Talking Translator ($129), which covers five European languages.