“The travel pillow for people who hate travel pillows!”~ thetravelhalo.com

Booking overnight transportation can reduce the number of nights one stays in hostels or hotels; but adequate rest in the upright position is challenging. And honestly, most travel pillows out there aren’t worth the space and effort to bring along.
I’ve field tested a number of different kinds…

travel pillow with storage bag

1) Complementary ones on the planes
2) Rectangular ones filled with foam beads
3) The U-shaped kind packed with buckwheat or made from memory foam (both materials are heavy)
4) And one in the shape of a tube, that snaps together around your neck along with a battery operated vibrator
The last one I mentioned works fairly well but still is cumbersome to pack if you’re aiming to travel super lite.

Mike Vahey went back to the drawing board, removed the bulkiness of other designs and created a palm-size product which launched June 21st, 2012 on a crowd-source funding website called Indiegogo. “The Travel Halo” is a stretchy band that fits around your forehead uniquely designed with two foam pads spaced to prevent your head from rolling side to side. The material is a cotton/lycra blend, appears to be resistant to pulls from things like Velcro abrasion, is easily washable and will air dry if need be. Built into the band is a double-ply flip-down eye mask to block light. It’s also large enough to drape over eyeglasses.

“The travel halo” is most effective being used in a sitting position. But out of curiosity, I did try a supine position on a carpet, hardwood floor, camp mat, and a regular bed mattress. It proved comfortable with all those as well. The dog did lick my glasses while floor testing so perhaps the eye mask can double as a lick shield too! The only difference I noticed between sitting up vs lying down was slightly more play from side to side due to the full weight of my head pressing down.

If you are not familiar with a site like Indiegogo, it’s one of many world-wide platforms to raise money for projects. Click here to learn more.

As I said before, “The Travel Halo” was launched recently and is not yet available in stores. You can pre-order one (or more) starting today, June 28th through July 21st 2012 by clicking here to help fund the product campaign and join one of the nine “perk” categories.

I’ll be happy to have one when I travel.

Eyeglass licking culprit, Amity, models “the travel halo”