Ellen Barone

If you're like me and find carrying multiple country-specific travel adapters cumbersome and annoying - not to mention easy to forget or lose - then consider a all-in-one Universal Travel Adapter.

Smaller than an eyeglass case, I carry one in my suitcase, one in my camera case and another in my laptop bag.

Originally I picked one up in an airport Brookstone shop after discovering I'd left, yet another country-specific adapter, in the electric socket of some foreign hotel room. Since then, I've used it everywhere, Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, North and South America, without problems.

Better yet, it has a built-in 110V/220V indicator light that lets me know any outlet's voltage. In the age of digital photography, I carry a lot of expensive equipment that I'd rather not have self-destruct in some remote locale. So far, so good!

Cost: $25 USD; For more information: Call 1-866-576-7337 or visit www.brookstone.com.

Globe trotting colleagues tell me that Travel Smart® offers a similar adapter available for $19.49 USD through Franzus Travel Products & Accessories at www.franzus.com.