Travel tip for the holiday season

Every once in a while I stumble across an ideal that I feel that I just have to share.  First off, I have an addiction.  Every time that I take the trip into town I just have to make time to stop by the local Goodwill store.  Sometimes I get things that I might need eventually,  kind of like a hoarder but much more selective.  So in recent trips I picked up a couple items for my travels around the country.  I usually fly somewhere two or three times a year so it will come in handy eventually.  First off I picked up a Memory Foam Neck Pillow.  I never got one before because I thought that I would only use it on the plane and then have to drag it along for the rest of the trip.  After a friend of mine (Mikhail Merkerov) used one in his hammock when we were up here training,  I decided to keep my eyes open for one.  After having this one for a little while I came up with a plan to make it a useful addition to my travel kit that provided zero burden.  What I did was open the zipper and pull out the memory foam insert leaving nothing but the fabric case.  I then went on the hunt for the next piece.  Eventually I discovered a Packable down jacket at the Goodwill for 12.00 SCORE!  I now stuff the down jacket into the pillow case and I have a very comfortable travel pillow that converts into a down jacket when I get to my destination.  Even better it converts back into a pillow when I settle into my sleeping bag or hammock.  Although it may not be the discovery of the century,  It will provide a useful travel item that offers a major advantage when you are away from home.  You may not need a jacket on vacation in Jamaica but when the flight is delayed and you have to spend two days in Chicago during the winter it will be fantastic.  If your going to carry a travel pillow anyway,  it might as well be dual duty and have the potential to save your ass in an emergency.  If you decide to put one together for your travels this holiday season, please comment and let us know how it worked out for you.  Better yet,  let us know if you have any tips or additions to make it an even more useful piece of kit.

NM