Tuesday, January 29, 2019

A Great Travel Pillow Review from a Travel Blogger

A Great Review from the Travel Blogger The Inconsistent Nomad

My favorite things: Embrace Sleep Collar


Raise your hand if you’re a rock star at sleeping on airplanes.

Anyone?  Bueller?  Bueller...?

That’s what I thought.  Unless I’m running on a fume and a half or I’m sick as a dog, 
sleeping upright in a horribly designed, cramped seat on a pressurized, engine-powered  
tin can doesn’t happen easily.  I mean, really, whose head actually stays upright when 
they fall asleep?  No one’s, which is why trying to sleep on an airplane blows.  If you’re 
in a window seat, there’s the fuselage.  But that vibrates and is hard (insert “That’s what she said” comment here).  Or there’s your neighbor.  And if he/she is a stranger, you’re probably 
not going to endear yourself to that person by using their shoulder as a pillow. 

The next choice is the use of a travel pillow.  You’ve seen those neck pillows in the various
stores and vendor booths at airports - the velvety things filled with styrofoam beans or 
something.  Those things suck.  The plane fuselage and your stinky neighbor’s shoulder 
work better than those pieces of crap.  There are inflatable neck pillows, too, and those 
work all right until they develop a leak. 

I was unsatisfied with these options, so I hit up Google one day and found this funky-looking 
thing called the Embrace Sleep Collar.  It looks more like a medical device than a pillow.  
But there were plenty of rave reviews about it, so I decided to pony up $25 and give it a shot.

I was sold after one trans-atlantic flight.  

At first glance, the thing looks horribly uncomfortable. But thanks to the incorporation of some 
sort of stiff foam that somehow manages to keep its shape without stabbing you in the face, 
the collar actually keeps your head from rolling all over the place.   It’s awesome.  Your neck muscles can relax, your head stays in place, you can sleep, and you won’t wake up with a 
horrible crick in your neck from whatever awkward position your head would have ended up 
in without this thing.

I now bring my Sleep Collar on any flight lasting more than 4 hours.  It’s smaller than most 
other travel pillows, and it just plain works.  I freakin’ love mine, and if you’re in the market 
for a new travel pillow, I highly recommend this thing.  

Happy flying, and sweet dreams.

Thursday, December 13, 2018

Travel Pillow Science - Embrace Sleep Collar Superior!

A scientific study on behavior research confirms what we've been saying about the Embrace Sleep Collar Travel Pillow.  Posture = Comfort

Traveling through the air
BUYING A TRAVEL PILLOW: DO OUR EXPERIENCES MAKE OUR EXPECTATIONS COME TRUE?
"Regarding the three different axes, the Embrace Sleep Collar exhibited the least movements as well as the most neutral position. 
The fewer times the head moved to another position, the higher the participant rated the comfort of the pillow."

Thursday, March 9, 2017

The Great Travel Pillow Debate Settled

A Travel Writer Settles the Travel Pillow  Debate with a Photo Essay


Other than tips on hotels, the most common requests I get asked can be more accurately described as traveling tips than travel tips. Key among those requests are tips on travel comfort. For me, there is no more significant factor in travel comfort than your humble travel pillow. But which one?  I've decided to answer this question via the process of elimination.

If you remember nothing else, just remember my Four C's of Travel Pillows

Cleanliness, Compactness, Convenience, and Comfort

Before I start, let me make an important point. I am not a germophobe. Nonetheless, my top 3 concerns all deal with personal hygiene. For starters, you never want to get sick, but you especially don't want to get sick while traveling, be it for business or pleasure. Second, it's just gross. It is shocking how many travel pillows do not take simple hygiene into consideration. There are certain aspects of traveling that simply cannot be avoided, like crowds. However, there are some common sense precautions you can take. Not surprisingly, choices regarding something as intimate as your travel pillow is chief among them. 

With that said, here we go!

1.  Inflatable or not inflatable? Like I said, I am not a germophobe, but you have to be crazy to place your mouth on anything that has been on an airplane, that is not disposable. There are more reasons, but do I really have to elaborate?  Do not buy an inflatable. There. I've just eliminated roughly 50% of your choices.

TOTAL CHOICES ELIMINATED: 50% 

2. Washable cover. Same reason. Is there any other garment you would consider wearing that cannot be washed? No. There's another 25% gone

TOTAL CHOICES ELIMINATED: 75% 

3. Carrying case. This is the last of the common sense hygiene choices, but the most frequently overlooked. Remember, you are traveling; planes, trains, terminals, lounges, taxis, and hotels. Admit it, you probably throw it in your luggage with your dirty clothes. You want a carrying case. There's another 20% you can cross off.

TOTAL CHOICES ELIMINATED: 95% 

4. Compact and convenient. When you are traveling, space is limited both in your luggage and in your surroundings. If you have to make room for your travel pillow, the more likely you are to forgo this essential travel companion. Hand in hand with being compact, your travel pillow must be convenient. This is  not quite the same thing as compact, but related. What good is your travel pillow if it is stuffed inside your luggage above you? Compact and convenience also means dealing with your travel pillow when you are not wearing it. There goes another 4.9% of your choices.

CHOICES ELIMINATED: 99.9%

5. Comfort. "Wait! You waited until #5 to mention comfort?" Yes. What good is a travel pillow that you don't take with you because it is a bulky, a burden, or smelly? With regards to comfort, there is nothing that compares to a travel pillow that offers full support. Personally, I find the U-shaped pillows more uncomfortable than wearing nothing. Good thing they've already been eliminated (see #1-4). Remember, Posture = Comfort.


6. Memory Foam? Memory Foam is a must. Developed by NASA, Memory Foam (vicso-elastic foam) reacts to the heat from your body to form to the contours of your head, neck, and shoulders.  When combined with another type of firm foam for support, it can't be beat.

We've pretty much eliminated 99.99% of our choices. Without further ado, here is my recommendation and a recap.

The Embrace Sleep Collar Travel Pillow
Let's talk about the 4 C's: Cleanliness, Compactness, Convenience, and Comfort.

#1. Cleanliness and convenience: It comes in a carrying case that attaches to your carry-on luggage. Trust me. This is a feature you will come to love. Yes, the cover is washable.

It is no secret that this is the travel pillow that I travel with. Here is a photo that I took to show how I stow the Sleep Collar when I'm not wearing it. Note that it is out of the way and in a carrying case to keep clean (I swear I'm not a germophobe!). Brilliant!  (:



#2. Compact. How compact? This compact. It also weight around 2 ounces. Less than a baseball cap.

#3 Now let's get to comfort. The Embrace Sleep Collar is manufactured with a two-ply process combing Memory Foam on the inside, for comfort and High-Resiliency Foam on the outside, for support. The washable cover is made from a wicking fabric, like in high-end athletic sportswear, to wear cool.  Remember Posture = Comfort.


With the price of some travel pillows, these days, I could also add Cheap to to my Four C's, but that doesn't do it justice. At around 25 bucks, the product is very reasonably priced and is extremely well-made to go with the innovative design.  You can find them on their website ( sleepcollar.com ) or Amazon

So there you have it. Thanks to everyone for all of your support, and as always...

Happy Travels!
Lisa, The Travel Doc 


Monday, May 18, 2015

38 Things You Might Not Know About Walt Disney World

Nice article from Liberty Travel!


38 Things You Might Not Know About Walt Disney World
  1. When dining at the Be Our Guest restaurant, you can remember one of Lumiere’s lines and order “the gray stuff” for dessert – it really is delicious!
  2. Opening times listed for the parks aren’t always exactly accurate – guests are often let through the gates as early as fifteen minutes beforehand. All the more reason to get there early!
  3. There are no lost children at Disney – instead, you’ll hear about lost parents. Calling a scared kid “lost” just makes them more afraid they’ll be in trouble, so Cast Members shift the “blame” to the parents.
  4. Cinderella Castle is an impressive 180 feet tall – Walt wanted it big so any guests who got lost could easily find their way back to a central location. Thanks to a clever trick called “forced perspective,” it looks like it’s a whopping 300 feet!
  5. The reverse is true in Epcot – the large building in the US pavilion, the American Adventure, is actually five stories tall, but reverse forced perspective makes it look only three. If it were as short as it looks, you’d never be able to see it from across the lagoon. Want to check? Send the tallest member of your group to stand next to the doors – they’ll still be dwarfed in comparison.
  6. Also in Epcot, when you’re standing in front of the Mexican pavilion, take a look at Morocco across the lagoon. There’s one building behind the others that appears to blend in seamlessly, but is actually the top of the Tower of Terror – in a completely different park! During its construction, Imagineers realized the Tower would be visible from Epcot, so they intentionally camouflaged it.
  7. Walt originally intended for Epcot to be a functioning community, where new city planning concepts could be tried out. After his death, it became a park instead, but the plan lives on in its name, which stands for Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow.
  8. Speaking of Walt, if you’ve seen Saving Mr. Banks, you know he wanted everyone working for him to go by their first names – that’s why all Cast Member name tags have just a first name on them – not even a last initial.
  9. Walt Disney World is the second largest purchaser of explosives in the United States – only the US military comes in ahead of them.
  10. OK, you probably know about the tunnel network under Magic Kingdom, called the Utilidor system. What you might not know is that because you can’t dig underground in sea-level Florida, the tunnels are actually at ground level and the park itself is on the “second floor!”
  11. It would take you 68 years to spend one night in each hotel room in Disney World.
  12. That doesn’t count the hidden Cinderella Suite inside of Cinderella Castle – which you can’t book. You can only get it by winning a contest. (It was originally supposed to be an apartment for Walt.)
  13. Ever noticed a lot of gum stuck around the parks? No? Oh yeah, that’s because they don’t sell it on property, in order to keep the parks clean. They’re crafty that way.
  14. There are a lot of garbage cans at Disney – you can find them as frequently as every 30 steps. There are two stories about this. One is that Walt went to other parks and counted how long someone would hold on to garbage before just dropping it. Our preferred version is that he counted how many steps it took him to eat a hot dog and based it on that.
  15. Any time you see a phone in the parks, pick it up and see what you hear – there are still a couple of functioning pay phones, but sometimes you can listen in on some interesting conversations!
  16. Behind Cinderella Castle is a fountain with a statue of Cinderella. From adult height, she looks sad, but looking from the height of a child, she appears to be smiling and the crown on the wall behind her rests on top of her head.
  17. Stick around Magic Kingdom for about 30 minutes after the park closes for a special “Kiss Goodnight” from the castle – don’t worry, you won’t be breaking any rules.
  18. In Epcot, some of the sidewalks twinkle at night – they’re easy to spot on the way out after the fireworks.
  19. You can find Belle’s library in the French pavilion, along with a number of references to classic Disney stories.
  20. If you feel like being a little mischievous, get someone in your party to sample the “Beverly” Coca-Cola flavor at Club Cool. All the flavors are free, so there won’t be any buyer’s remorse – though there could be some tasters’ regret!
  21. The aquarium at Epcot’s Living Seas Pavilion is so large that Spaceship Earth could fit inside it with room to spare.
  22. After you get your glasses for Muppet Vision at Hollywood Studios, look for the sign that someone is “out to lunch – the key is under the mat.” Look down and you will indeed see a mat with a key under it!
  23. On Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, keep an ear on the music – if you start hearing “Love in an Elevator,” don’t be surprised if the words change to “Love in a Roller Coaster!”
  24. On signs for Animal Kingdom, you can see a dragon among the animals on the bottom. It’s all that remains of early plans for a “Beastly Kingdom,” which would have represented mythical creatures.
  25. The Yeti in Expedition Everest originally moved, but broke down early in the ride’s operation. It is now stationary, but strobe lights make it appear to move during the ride.
  26. Animal Kingdom’s Tree of Life has approximately 320 animals carved into it, but the Chimpanzee was almost left out, until a visit from Jane Goodall prompted designers to add one.
  27. The highest possible score in Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin is 999,999, which will qualify you as a “Galactic Hero.”
  28. There are three places in the United States where you can find an official presidential seal – the Oval Office, the hall of the Liberty Bell, and Magic Kingdom’s Hall of Presidents. Walt Disney had to get special permission from Congress to put it there.
  29. Disney bought a real plane to put in the Casablanca scene of the Great Movie Ride – only the first half is there, though! The rest of the plane is on the Jungle Cruise ride.
  30. The lake that holds Fantasmic is only about a foot and a half deep.
  31. No Cast Member will ever point out a direction with a single finger, as this is considered rude.
  32. Disney World was evacuated in 30 minutes on September 11, 2001, because of fears it could become a target. Dedicated Cast Members worked through the night to put up the Fourth of July decorations for the following day so the park could reopen with a feeling of solidarity and patriotism.
  33. Don’t get too close to the camel outside Aladdin’s Magic Carpet ride, or you might get “spit” on! It seems random, but there’s a Cast Member nearby who takes the shots.
  34. The Mission: SPACE ride at Epcot requires more computer power than the actual space shuttle – though notably less fuel.
  35. While waiting in line for the Haunted Mansion, you may see a wedding ring embedded in the concrete. It’s said to belong to one of the ghosts inside – we think you’ll know her when you see her.
  36. Don’t feel like buying a PhotoPass? No worries – the park photographers will take pictures with your personal camera or phone.
  37. If you’re ever in line for the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular and see a sign warning you not to pull or open something – go ahead and do it.
  38. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of Hidden Mickeys throughout the parks – you know it, we know it, everyone knows it. But they’ve never been confirmed to exist, and there’s no way of knowing exactly how many there are.

What’s your favorite Disney World secret? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter! Your tip may make it into a future blog post!
By Meghan Brennan

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

5 Star Review! "On a plane, this thing is amazing!"

On a plane, this thing is amazing!  During a recent red-eye from San Francisco to North Carolina, I was out before we hit cruising altitude and I didn't wake up until we were descending into Charlotte... What I can fully credit to this sleep collar is the fact that after all those hours of sleeping completely upright, I didn't have the slightest bit of neck pain.

Amazon Reviews


Friday, July 18, 2014

Embrace Travel Products

Embrace Sleep Collar has expanded to Embrace Travel Products.

Here are a couple nice media reviews of the Embrace Sleep Collar Travel Pillow:

Daily Mail Logo
You Never Knew You Needed
"Ends the irritating head bobs that come with sleeping while sitting up.
It gently supports your travel-weary head and neck from the sides and front as opposed to some blow-up pillows that shove your head forward".
-Daily Mail UK 6/15/14



Travel World Logo

Best Travel Pillows

"When you doze off while on the move, does your head slowly droop forward or to the side, before you are uncomfortably jolted awake? The Embrace Sleep Collar keeps heads and necks in proper alignment, supporting the neck all the way around". -Group Travel World Magazine 9/13