While flipping through the latest issue of Time Out: Chicago, I noticed a small blurb on the Bagball: a little sphere you place in your gym bag that releases flavored fumes to combat sweaty-smelling clothing.

The product targets three demographics: 1) the aforementioned gym monkeys, 2) hunters (to help mask your human smell from the animals -- yikes) and 3) your house. Oddly enough, they're missing out on a huge core group, one where smelly clothes in overstuffed bags are the norm: travelers.

How great would it be to have one of thee little balls floating around your backpack? If I had a dime for every time I pulled a wrinkly shirt out of my pack only to sniff it and dry heave (while still putting it on, of course), I could afford at least three or four loads of overpriced loads of hostel laundry.

While daydreaming of the wonders of having fresh smelling travel clothes, I realized that I could probably come up with something cheaper, and more portable, to keep me smelling fresh on the road. For instance, a few dryer sheets floating around my bag would probably do the trick, and take up a lot less space to boot.

But if you're interested in giving the Bagball a go on your next trip, they can be had from their website for $7.99 a pop.

According to J.D. Power and Associates, the company that conducts a survey on customer satisfaction with rental cars, Enterprise-Rent-a-Car came out ahead. Good for Enterprise. This is the fifth consecutive win for this company. They are the only company to receive a 5 out of 5.

Other top rankers-with 4 out of 5, are Hertz and Alamo. Maybe Alamo listened to customer complaints because that company improved its service since 2007.

What makes great car rental service? Car companies were ranked according to "cost and fees, pickup process, rented car, return process, reservation process, and shuttle van/bus" according to this summary at MotorTrend. Cost and fees were what most people were after.

One in ten people report a problem at the rental desk which is a problem in today's economy when less business people are traveling. Keeping customers satisfied is one way to increase their likelihood of returning.

The companies that ranked 2 out of 5 from bad to worse are:

• Thrifty
• Dollar
• Payless
• Advantage Rent A Car
• Fox Rent A Car

The photo is of Enterprise's hybrid fleet, perhaps another item that makes customers satisfied.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal might just be over-exaggerating the tourist slump that is taking place here on the Hawaiian islands. As the article puts it, "dozens of pool chairs and canopied cabanas sat empty... restaurants had plenty of free tables... In town, "50% Off!" signs hung in the windows of many souvenir shops." I'm pretty sure this can be the case if you're walking around anywhere on the Big Island on a Saturday afternoon because people aren't interested in relaxing by a pool, eating at a restaurant, or shopping. I would hope they are doing more productive things like visiting the Volcano National Park, enjoying one of the island's many gorgeous black sand beaches, or hiking around waterfalls near Hilo.

Although I don't want to believe the article's proclamation, "There's trouble in Polynesian paradise," I'm sure the tourist industry is feeling some effects from a poor economy and the closure of ATA and Aloha Airlines - two of Hawaii's biggest airline carriers - earlier this year.

At what point did Dorothy's saying, "There's no place like home," turn into the motto for staycationers across America? Very, very recently. With soaring gas prices and airfares, a bottomed-out economy, and little time to take off from your job lest you lose it to one of the 10% of Americans who are unemployed and eager to step in for you, it's easy to see why staying home is the safest, cheapest, and best option for families across the nation. The problem with staycationing has little to do with relaxation. That should and can happen anywhere as long as you let it. The real problem with staycationing has more to do with psychological welfare and distance from the familiar.

There really is no place like home if you're like me and live in Hawaii, a paradise in its own right. It gets a little trickier, however, if you are one of the millions of people who are right now freezing your tooshy off in the Midwest and Northeast.

Kayak has been tinkering with their search engine in the past few weeks (you may have noticed that they started publishing AA fares again) and just today unveiled some of the tweaks that they made.

The most interesting one I found was Kayak Insight. The tool basically takes your departure city and tells you what cities people are searching for as their search is made. I showed up and plugged in Detroit, and up popped Fort Lauderdale, $233. Pause. Then up popped Hawaii, $600. The map continues to populate like this as you browse around in a few tabs, then when you come back in a few minutes it's got a huge map of where people are planning trips all over the world.

Cool trick, but what is it good for? Well, for Kayak, it's a good instructional tool to tell people where they can go for how much. I can get to New Orleans next weekend for $150? Sweet! Salt Lake for $100? Rad! It's also a fun little app to figure out just what the heck people are thinking in planning their vacation.

Watching Detroit for half hour, (I didn't watch it the entire time. Really. I have friends.) what was the most searched region? Florida, duh. It's cold up here.

If I were Kayak, I would collect this data over time and sell it to tourism boards as a marker of how much interest travelers have in a city. Or perhaps they're already doing this......

Check out your own home city at kayak.com/insight.

The newly designed website of VRBO--Vacation Rentals by Owner is a snap to use. Clicking on a particular region of one of the maps is one way to zoom in on a specific destination. Click on a state, for example, and whoosh, there you are browsing the bounties.

In each state, rentals are divided into regions. I went to Montana and then to Butte which pointed me to four vacation home rentals, two with rave reviews from people vowing to return, and two where people haven't left comments.

The world map gives you the option of heading to a specific continent and then narrowing down to a country search. Or you can browse the list of locations, also on the home page.

The homepage also has a section divided into two categories: Family Reunion or Group Travel, and Cabin Rentals and Beach Rentals. This is another design element that helps narrow a search.

If you have no idea what country or state will capture your fancy, start clicking away at the various options. Photos and detailed descriptions help with the yay or nay sorting. See what captures your eye.

With 110,000 vacation rentals and 21,000 worldwide locations, VRBO is great place to find that vacation spot to suit your needs. For people who are looking to post their vacation rentals, check this site out. You'll be in good company.

Finally, a less expensive airline has decided that Columbus has a gaping hole to fill--two in fact. After first Skybus and then Jet Blue pulled out of Columbus, and other carriers cut down their service, the options for heading out of Columbus have become more expensive and less frequent.

AirTran Airways' non-stop flights to Ft. Meyers, Orlando and Atlanta that began this week are an answer to people who want to get out of central Ohio for warmer climates, or to visit their relatives who have moved south. I know a few people who were disappointed with Skybus's demise because their options for visiting loved ones on a regular basis had ended. There are several other flights to other destinations, but those require a plane change in Atlanta.

Unlike Skybus, that fair weather airline that overextended itself, AirTran's reputation is one of a cautious, steady airline that is not likely to leave Columbus in the lurch.

AirTran is not one to offer less expensive seats and then charge people for every little item either. The first checked bag is free. The second costs $25. Flights also have complimentary non-alcoholic beverages and snacks. Hooray!

Another detail I noticed is that the airlines seems to understand that Columbus has something to offer people looking for an affordable getaway. The AirTran Airways' Website page for Columbus has a photo of one of Columbus's gems--the Columbus Museum of Art, for example and there is also a link to Columbus's GoGuide that lists where to sight see, shop and eat. I second the recommendations.

This Sunday's Columbus Dispatch travel section is devoted to Caribbean travel. With this morning's post on Caribbean vacations, written before the Sunday paper arrived on my front porch, I'm wondering if I'm getting a message.

One article, "Caribbean offers comfort for less cash" by David Swanson points out an option not mentioned in today's earlier post--Tobago. After reading about all of Tobago's high points, I'm hesitant to let the word out because, frankly, I want the bargains to be there when I show up.

Here's why Tobago sounds fantastic:

I don't know about you, but this time of year when the sky is slate gray more often then it's sunny, and the leaves have dropped from the trees like rain, I start thinking about warmer pastures. "Let's get out of Dodge," I say. Not really, but that's what I fantasize.

The Caribbean has been an appealing option since a couple of years ago a friend asked me if I wanted to go to Costa Rica. Although, Costa Rica isn't part of the Caribbean scene exactly, it got me thinking about that part of the world. Our trip didn't work out and remains unfinished business. This article in The New York Times offers oodles of option ideas for a Caribbean vacation from the pricey to the not so bad. Now, I'm thinking again.

One of the reasons for the Caribbean travel deals is the beating that the weather gave to the area this year. The financial meltdown is another. Just like Las Vegas has become cheaper in order to draw tourists, so has the Caribbean.

The article touts Anguilla, Bahamas, Barbados, Curaçao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grand Cayman Island, Grenada, Martinique, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, St. Marten, St. Kitts, St. John, St. Lucia, Turks and Caicos and Tobago.

Each destination has a different appeal depending on what you're after.

Want to make all your friends swoon? Rent out a villa in the south of France for an affordable, peaceful vacation.

Want to make all your friends love you? Take them along!

French villas have become one of the top destinations in the great tradition of group vacations. I love group vacations; it's like an extended party. Get everyone you like together and watch them interact for a week. It's fascinating, often scandalous, and makes one feel like they're in some 17th century comedy of manners, or an old-Hollywood movie.

One villa I recommend is Villa Plantat, near the small town Quissac. Villa Plantat (plantat means "to plant") is an elegant house set on 400 acres of beautiful grounds with an orangerie and a private spring-fed swimming lake, and is located close to both historic Roman ruins and the Mediterranean sea (just 35 minutes away).

Villa Plantat can provide a private provencal chef for just around $20 per meal, and they also have twice yearly yoga retreats (2 hours of yoga per day plus special events; not yoga boot camp) in May and September. $1380 per person includes accommodations, wine (!), and classes.

Villa Plantat is available year round for $4,200 per week (price drops by $500 for additional weeks) and sleeps thirteen. That's just $323 per person. Or, for ten people, $420 per week.

Save up your miles and get to the south of France. It's an idyllic, quaint, and quintessentially lovely experience you won't forget.