Founded in 1995, Walkabout Travel Gear was one of the first small independent web retailers.
At the time, few people knew how to buy anything online, and “travel gear” was not yet a familiar retail category. Walkabout Travel Gear helped define that category by bringing adapters, packing systems, security products, water-purification gear, backpacks, and hard-to-find travel equipment together under one practical travel gear banner.
This page highlights selected newspaper, magazine, book, and online coverage of Walkabout Travel Gear. The complete archive of scans and source documents is preserved separately in the Walkabout Travel Gear publicity archive on wikibrad. A company summary is also available on Wikipedia.
Deseret News — February 25, 1996
This business-section profile covered Brad and Gia Boyle turning real backpacking experience into a Salt Lake-based mail-order travel gear company. It documented Walkabout Travel Gear selling specialized independent-travel gear and already running a 30–40 page website in early 1996.
MyBusiness Magazine — March/April 2000
MyBusiness Magazine profiled Walkabout Travel Gear as a niche online travel gear business built around useful information, customer community, and rural Utah independence. The article also has a color photo shot by famous Moab photographer Tom Till.
Onvia.com News & Advice — 2000
Linda Keene’s Onvia.com article profiled Brad and Gia Boyle and Walkabout Travel Gear as online retailers of active-travel gear.
The Boston Sunday Globe — December 14, 1997
The Boston Sunday Globe holiday travel gift guide pointed readers to Walkabout Travel Gear for stocking-stuffer travel ideas and ordering information.
The Sydney Sun-Herald — May 18, 1997
The Sydney Sun-Herald Travel section included Walkabout Travel Gear in a 1997 article about travel websites, giving Walkabout Travel Gear early international press coverage.
Fodor’s How to Pack — 1997
Fodor’s How to Pack: Experts Share Their Secrets listed Walkabout Travel Gear as a catalog and online retailer of luggage, travel gadgets, and gear.
Bottom Line Personal — February 1, 1998
Bottom Line Personal featured Walkabout Travel Gear’s portable deadbolt in its February 1, 1998 armchair shopping section.
TravelHost Moab — Fall 1998
This Moab-area tourist brochure advertisement promoted Walkabout Travel Gear’s brief retail outlet at 88 E. Center, while still emphasizing the company’s mail-order and Internet catalog roots.
Calgary Herald — October 31, 1998
The Calgary Herald quoted a Walkabout Travel Gear travel tip about scanning important documents and emailing copies before traveling.
Working Woman — December/January 1999
Working Woman’s workshop travel feature listed Walkabout Travel Gear as a source for travel gadgets, including a travel smoke detector, personal alarm, portable door lock, and survival tool.
The Packing Book — 1998
Judith Gilford’s The Packing Book: Secrets of the Carry-on Traveler listed Walkabout Travel Gear as a source for travel items and luggage.
Fortune — Winter 1999 Product Review
Fortune’s Winter 1999 Product Review listed Walkabout Travel Gear among online travel resources for specialty travel equipment, electrical conversion gear, and modem connection help.
Los Angeles Times — April 18, 1999
The Los Angeles Times included the Eagle Creek Endless Journey backpack in a travel-packing article and listed Walkabout Travel Gear as the catalog source.
Fortune Small Business Magazine — December 1999/January 2000
Fortune Small Business Magazine featured Walkabout Travel Gear in its cover story about dot-com business strategy, using Walkabout Travel Gear as an example of a small site finding a niche the large sites had overlooked.
Computer Shopper — Pocket Guide to Online Travel, 1999
Computer Shopper’s Pocket Guide to Online Travel pointed readers to Walkabout Travel Gear for international phone-plug adapter illustrations and travel tips.
Los Angeles Times — April 16, 2000
The Los Angeles Times listed Walkabout Travel Gear in a guide to major online travel gear sites, describing it as an outfitter headquartered in Moab, Utah.
MSNBC.com — May 23, 2000
MSNBC.com’s Living Shopping section pointed readers to Walkabout Travel Gear as a source for travel tools for graduates, including the Kwikpoint International Translator and currency-conversion items.
The Washington Post — October 15, 2000
The Washington Post’s Way To Go travel column included Walkabout Travel Gear’s Portable Door Lock in a road test of hotel-room security products.
Fast Company — February 2001 advertising insert
A Johnnie Walker Keep Walking Fund advertising insert in the February 2001 issue of Fast Company used Walkabout Travel Gear as an example in a field-manual-style entrepreneur survival guide.
The New York Times — August 22, 2002
The New York Times Technology section mentioned Walkabout Travel Gear in a Q&A about adapters, converters, surge protectors, and international electricity information for laptop travel.
Cooking Light — August 2004
Cooking Light’s Travel Essentials feature mentioned Walkabout Travel Gear as the source for Pack-Mate Storage Bags, recommended for saving luggage space.
Strategic Management textbook — 2005
The Canadian Edition textbook Strategic Management: Creating Competitive Advantages used Walkabout Travel Gear as an example of business bootstrapping.
The Palm Beach Post — April 1, 2007
The Palm Beach Post mentioned Walkabout Travel Gear in Cheryl Blackerby’s travel advice column about hair dryers, converters, and packing light.
Associated Press — 2014
Beth J. Harpaz’s syndicated Associated Press article included Arne Sorenson’s travel-gift recommendation for an adapter and mentioned Walkabout Travel Gear’s universal adapter with USB power ports.
Web Design Museum — 1996 website listing
Web Design Museum includes Walkabout Travel Gear in its gallery of web design history, showing the company’s 1996 website.
The complete archive includes advertisements, newspaper coverage, magazine and book references, newsletters, press releases, and preserved source documents from Walkabout Travel Gear's history.
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