It’s barely two weeks till our kids bid school bye bye and by now Easter plans have been made much less all of summer vacation’s activities.

Well, whether you’re headed for the beach or that perfect getaway or traveling for business, whether you’re making your way by plane, train, automobile, or even your own two feet, no trip is complete these days without digital accessories. Here are a few great sidekicks to help make the journey pain-free:

Apple’s Airport Express - If you spend a lot of time in hotel rooms tethered to a 3” blue Ethernet leash or racking up wireless charges, this little white box could be the handiest 7.58 ounces in your computer bag. Originally marketed as a device for extending the range of an existing Wi-Fi network or for beaming music from a computer to a home stereo system, Apple’s Airport Express also functions as a wireless base station in its own right.

Just plug that Ethernet cable into the box and the box into an unoccupied outlet. When you fire up your computer, the transmitter shows up, ready to be configured into your own private Wi-Fi domain. Share it with whoever is in the room with you or, if you don’t enter a password, your neighbors down the hall.

A camera - I suggest a good a camera which is compact, lightweight, high-quality and digital the likes of a Canon Powershot SD1100 or the Panasonic Lumix - Non-SLR style cameras: take very good images, from bodies cheaper and smaller than DSLR cameras; but usually focus slower, and perform worse in low light.

iPhone or Blackberry phones - Whatever cell phone you decide to take on the road, you’re likely to be told by the next person you meet that you’ve made a foolish choice. The two leading contenders among business types — Apple’s iPhone 3G and RIM’s BlackBerry 8830 World Edition — are both quad-band smartphones that will work in almost any country.

I prefer the iPhone over the Blackberry now because it’s easier to use and has better software; it also has a lot of travel programs available for download on the App Store, including a widget that tracks airport security wait times. But I’m no spoil sport I know a lot of people are loving their Blackberrys now; if you’ve trained your thumbs to touch type on the BlackBerry’s miniature keyboard, you have my admiration and blessings. Whatever you do, arrange your overseas data and calling plans before you go abroad — or turn off data roaming completely. Otherwise your e-mail on the road could cost you more than your flights.

Universal power adaptor kits – I can’t leave home without it! The power bricks we have to haul around to keep our electronic gadgetry charged are the balls and chains of the 21st century road warrior. Why oh why can’t all the devices of this world get along with one, true, universal charger? Today, they very nearly can.

Kensington sells several variations on this theme, including a $149 Wall/Auto/Air Ultra Portable Notebook Adaptor that comes with an array of tips that fit just about any laptop computer or USB device — except the newest ones from Apple (go figure). Tumi sells virtually the same kit, but more elegantly packaged with a spring-powered retractable cable and a leather-trimmed carrying case.

Kindle books - Amazon’s first-generation e-book reader certainly needs improvement — the page-turn buttons are awkwardly placed, among other things — but anyone who likes to read on the road should consider it an essential companion. That’s because you can take a veritable library with you. The 10.3-ounce device holds around 200 books; infinitely more if you load books onto external SD cards.

Better yet is Whispernet, Amazon’s built-in wireless service — it piggybacks on Sprint’s EVDO network — that delivers books on demand in seconds. (If you have access to an Internet-connected computer on the road, you can even add books in areas where Whispernet isn’t available.) You can also email Word documents to an Amazon service that automatically translate them to Kindle’s format and send them to the reader. Buyers beware however: new and improved Kindles are on the horizon.