You know when you’re prepping your overnight bag to stay somewhere that is not your place how space is of the essence. You don’t want to appear overprepared, but you don’t want to be forgetful, either. And if you wear contact lenses like me, maybe you’ve also suffered the indignity of forgetting the one thing that’s sure to make you uncomfortable “the morning after.”

MUJI is a Japanese firm that makes all sorts of handy things that are both useful and inexpensive. For example, their Contact Case. Made of plastic with a handy mirror, you can pre-fill the vial with solution and always be ready to squeeze out your lenses without worrying where they’ll end up. Much better than a bathroom glass of water, don’t you think?

$12.00 at MoMA Online Store.

Okay, all you new Google multimillionaires, so you’re bummed that you can’t figure out what to do with all your money. You’ve already splurged on the house in San Francisco for a cool three-mil, you’ve traveled all over the planet, bought yourself a new car or five and pampered your pet with a diamond-crusted collar and real fur to cover her real fur. But you still have all that money just lying around gathering dust?

W Hotel comes to your rescue. For just $70,000, you get a whole weekend (two nights!) of ultimate New York pampering. First up, on Friday you’ll get flown to New York on your own private jet. Dinner will be provided by chef Todd English who’ll prepare it personally.

Saturday, wake up to your own limo for use all day in Manhattan, where you get a $5,000 Bloomies shopping spree and another $1,000 to spend at Bliss Spa’s Bliss49, where (among other things) you can get a mani-pedi while watching your favorite movie on a flat screen with personal headsets so no one bothers you a teense. Capping off the night, you’ll enjoy a private night for you and 75 of your friends at Club Whiskey (recorded for posterity by photographer Patrick McMullan) in Times Square.

Returning to your room, the 1,000 square foot WoW Suiteon the 17th floor with wrap-around terrace and separate living room and dining room with wet bar, your late check-out includes a champagne breakfast and, of course, your private jet awaiting to whisk you right back where you started from.

$70,000 at W New York. Contact the What a Life! Weekend Getaway concierge at 212-930-7408 to book.

I covet this bag for its beauty, its practicality (and, it must be said, its impracticality) and its extremely unusual and singular qualities. It was unavailable for a few months but now its back, and please, someone, buy this for me?

The Monacca Bag by Takumi Shimamura is made of Japanese cedar. You read that right, it’s not some cheap plastic vaneer covering this little sexy wonder, that’s real wood, ladies and gentlemen. Each one is therefore unique and can hold a 17” Apple Powerbook, if you’re so inclined to carry your tech world inside this natural beauty.

The canvas interior of each bag must be sewn by hand because of the unique nature of the materials being used, and it closes with a secure zipper to hold everything inside. Ordering one is a bit of a trial (you email them your contact info, they email a confirmation of your order, you transfer cash to their account — they don’t accept credit cards) but the trouble only adds to its allure.

$298.00 at arenot.

Where do you keep your earrings? And your necklaces? Your extra buttons? Your eyeglass case? Your travel size cosemtics (when you’re not traveling)? Foreign money you didn’t exchange before you left? Those cunning little items you always need but can’t always find until you own three fingernail clippers and two eyelash curlers?

Me, I just like this because I think it looks cool. If you’re not a fan of pink, the Japonesque Medium Train Case also comes in green, orange, red and basic black. It’s made of vinyl-wrapped wood — not plastic — with a real leather handle. 12” wide, 6½” high and 7¼” deep.

$60.00 at Nordstrom.com.

San Francisco is known for its microclimates. It can be sunny and bright on your way up a hill, but foggy, drizzly, cold and windy when you make it to the other side. The weather man is often wrong about everything and you’re best bet is to just be prepared.

Oh, and layers, layers, layers. A sweater is never a bad idea.

Anyway, carrying around a full-sized umbrella is the pits. They’re unwieldy, they drip, and I inevitably put it somewhere “out of the way,” and promptly forget about it and end up losing it.

The compact ShedRain Gellas umbrella does three things very well: It folds up into a very small, tight profile for easy stashing, it holds up well to stormy weather and winds, and the gel-filled handle is easy to keep gripping without fatigue. It also comes with a zippered case so after shaking off most of the rain, you can slip it into its plastic-lined home and tuck it away with no worries.

$22.00 at eBags.

In San Francisco, you’re not a man unless you’re carrying around a big bag full of your lifecrap and gadgets and assorted flotsam. I have three friends whom, I think, collect bags, always looking for the perfect solution for all of life’s needs.

The Sputnik3 from Chrome echoes the company’s name in the looks department. A silver vinyl carry-all, Sputnik3 is roomy enough for your laptop, cords, discs and lots of other important crap, but not so overwhelmingly huge that it’s a hassle. I use mine as a camera bag for my Canon Digital Rebel, fitting the camera with a lens attached as well as my macro lens.

The padded laptop bag removes easily (it stays in place with Velcro) and the back has three ways to carry it around — a top handle, a detachable shoulder strap or backpack straps you can hide away in a zippered sleeve that I also use to carry a foldaway umbrella. Plus: Shiny!

$75.00 at Chrome.

You know what you never really think about until you’re there and you need to recharge your iPod? Electrical sockets in foreign lands. You get to London, they have these big, unwieldy three-prong monsters. In Paris, wee little two-pin thingies. And you’re standing there with your dead (PC, cell phone, iPod, portable DVD player, digital camera battery recharger) and thinking to yourself, “Damn!”

TUMI to the rescue! I saw these at BHV or Harrods or someplace when I was over there, and at the time I already had a huge brick of an AC adaptor that kind of sucked because the prongs wouldn’t stay locked or the socket was blocked by something. This one’s small, simple and can be used in 150 countries. And if you’ve ever owned anything from TUMI, you know this baby’s built to last.

If you have international travel plans in your future, get this before you go.

$50.00 at Irv’s Luggage.

Having just returned from a 2-week European vacation involving 2 non-stop flights between San Francisco and London, I know the feeling of ooginess one suffers after sitting strapped-in to a stifling upholstered foam-rubber seat.

What you need is a little package of freshness, and with this resealable bag containing an Evian atomizer, dental floss, mouthwash, lip balm, skin moisturizer and “moist towlettes,” that rush to the bathroom at the end of your flight could leave you feeling a lot more refreshed than usual.

$28.00 at FLIGHT 001.

Looking to get away this weekend but not sure where you want to go? FarePrice is probably your best bet.

How does it work? Simple: Visit the site, put in your home airport (where you’re leaving from) and when you want to leave and return, hit the search button and wait while FarePrice searches for where you can go, and how much it’ll cost.

FarePrice™: AirFare Everyware.