I love Scrabble. I love to play Scrabble here, there and pretty much anywhere. All I need is a perch on which to place my travel board and an hour of time to treat myself to some (technology free) words with a friend.

First, a word about my travel Scrabble board. It is a product design snob's dream of tote-able perfection.

The entire set-up is no larger than an iPad and is contained in a smart looking black canvas case that, when zipped, contains the various parts of play: game board, tile holders, tiles, pencil and score pad. The tiles themselves are wee, yet easily readable, and they snap into place on the fold up board eliminating in-flight (should one be flying) shifting. As a result of its superior sensibility, my travel Scrabble is very well-traveled. It has flown with me and visited the likes of New York, Miami, Mexico and even the Turks and Caicos.

After my most recent cross-country jaunt, travel Scrabble withdrawal set in just hours after I landed on Austin soil. I was thrilled to be home, but the notion of temporarily stowing my travel companion away was giving me the willies.

"Why do we think we have to travel in order to comfortably sit at a bar with travel Scrabble?" I wondered.

The resulting answer of "We don't!" led me to discover the city anew.

Together with friends, travel Scrabble and I have begun our journey across Austin: Perla's on Sunday for oysters, Enoteca on Thursday for fried zucchini, The W on Tuesday for bubbles and sliders, La Traviata on Saturday for arugula and risotto and eventually back home to my very own pool for sunshine and a post-victory siesta.

This time around, I've had a glorious homecoming. And when I pull out my handsomely appointed travel board at each locale, word lovers the city over ask, "Don't you just love Words with Friends?" My answer has yet to change, "No. I do not."

If I wanted to spend more hours in my day fondling a smartphone or tickling an iPad, then perhaps I would sacrifice my love of Scrabble for the immediate thrill of Words with Friends. But that will never happen. There are too many things a real, live Scrabble board offers me that digital Words with Friends cannot. Irreplaceable things like friends that I can touch and with whom I can share more than one word at a time, in unmatched settings.

For Erin's travel Scrabble board, purchase here.

CultureMap also recommends the finely designed typographic Scrabble board by Andrew Clifford Capener.