Top Tech Travel Gadgets
Today’s tech gadgets can make traveling easier and more pleasant. Of course, you’ll have your cell phone and cell phone charger with you. In addition to your phone and charger, these tech items can elevate your comfort while traveling.
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Headphones
Trust me, traveling on a commercial airline will be much more pleasant with noise-cancelling headphones. Noise-cancelling headphones can eliminate the annoyance from the loud talker in the row behind you or muffle the sound of the shrieking toddler in front of you. You’ll arrive at your destination much calmer and more rested. The Bose QuietComfort Noise Cancelling Wireless Headphones are highly rated and fold down to fit nicely in a compact carrying case. I have an older, wired version of these that I’m very happy with. Someday I’ll spring for the wireless version shown here.
If space is at a premium in your bag or if you are not too bothered by loud noises, then I recommend the Apple Airpods instead of the noise cancelling headphones. Airpods come with a tiny little case and have excellent sound quality. The case recharges the Airpods a number of times before needing to be charged itself. The best features of these ear buds are that they are small and you do not need to deal with wires. When I say small, I mean just slightly larger than a pack of Tic-tacs small! These can slip into your pocket easily. Additionally, I never realized how restricting the wires on traditional headphones were until I got the Airpods. I use the Airpods everyday now and going back to wired headphones is not an option for me.
E reader and Cover
If you have not transitioned to a Kindle yet, before your trip is the best time to do it. The lightweight Kindle Paperwhite E reader can store more books than you could ever read on one trip. It takes up so much less space and weighs less than a traditional book. The built-in light is adjustable for day or night reading and the screen is non-glare so you can read at the beach or by the pool with no difficulty. Best of all it only weighs 6 ounces.
I do recommend a cover to protect your Kindle. The Fintie Kindle Cover is a lightweight, custom fit case that comes in many different colors and patterns to personalize your Kindle. It both protects and can wake or put your Kindle to sleep simply by opening or closing the cover.
White Noise to Help You Sleep
If you are a light sleeper like I am, a white noise machine can be a lifesaver. I never sleep without one and I always make sure to travel with a source of white noise mainly because hotels are full of strange noises in the middle of the night. Between loud neighbors returning late and banging their door shut, the dinging of the elevator, or the television in the room next door, it can be a challenge to get a good night’s sleep while traveling. You can buy a dedicated white noise machine for travel but a more space-conscious move would be to bring along a small, wireless Bluetooth speaker and download a white noise app on your phone. I have this one and love the small size. It is only a 2-inch square cube. It has great sound with nice deep bass and 12 hours of run time so your white noise will continue all night long while you sleep. In addition, you can use this during the day for listening to music. The app I use for white noise is White Noise by TMSoft; it is highly customizable and has many different sound choices.
Power Up Your Devices
When traveling with all these electronics, one downside is the need to charge your devices. If you are traveling internationally, you will need to bring along a power adapter. You do not need a converter for your modern electronic gadgets. If you plan to visit more than one country on a trip, I recommend bringing along a universal adapter that covers multiple countries with one adapter. This one has the added convenience of two USB ports built in to the adapter.
If you are only going to visit one country on a trip, you might do better bringing a smaller adapter that is specific only to the country you will be visiting. I have this set of adapters and like how they are clearly labeled for each country (or group of countries). You can keep them stored in the handy case at home and remove the one you need prior to your trip and place it in your cable and accessory organizer.
When you are out exploring and taking amazing pictures all day long you will run low on phone battery. To prevent getting stuck without power you should always pack a portable charger. This Anker Portable Charger can charge an iPhone 7 almost seven times before needing to be recharged itself. Having this handy device along with you also helps prevent the inevitable fight for the limited outlets at the airport. Instead of searching for a spot on the floor near an outlet, you can choose a comfortable seat and use your portable charger to recharge your own devices in peace. This can charge two devices at one time.
Back Up Your Photographs
Now, back to all those amazing photographs you will be taking on your trip. Be sure to back up those photos in case disaster strikes and your phone is lost, stolen or damaged. You can use the iXpand Flash Drive to quickly and easily free up space on your iPhone or iPad and make a backup copy of all your files on your iPhone. Taking a few minutes each night to transfer or backup the photos you shot each day can give you peace of mind and protection against a phone disaster. This handy little device is only about two inches long and plugs directly into your lightning connector port – no other wires are needed. You can also plug this into any USB port on your computer.
Stay Organized
Keeping all your tech paraphernalia organized and protected is important. The Bagsmart Cable and Accessory Organizer will accomplish that.
Another helpful little item is gear ties. A couple of packages of these can go a long way towards keeping everything organized and untangled.
Jacket to Carry it All
I recently discovered the BauBax travel jackets for both men and women. These jackets have pockets for all your gadgets as well as a host of other convenient, hidden travel features. For example, there is a passport pocket, an inflatable neck pillow & eye cover for napping on the plane, a drink pocket, a microfiber cloth for polishing your screens and lenses, built-in gloves, tablet pocket…the list goes on and on! Even with all these features the jackets still look nice. They do not scream “travel vest here.” As a special offer for reading this far, you can clickBauBax and use the code: SUPER20 to save 20% off any one item! The jackets come in several different styles for both men and women. A jacket with this many pockets can go a long way towards helping you minimize the size of your carry-on bag and stay under the airlines’ baggage limits. If you need help learning how to pack light, read my earlier post on reasons to pack light and how to do it.
What else do you recommend as a “must-have” tech item for travel? Let me know in the comments below and if I agree I’ll add it to the list.
27 Comments
Rio
I’ve never heard of a white noise machine before. It might be a wise investment as I sleep lightly whenever I’m not in my own bed.
Sheila
I would recommend trying one, Rio. I sleep so much better with a little noise to drown out the other sounds. I even use one at home now!
sumit walia
Well i agree that Anker does have some great power banks as i myself use them, in addition to the above i think it is important to get a personal water filter considering the water hygiene in many places these days
Sheila
That is a great suggestion! I was looking at one to include in this post but the one I like best is not electric so I thought maybe I should not include it in a “tech” story. Do you have a favorite filter you prefer? This one by GRAYL is the one I was going to buy. It seems to have great reviews and not much that could go wrong. https://amzn.to/2O0g1Hf
Nicole
Great tips! I wish the device to back up photos from your phone worked on android phones too. Do you know if they have a device like that for Samsung Galaxy 9s?
Sheila
I do not have personal experience with android phones but it looks like this one here https://amzn.to/2OEwo9n works on Android devices. It is by the same company as mine so I’m thinking it would work in a similar way but I have not used it personally. If you try it and have success be sure to let me know.
Johnny
Great list! A white-noise machine is definitely a good shout – never reallt thought of it till I read your posr. I guess it’s smart to get one for use at home sometimes not just for travelling.
Johnny | Johnny’s Traventures
http://www.johnnystraventures.com
Sheila
Thanks! I find I sleep better both at home and when traveling when using the white noise machine.
Katie
Great suggestions! I need to invest in some quality headphones as I seem to be a bit heavy handed! I also invested in a cable organiser recently and haven’t looked back. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Sheila
Thanks for reading. The cable organizer really helps keep my bag from becoming a big tangled mess of cords and adapters.
Alex Trembath
Very interesting and helpful. The white noise machine is a fascinating idea for travel and not something I’d heard about before. Gear ties are a great little tip too – we took cable ties on our recent long trip and they really came in handy.
Sheila
Hi Alex, thanks for reading. The white noise machine has been a sanity-saver for me when a hotel is noisier than expected. Having the phone app alone is good but to be effective the noise really needs to surround you in the room which is why I recommend bringing a small, portable Bluetooth speaker for your phone. Glad to see the gear ties work well for you too.
Sarah - Borders & Bucket Lists
Awesome list! I’m glad there weren’t any over the top ridiculous recommendations on this list lol. They are all super useful!
Sheila
Thanks, Sarah! I’m glad you found the list useful. Happy travels!
Alexander Popkov
Yes, good that you point out the photo backup. It is very important, but many bloggers miss it out. I carry two hard drives with me.
Sheila
Good for bloggers and also for regular people who care about their photos or have limited space in their phones. As a blogger it could be a business disaster to lose all photos from a trip but as a vacation traveler it could be devastating to lose all your memories of a once-in-a-lifetime trip. Carrying two drives is a good idea, I use the one flash drive but also have the automatic backup to Google photos – which works well as long as I have a good wi-fi connection. Thanks for reading!
kasia
I never travel without a power supply and outlets. Never thought of getting a jacket for my stuff though. Might be a good thing to try! I think I might also use your idea of white noise machine. My husband always has trouble sleeping so that might help him out.
Sheila
Thanks for reading. The jacket can come in handy when you don’t want to or can’t carry a day pack. Some attractions do not allow packs or bags. It is also helpful for traveling light on the plane but be sure to remove the jacket before security if you have the pockets full of electronic gadgets! The white noise machine really helps me sleep so I hope it helps your husband too!
Alexine
I’m not really a techy person before but when I met my husband I became one. That’s why it’s hard for us to travel without any of these things. Haha name it all I have it on my luggage. Great list anyway! Very useful for those who are avid travelers.
Alicia
The only thing I would add to that list is IPhone chargers and camera chargers. I have left those home before and they are very expensive outside of the United States!
Sheila
Good reminder! We forgot a camera charger once, it was a pain. Luckily for us a friend traveling with us had a charger that worked for our camera too. They are easy to forget because the night before the trip I like to charge up all devices then in the rush to get out the door it is easy to grab the device and leave the charger behind. Thanks for reading.
Shivani Sharma
Wow, you’ve listed a few gadgets I wasn’t even aware of. White noise for a better sleep, that’s indeed great item to my backpack. Thanks for your list, I’ll take up some from your recommended list!
Sheila
Glad I could share some new ideas with you!
Penelope Youngfeather
Great website… thrilled to have found you. I just returned from a 3 week trip to Italy with carry-on only TO Italy, which included a vast number of art supplies for a two week workshop. It can be done! But, on the return trip, I was grateful to have my packable “duffle” to expand for return trip treasures [ laundry and expendable clothing in the light weight, checkable, duffle — and the treasures found in Italy packed in my carry-on. I just ordered that wee portable blue tooth speaker cube. Great idea on multiple levels!! Also: best travel equipment investment I ever made: Bose Noise Canceling Ear Buds, tiny and oh so effective. Grazi
Sheila
Thank you so much for the kind words. Kudos to you for traveling with only a carry on to Italy for a three-week trip! I hope you like the bluetooth speaker as much as I do. It is nice and small but has great sound. Excellent idea about packing laundry and other expendable items in a duffel for the return trip that you can check while keeping your found treasures safe with you in your carry on. I’ll have to look into trying the noise canceling earbuds, they would take up less space than the over the ear type I have.
Lara
I also like to travel with what I call “blogger bag” which includes a Bluetooth foldable keyboard so I can take advantage of time on the plane by writing more blogs to post later. I fell in love with the iClever Foldable Bluetooth keyboard. Durable, small, and I can type at regular keyboard speeds!
Sheila
What a great idea! I’ll have to look into that. I got a small keyboard for my mini iPad but I find it a bit difficult to type since the keys are so close together. Thanks for the suggestion!