Gadgets No One Should Travel Without

When you travel as much as I do, you quickly learn what you need to have with you and what you should have left home. The first and most important item is a good bag to hold everything on this list, in one place. That bag should be airport friendly, easy to access and strong enough to protect the contents. The type and style are completely individual. I favor a messenger type bag with pockets and flaps. Beyond that, here is what goes in the bag:

Laptop or Tablet Computer
I’m not going to argue the merits of which device is better. I prefer the laptop for the gaming ability, the Blu-ray player and the keyboard. I know people swear by their tablets and that’s great. I need the keyboard for writing and I need the computer itself for gaming.

Electronic Reader
It doesn’t matter if you prefer the Amazon Kindle or the Barnes and Noble Nook. Electronic readers can turn a painful delay into a chance to catch up on your reading. This is far more convenient than trying to carry around several books that may also impact your carry-on weight limit. The electronic readers have come down a great deal in price and there are millions of free books that can be loaded on them. It’s a win-win situation.

Cellphone
It may seem strange to put a cellphone on the list but I can’t travel without mine anymore. The names, address and telephone number of every friend, family member and business contact is stored in the phone. It also has GPS in case I get lost.

MP3 Player
These devices have come a long way from the days when they just played music. Of course they are still great for that but now you can also watch videos, listen to podcasts and even audio books on them. This is also helpful when you are tired of listening to a boring seatmate on a long flight.

Noise Cancelling Ear-buds
This is important so please pay attention. Noise cancelling ear-buds are one of the greatest inventions for air travelers since the invention of the air plane. They may cost a bit more but you can turn on your music to a comfortable level and you don’t have to listen to crying children, loud conversations and background noise. They are also useful for plugging into your tablet or laptop to watch a movie without being disturbed.

Digital Camera
On average, 70% of the photos I took using film didn’t turn out to be keepers. I wasted a lot of film waiting for the invention of the digital camera. If you are going on a vacation, add in an SD card so you will have the ability to take hundred to thousands of photos. Just delete the ones you don’t like.

Universal Adapter Kit
These are handy kits that allow you to carry a single adapter that will charge all of your gadgets. In practical terms this means that you can leave those heavy brick-like power adapters home.

Power Inverter
This is one of those gadgets that when you get it you wonder how you survived with out it. A power inverter plugs into the cigarette lighter in your car and allows you to plug in electrical devices. You can charge your laptop as you head to your destination.

USB Hub

I like to keep a small 4 legged hub in my bag so that I can charge 4 things at a time in one USB port. It’s not unusual to find my charging my laptop and my cellphone, iPod, Kindle and camera all at once. I like to multitask.

Wireless Hotspot Creator
This almost didn’t make the list. Finding a free wireless hotspot is generally not difficult in most places within Western Europe and the US. When it is difficult, there is always the hotspot available through my cellphone. However in a few places where even the phone didn’t work, I found this to be a useful little gadget to have stored away.


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