In this day and age, having tech with you while traveling is a no brainer – even if it’s just your smartphone.  However, for most people, they take their phone, laptop, tablet, smart watch, and many other devices. Needless to say, these can be a hassle to carry, not to mention the headaches you’ll get having to separate these devices while going through TSA.  But let’s be honest, do you really need all that stuff? Or are you just trying to cover all the bases? I travel frequently, and I used to be one of those people who took multiples of each type of device… you know, “Just in case.” However, that’s changed and now I only take the essentials.

Here is my travel tech essentials list, and don’t worry, I’ll go through each of them:

1. Smartphone
2. Smart Watch
3. A Tablet
4. Portable Battery Pack
5. Portable Wifi Router (not hotspot)
6. Power Outlet Converter (For international travel)

Smartphone

One of the best things about modern cell phones is that they can almost function completely on wifi.  For the most part, my wife and I don’t actually use “minutes” to call each other, nor do we really traditionally text each other.  We use apps to call and message each other. This works much better for us because we don’t have a strong cell phone signal at home.  However, this has worked to our advantage because wifi is almost certain in most modern destinations. You don’t really even need an international phone, your normal smartphone will do.  In our experience, wifi on our devices seems to work fine no matter what country we’re in. It may not always be the fastest internet, but it’s good enough to send a message.

 Smart Watch

This may not really be the most “essential” item, but I own a Galaxy Watch and it goes everywhere with me.  The real only “essential” feature this provides me is that it helps me find my phone when I’ve misplaced it, or even will tell me if I’ve walked off without my phone.  However, for those “active” people, a smartwatch may be an essential item for you.

A Tablet

I take a tablet in lieu of a laptop.  Laptops are big, their heavy, and can be bulky to carry around when you’re traveling.  Also, laptop battery life is only a few hours, and then you’re going to need to find somewhere to charge it.  Tablets are better able to handle situations where the wifi isn’t the best. I’ve also noticed that most tasks you’ll want to accomplish while traveling can be done on a tablet.  I mean, you’re not exactly doing your taxes while your on vacation, are you?

Also, a lost or broken laptop can be a tragedy. Whoever has that laptop, now has a lot of personal information on a fairly expensive device.  However, if you lose your tablet, in most cases it can be tracked and/or wiped remotely when it connects to the internet again. For this reason alone, it might just be safer to invest in a decent tablet. You might be surprised how much you don’t use a laptop after you get one.

Portable Battery Pack

I cannot tell you how many times this has saved us when we travel.  A portable battery pack is a small device, usually about the size of a deck of cards, and it can provide enough power to charge cell phones and tablets a couple of times.  This may seem like an expensive item, but they’re really not. We have one of these:

https://smile.amazon.com/External-RAVPower-16750mAh-Time-Tested-Flashlight

For 30 bucks, you can rest assured knowing you probably won’t be left with a drained cell phone or tablet battery.  Just remember to bring the correct charging cables with you for the devices you take along.

Portable Wifi Router

These things are amazing.  Ever been in a hotel that has some bogus policy that says you cannot connect more than 2 devices per room to the wifi?  Or maybe you’re being charged per device for the wifi. Maybe you simply don’t want the hotel to know what devices you have connected.  A portable wifi router can solve all of these problems. What this device does is allow you to connect to the router to the hotel’s wifi.  Then you connect your devices to the portable router. All of your traffic travels through your portable router prior to it hitting the hotel’s wifi.  The hotel thinks you’re using a single device, so it has no clue how many you have connected.

Aside from the amazing connectivity issues they solve, they can usually also provide you with a portable network storage device as well.  Most of these portable routers come with built-in software that allows for the usage of USB flash drives as attached storage. This means you can stream movies, music, and documents from your router to your attached devices.  You can also do this even if you aren’t connected to wifi. In a 4 hour car ride and want to watch a movie without using data? Break out the portable wifi router, pop in a flash drive with movies, and stream to your heart’s content.

What’s more?  These usually have their own internal battery.  This means you just have to charge it, and it will work “wirelessly” when you turn it on.  You’re usually also able to use it to charge your personal devices. Maybe the hotel you’re staying at doesnt have wifi, but has a network cable.  Portable wifi routers usually have an integrated network port.

Here is a pro tip:  Get all of your devices connected to the portable wifi router prior to traveling.  That will make it faster to get connected later. Simply connect the router to the hotel wifi, and all of your devices will instantly also get internet.

We have this one:  

https://smile.amazon.com/HooToo-Wireless-10400mAh-External-Performance/

Power Outlet Converter

If you’re traveling internationally, make sure you have a power outlet converter.  This is a simple device that converts whatever outlet your device uses to the one where you’re going.  This may seem like a no brainer, but wait until you get into a hotel room without an outlet you’re used to.  Without a converter, you won’t be charging anything. Spending 15 to 20 bucks prior to going abroad will keep you from wasting valuable vacation time searching around for a way to charge your devices.

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Notice how you can fit all of the above devices in a gallon zip lock bag.  Doing so will make it MUCH easier going through TSA. Simply pull out the bag, drop it in it’s on bin, drop your bag on the belt, and walk through the scanner.  I cannot tell you how many times I was “that guy” who had a bazillion devices to sort and bin, thus holding up the line… only for me to have to put it all back in bags on the other side.  Taking only the essentials will save you both airport frustration and vacation time.

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