Spread the love

As we rely more and more on technology, especially as many of us now work via the internet, travelling with our tech has never been so important.

But travelling with all our gadgets can create a host of new challenges, from keeping everything powered up and running, to those runaway cables that get tangled beyond belief.

Firstly, decide on what you do and don’t need

Be critical. If you’re heading on a business trip for a couple of days, the likelihood is that you won’t need things such as a hairdryer, as your hotel may provide one. If you’re heading on a round the world trip for six months, then you’ll definitely need more!

Do you really need your camera, or will your smartphone do? iPhone and Android cameras have grown exponentially in quality, so think about this one carefully.

Will you need your laptop, or will an iPad or Tablet be sufficient? Again, this totally depends on the nature of your trip. If you’re travelling for business, you may need to take your laptop to work remotely, but if a tablet will do, this will take up much less space.

Adaptors

A small piece of technology that many of us have forgotten on several occasions. Adaptors are a must for keeping your laptop and smartphone charged and ready to go. If you cannot seem to find the type of adaptor you need by searching online, all in one universal adaptors can be purchased on sites such as Amazon and are pretty inexpensive. Not only do most have USB ports, meaning you can charge multiple pieces of tech at once, being able to use them in multiple countries means never having to have a huge stockpile at home ever again!

Get organised with cable ties

Understated, but a must in any traveller’s luggage when taking technology on a trip. Cable ties are an inexpensive way of keeping all your charging cables together and in one place. How many times have you gone to grab your laptop charger on a train journey to find that your cable has danced the salsa with your headphones?

Always keeping a small bag of cable ties in your luggage means that spending hours untangling wires when you’re only on 5% battery will become a thing of the past.

Have a backup plan

Have you ever wanted to take more photos of your trip to find that your camera has run out of memory? Or been writing an important document for work, only to find that your laptop is full? Make sure you have a backup plan and take either an additional memory card or invest in an external hard drive to take with you. With the advances in technology, hard drives are not as big and bulky as they used to be, with some even fitting into your back pocket.

Will any of your tech be damaged by another country’s voltage?

Not a question most of us consider before taking all our technology away with us. Before you start your journey, check the power ratings in both voltage and frequency (Hz) for each country you’re visiting.

Wikipedia has a great chart for this which is organised alphabetically by country and lists voltage, frequency and plug type.

With these tips, build yourself a little technology know-how to refer to next time you plan to travel anywhere.