These days, tech and travel go together like love and marriage. Unfortunately, loving marriages have a lot of rough spots along the way. In the same way, tech can let you down in devastating ways. An alarm that doesn’t go off means that you are late for your flight. A message that didn’t get sent means you are not on the excursion list. And so on…
In fact, the number of things that can go wrong with your personal tech to ruin a trip outweighs the number of things that can go right. But we still rely on our tech because when things do go right, our trip, and indeed our lives are much better than it would have been without the tech.
So the first thing you need to do to make sure that tech is your friend on your next vacation is carefully plan out the tech you will need well in advance of the trip. It will not do for you to just toss a few things in your carry on while zipping out the door. Plan it in advance. And pack it in advance. Here are a few more tips for getting the most out of tech and travel:
Check the Tech Guidelines for Your Tours and Excursions
Have you ever been on a vacation and noticed a lot of people in a group who seemed to be having a lot more fun than you? That is because they were very likely on a paid excursion that you thought was a waste of money. You let some cynical “travel expert” talk you out of it because those “tourist traps” are just for suckers. And you wanted to be one of the cool kids.
Lesson learned. Don’t make that mistake again. People on tours seem to be having fun because they are. So when you get ready to book yours, be sure to ask about tech requirements and or restrictions. Groups like Tourme can let you know in advance if flash photography is prohibited, or if you might want to rent a good zoom lens for your DSLR.
You might also check and see if they have bags and supplies for waterproofing your camera or smartphone. If you have accessibility needs, they will be able to tell you about closed captioning, and other options that may come in handy for people with disabilities. For the best time, make sure your tours and tech are compatible.
Choose Your Gadgets Wisely
Don’t pack gadgets you don’t need. In doing so, you just make yourself a bigger target for thieves, have more to lose if your baggage is lost or stolen, and have more to charge when plug-ins are at a premium. What you should do is decide which travel gadgets and accessories you will want to pack based on what you really need for the trip.
Bluetooth speakers and headphones can be very convenient because you can use them with all of your devices, including the ones with no headphone Jack. But Bluetooth accessories need to be charged rather frequently. And if they die when you are nowhere near a plug, you have no backup. For this reason, wired headphones are probably a better choice for travel.
Make Safety Your Priority
Just because you are away from home, that is no excuse to start texting and driving. You will also want to protect your personal information by using pass codes, fingerprint locks, and facial recognition. All of these things make it harder for information thieves to casually steel your data, even if they steal your smartphone, you will be able to remote wipe it before they can crack your code.
You also need to protect your devices by putting them in protective cases. On vacation, your devices stand an even greater chance of being dropped, bumped, fumbled, and trampled by a herd of alpacas. Vacations are hard on devices, especially those with glass on the back and the front.
Tech and travel go hand in hand. But they don’t always connect when you bring the wrong tech for the tour, pack the wrong gadgets for the trip, and make safety an option rather than a priority.