It’s been a long, cold, boring winter, but now temps are rising and Spring Break is upon us! I know, I know, you can’t wait to get away from it all, but if you’re anything like me, you find the most painful part of heading to a sunny destination is the trip itself.
Dragging a half-bused suitcase through a crowded airport and then sitting in a cramped plane seat while you watch a horrible in-flight movie sure doesn’t sound like vacation to me! Here are a few incredibly awesome travel gadgets to make your travel a bit more pleasant this time around:
Bag it!
A stress-free trip should always start with some quality luggage. Still wheeling around a hand-me-down suitcase with one bad wheel and some questionable stains? Well, it might be time for an upgrade, and I have a few favorites. The Rolling Cabin Bag by Briggs & Riley is the perfect mix of class and convenience. It’s super durable with plenty of room for your stuff and seriously generous pocket space for all your tech accessories.
For shorter excursions, I love the Spire backpack from Timbuk2 as my carry-on. It’s compact but big enough to fit a full-sized laptop and all the cords I need to carry along with it. If I really need to bring out the “big guns,” I’ll grab the Ogio Bolt Pack. It holds my MacBook, tablet, smartphone, and everything else I need to keep from getting airplane cabin fever, and it’s TSA-approved for easy inspection.
Great sound
For longer plane rides I keep my entertainment close at hand, which means plenty of downloaded Netflix shows and movies on my laptop or iPad. Of course, I don’t want to be “that lady” who blasts my speakers and annoys the entire rest of the plane, so the Bose SoundSport earbuds come in handy. Totally wireless, these little buds can sync to anything with Bluetooth connectivity and they sound awesome, which makes my high-flying Netflix binging a whole lot more enjoyable.
Staying connected
When you’re traveling with gadgets in tow you’ll need two things: power and a strong signal. The Skyroam Solis gives me both, and at the same time! This little puck-shaped gadget is a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot as well as a power bank. It works on a pay-as-y0u-go plan, which is perfect for the occasional vacation, and it’s always useful as a battery backup if you run into trouble.
For my smartphone, I still dig the Mophie Juice Pack Air as a foolproof way to stay charged up. It’s thin enough that I don’t really mind it, and it doubles my iPhone’s battery life. Of course, if I’m ever headed for a place where I know power will be hard to come by, I make sure I bring an alternative power solution along. No, I’m not hand-cracking my phone, but this waterproof solar charger from OUTXE is an awesome tool when the only power you have is the sun beating down from above.
For the little computer I wear on my wrist — the Apple Watch, of course! — I keep Griffin’s portable power bank with me. It has a built-in charger for the Apple Watch so I don’t need to worry about losing yet another charging cord.
Enjoying your vacation shouldn’t be a chore, and these gadgets will make your trip that much easier. Now if only there were a gadget that made Spring Break longer!