Alright, I’m a tech-oriented person (or so) and I’ve been one of the few family members that are asked what to bring on a trip, be it road trip or air travel. I only have a few recommendations that I can solidly give to every family member and now you.
First thing first. You NEED a surge and power protector on your travels. There’s no compromise in this because I’ve seen people fry their tablets and laptops from faulty outlets. All you need is to plug this 20W USB Power Strip by Anker in first and then plug all your precious devices to the strip.
Public airport, hub, or plane offering a free USB port to charge your stuff? Great. Now plug in that data blocker first and before you plug in your phone, tablet, or hand-held gaming console for charging. It’s a little thing and will save you a lot of headaches later on. And, yes, this this lets power through and blocks any attempt of data being transfer over USB.
Now, this one is more situational but I’ve always been one of the drivers of any rental car when we’re on vacation and I like to juice-up my stuff while we’re heading off to the next destination. How else can I capture the moment in battery draining 4k 60FPS and be able to charge up while heading to the next Kodak moment? I’ve never seen a car rental without one of these dated cigarette lighter port, so you’re good for a while. And, if they only offer USB ports, you can just use the datablocker USB thing (suggestion above) first and forgo the whole cigarette charger hub.
Please get one. I know a lot of you just throw your electronics and wires willy-nilly into your travel bags, but they deserve the same love as your clothing and shoes. Imagine just tossing your clean clothes into your luggage willy-nilly and slamming the luggage closed. Doesn’t seem right, right? So, the same with your electronic gadgets. Besides the ones you need to grab right away, you can store things like extra wires and the surge protector for when you get to your destination.
Speaking of bags. I’m a no frills type backpack person so this one hits all the recommended things. You can stash a tablet and up to 17.3″ laptop into it. You can tuck in a book and your electronics that you need to grab right away. It’s easy to grab things out for security checks and you can charge directly from the side port if you have an external power charger ready (I recommend this one for travel if you want budget and size: POIYTL Power Bank with 50,000mAh capacity). It’s water resistance but seems enough for light rain and walk from any place to the car. You can get a bigger 18″ or the smaller 15.6″ options.
This is a special section for travel with kids. I’m done with just giving them a tablet and hoping for the best. You need to organize a bit and save your sanity. On long plane rides or car rides, the Lusso Gear tray or MENZOKE kids travel are a life saver in keeping everything organize for the kiddo. It fits over the airplane seat tray and have sides that ensure that their toys won’t go flying off the edges (or at least most likely not). Their tablets are held in and you can fold everything up for easy exits.
Lusso Gear Airplane Tray Table Cover (for younger kids)
MENZOKE Kids Travel Tray, Tablet holder and organizer (for older kids)