Essential Travel Tech for Those Who Aren’t Tech-Savvy

If you’re planning your next trip, you might have started making a list of places to visit and booking flights and accommodation. While these are important steps, there’s one more thing you need to pay close attention to when traveling: carrying the right tech essentials. Devices like power banks and translation apps are quite easy to use and can keep you organized, connected, and, more importantly, worry-free throughout your journey.

Power Bank

Your phone is your primary tool for communicating, clicking pictures, and using maps when traveling. So, running out of phone battery is one of the worst things that can happen. That’s why a power bank is an essential travel gadget. You can easily use it to charge all your carry-on electronics, including your phone, e-readers, and wireless earphones. If you plan to go on a long trip and stay outdoors for most of the day, get a high-capacity power bank with a rating of around 10000 mAh.

Over-the-Ear Bluetooth Headphones

In-ear wireless earphones are easy to carry around because of their compact design, but they aren’t very comfortable. If you want comfort, over-the-ear headphones are better, especially for long-term use. The Hearing Health Foundation mentioned in one of their blogs that over-the-ear headphones are often gentler on the ears compared to earbuds, as they don’t sit inside the ear canal. So, for your next trip, get a pair of wireless headphones for on-road or in-flight entertainment.

Mini Handheld Fan

If your next destination would have you basking in the sun, or if you’re taking a summer trip, there are a couple of essentials you must carry. Sunscreen, of course, is important, but consider buying a mini handheld fan as well. This easy-to-use travel technology will keep you cool during sightseeing, outdoor excursions, and even while waiting in long lines. Most mini fans are rechargeable via USB, lightweight, and foldable, which makes them convenient to carry around.

Bluetooth Tracker

When you carry valuables like your passport and cash in your handbag, it’s natural to be worried about the bag getting lost or misplaced. But why let this worry ruin your experience? You can simply put a Bluetooth tracker in your bag or attach it to your belongings. The location of this tracker will be fed live into your phone, so if anything goes missing, you can easily check its location and track it. Bluetooth trackers like the AirTag (for iPhone users) are an essential piece of travel technology that even beginners can use.

Rome2Rio

Traveling without a guide provides excitement and a sense of freedom. But it also means that you’re now going to have to figure out all the commute yourself. Thankfully, the Rome2Rio smartphone app can make this easier for you. It basically works as a search engine that lists all available transport options between any two locations in the world. Using this app, you can find the most convenient means of transportation—be it a bus, a train, or even a ferry—to get to your destination. It might just be one of the most useful travel apps since it can save you all the hassle of unraveling the transport network of unfamiliar places.

Translator App

It’s one thing to want to explore new places with different cultures, but another to feel kind of lost when the local language is unfamiliar. This is why a translator app is among the most essential travel accessories. Apps like Google Translate, for instance, can bridge the communication gap and help you with the smallest of things, like translating menus and signboards. Most of these apps even support voice translation, which means you can find out what someone is saying by simply recording their voice in the app.

Maps

It’s no secret that map apps have made navigation a cake walk. No matter where you are in the world, they can help you find your way around. But just in case you weren’t aware, these apps offer features beyond simple navigation that might be useful. For instance, Google Maps can show you all the restaurants, gas stations, and shops nearby, basically acting as a guide in a new place. Likewise, apps like Maps.me allow you to access maps to preferred locations in an offline mode, so you’re not left stranded in areas without coverage. Apart from this, you can find the shortest routes and routes with the least amount of traffic on these digital tools.

Skyscanner App

Among the trickiest parts of planning a trip is finding affordable flights. Even with the internet at your fingertips, it can take a lot of effort to find out which airline has the cheapest fare or which destinations are the most affordable to fly to. Skyscanner can reduce all of this hassle. It basically scans all the available airlines and travel sites and creates a price-wise list, so you can know which is the cheapest flight to your destination. You can even find out where the cheapest flights are flying to if you don’t have a destination in mind and have just started planning. The app does the same for hotels and car rentals. Thanks to these features, Skyscanner is a must-have travel tech if you’re looking to travel on a budget.