My Everyday Tech Travel Essentials — Summer 2024
Lately, the weather in the UK has been less than ideal, prompting many of you to look forward to your upcoming holidays.
It’s such a shame because the weather was really nice only a few weeks ago. With that in mind, I have a feeling that people are more likely to be booking trips and holidays due to the nice weather we had not so long ago.
That is why I decided to share my everyday tech travel essentials from the perspective of someone who travels to work by train on a weekly basis.
In this article, I will be sharing some of the best tech and apps that I simply cannot live without as a frequent traveller.
So without any further ado…
Active Noise-Cancelling Earbuds
I remember the first time I discovered Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) technology, I remember being extremely surprised by how much noise they block out.
My first “proper” set of ANC headphones was the Sony WH-H900N, and they were brilliant. I’ve used them for travel, I used them for working on university assignments and to just get some peace from the surrounding noise.
But my one issue with them was that they weren’t very portable, that is the main reason why I prefer earbuds.
I’ve tried many ANC earbuds over the years, but my two favourite all-rounders are the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC, which you can usually pick up from Amazon for under £80.
After taking the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC travelling last summer, they left a special place in my heart. They coped extremely well on the plane as well as in busy airport terminals and train stations. On top of that, their sound quality is fantastic.
At present, I’m using the AirPods Pro 2nd generation, and I’m a big fan. I think that they are perfect for iPhone users, and they come with some outstanding features.
My favourites have got to be the ANC and transparency modes, which work extremely well. The audio quality also agrees with my taste in music, which is an important factor for me.
But as a whole, if you are planning to go travelling, I highly recommend investing in a decent set of ANC earbuds, you’ll thank me later!
A Power Bank
I can’t stress how useful power banks are in this day and age. As a frequent traveller, they got me out of many sticky situations, like being able to show my ticket to the ticket inspector or booking a hotel during a disruption.
They have also enabled me to continue working in places where there are no mains sockets available.
They have become so useful to me, that I even carry one with me on short trips, such as trips to the main office I work at, which is around an hour’s commute by train. For these trips, I tend to take this Anker 622 MagGo 5000 mAh magnetic battery.
I like it because it’s small and as it’s magnetic, which means that I can attach it to the back of my iPhone 14 Pro Max without the need for wires.
For longer trips, such as day trips to London, which is around 2 hours by train from where I live, I tend to take the slightly larger and more powerful power bank, the Xiaomi Mi Power Bank 3 Ultra-Compact.
I picked up this 10,000 mAh power bank from the Xiaomi store in Bielsko-Biala, Poland last year, and it has got to be my favourite power bank for day trips. I love it because it’s small and fits into your pocket nicely, and it performs really well. But I wish the battery capacity was larger.
For longer trips, I like to have a slightly larger power bank. Unfortunately, I don’t currently own a larger power bank, but as I’m planning to go on longer trips in the summer, I’ve just ordered this UGREEN Nexode 20000 mAh power bank.
This will be the first time I use a power bank by Green, but the specs and reviews look good, so I decided to give it a go.
AirTags
If you are an iPhone user, I highly recommend purchasing AirTags, trust me on this.
I follow several travel channels on YouTube, and they all recommend putting AirTags in your luggage. That way, if your bag goes missing, at least you’ll have an idea of where it was last detected.
I tend to have them in my workbag when travelling by train if my bag gets stolen.
I also like to put them inside my wallet, especially when travelling in big cities.
Furthermore, I’ve tried many trackers over the years, but my favourite has got to be the AirTag, it just works so incredibly well compared to the others. The only downside is that they aren’t compatible with Android phones.
If you own an Android phone, I’m not sure what to recommend, I mean if you own a Samsung Phone, it has to be the Samsung Galaxy SmartTag 2. Otherwise, based on my experience and what I’ve read online, Chipolo and Tile are reasonable choices too.
RFID Wallet
This is an essential product that should be part of your everyday carry.
An RFID wallet is a wallet that has a built-in shield that prevents nearby readers from scanning the information on your bank cards and other RFID-enabled cards.
My go-to everyday wallet is the Ekster Parliament Card Holder Walled which has a built-in RFID shield.
I’m a big fan of this wallet as it looks premium and can fit many cards in. I even purchased the Ekster tracking card for it, which is powered by Chipolo.
But when it comes to travel, especially international travel, card wallets can quickly become an issue, especially if the locals primarily like to use cash.
That is why when I go on outdoor trips or travel internationally, I primarily use the Technicals RFID Currency Wallet which offers a coin slot, card slots as well as an area to put your cash into.
Based on my experience with it so far, I think that it’s a very practical wallet, but I wish it had more card slots.
I also like to put an AirTag inside this wallet in the event that I misplace it, or it gets stolen.
Worldwide Travel Adapter
Next on the list is a worldwide travel adapter, specifically the iBlockCube Nimble.
This has got to be one of the best purchases I made in a very long time, it has proven to be useful on several occasions, including at home, when travelling in the UK as well as abroad.
It features 3 USB-A ports and 2 USB-C ports, one of which supports fast charging. It also features a mains outlet on the front.
The device is also fitted with many safety features, including a built-in safety door as well as a sliding block access system. It is also certified by FCC, CE, ICE and ROHS.
I love the fact that it comes with a USB-C cable as well as a nice carrying case to prevent scratches.
I’ve used this device on countless trips, and it’s something I always keep in my travel bag.
Google Maps
Moving on to apps, I highly recommend installing Google Maps onto your phone. The app is so much more than just navigation.
2-years ago, we went on a trip to Budapest, Hungary. It was our first time visiting Hungary, so we didn’t really know anything or understand Hungarian.
That’s where Google Maps has proven to be extremely helpful.
Starting with understanding the area around us. It helped us discover the best local shops and restaurants. The fact that people and tourists leave reviews of these places is incredibly useful.
The app also helps navigate the public transport system. With the help of the app, we knew what mode of transport to use, how many stops, and when to get off, and it even told us how busy that particular bus or tram was.
All that thanks to the fantastic community on Google Maps.
Google Maps has proven to be extremely useful on various other occasions, whether it’s navigating big cities, finding the best routes, avoiding traffic and even discovering tourist attractions.
It’s an app that lives unconditionally on my phone, as you never know when it might help you.
Trip.com
Another app that lives unconditionally on my phone is Trip.com, which is a multinational travel app that allows you to find hotels, air, train and coach tickets as well as car rentals and attractions.
I use this app as the primary app for booking train tickets to and from work as it features the Train-Split system which means I can find cheaper train tickets in the UK, by splitting my ticket.
I also like the fact that I can collect points which I can redeem for more tickets, which, I think, is a fantastic feature.
Furthermore, I’ve used the app several times for emergencies, like when a concert overran and I missed my last train home or when I needed to find alternative means of travel when the trains were disrupted.
I am a big fan of this app and I always tend to recommend it to people based on my experience, that is why I have decided to join their affiliate program. So if you are interested in checking it out, I am leaving my affiliate link here.
A VPN
Last on this list is a decent VPN app.
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a tool that encrypts your internet traffic and hides your IP address to ensure that you have a secure and private connection to the internet.
A VPN is ideal for when you travel or when you connect to open public Wi-FI hotspots frequently. That is because anyone can connect to these hotspots, and they can be unsecured and susceptible to hacking.
Since the VPN encrypts your connection, it is much harder for hackers to intercept your data such as login credentials, banking information and personal communications.
But as a whole, a VPN enhances your online security and privacy, making it ideal for anyone who travels or connects to public Wi-Fi hotspots frequently.
Personally, I use Surfshark, which I’ve been subscribed to on various occasions and I find the interface to be clean and easy to understand. The app also has some useful features, such as the ability to automatically connect when connected to networks you don’t trust.
Surfshark is a product that I pay for myself and, like with everything featured in this article, I highly recommend using based on my experience. That is why I am leaving my affiliate link in the event that you want to try it out yourself.
Surfshark has some great offers at the time of writing this article, and they offer a 24-month option, a 12-month option and a monthly option which is ideal for when you only need to use it for a short period of time.
Final Thoughts
There are many great tech items and apps out there, but as someone who travels a lot for work, everything mentioned in this article has provided me with some form of value.
Whether it’s being able to charge my phone so that I can get home, helping me find my way around a new location or even helping me find new ways of travelling when my plans unexpectedly change.
But there are many great other tech products out there! That is why I want you to share your top travel tech items in the comments!
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