Travel essentials: 11 best travel tech devices and gadgets
Find the right tech travel accessories to grab before heading off on your next trip.
Whitson Gordon
Whitson Gordon
You could also grab an over-ear, wired pair like the Sony MDR-7506, which is designed to fold up perfectly for travel.
If you want to kick things up a notch, a pair of headphones with active noise cancellation like the Sony WH1000XM3 will help drown out the loud hum of the plane’s engine, among other things.
When you’re in an unfamiliar city, you probably use your phone a lot more than you expected you would — especially thanks to easily accessible maps. But using GPS can drain your battery quickly, so it’s a good idea to carry a battery pack when you’re on the road. I actually bring two with me.
A big portable charger like this RavPower 26800mAh model can charge USB-C laptops thanks to its 30W output.
And a small battery pack like the Anker PowerCore+ Mini (which fits in my pocket when I’m walking around town) will keep your handheld and wearable devices on through the day.
While you can get internet at just about any hotel, Airbnb, or other type of lodging, the included Wi-Fi isn’t always ideal.
If your hotel provides an Ethernet cable, you can hook it up to a travel router — like the $30 TP-Link N300 Travel Router — for a stronger signal in your room, not to mention better security for your devices. It won’t get you internet where none exists, but it’ll beef up an existing internet connection where Wi-Fi is weak or unavailable. It’ll even help you connect something like a Roku Streaming Stick+ to the in-room TV, in cases where it won’t play nicely with the hotel’s guest Wi-Fi.
If you have a few more bucks to spend, the RavPower FileHub is a travel router that doubles as a battery bank and as an external hard drive, reducing the amount of things you need to carry.
And every time I unpack it in front of people crowded around an outlet, I become the hero of the airport.
These days, most big airports have a plentiful bounty of outlets around. But if you’re traveling somewhere that isn’t quite as updated, you might have trouble finding a place to charge your laptop. Even if there are a few outlets along the wall, they may be taken up by earlier birds.
That's why I always travel with a small power strip like this three-outlet model from Belkin. And every time I unpack it in front of people crowded around an outlet, I become the hero of the airport.
I’m not really a case person. I prefer my phones to be slim and sleek like the designer intended. But if I’m on vacation, I need a little extra protection. And it's not just drops on the pavement I'm concerned about — but also drops into the pool (or beach).
Lifeproof’s FRE series is my go-to since it adds some extra water resistance and impact protection.
If you’re on a budget, a simpler case like the OtterBox Symmetry Series Case will do — I'd just recommend grabbing a water-resistant bag if you’re headed to the beach.
When my wife bought the GorillaPod before our last family vacation, I thought it was a little silly — but it ended up being one of the best things we brought with us. It makes it so much easier to grab pictures of you and your family and friends together, without each photo coming in at an awkward arm’s-length selfie style. There are other tripods out there, but the GorillaPod’s flexible design means you can stand your phone just about anywhere, including an uneven rock jutting out from the waterfall you discover on that one hike. It works as a miniature selfie stick in a jiffy, too. If you have room in your luggage, though, an actual selfie stick might be worth bringing, as well.
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