Which moment excites you most about travel?
Is it when you finally leave home and are on the way to the airport that you feel all the minutiae of ordinary life falling away? Or is it the mere thought of all the possibilities your next trip holds that elevates your heartbeat?
Whatever blows your hair back, can we all agree that we don’t love figuring out where the perfect powerpoint is located in yet another room along the way!?
Whether you love them or try to simplify your life as much as possible without them, travel might be the ideal moment to embrace gadgets.
So here is our selection of smart tools to improve the day – wherever you may find yourself:
1. Want organization to be your superpower?
Smart Tag and Taglet Starter Kit
Stick one of these tags onto your most prized possessions and pair with your smartphone. You can even set a reminder and receive a push notification to ensure you never leave the house (or the hotel or the camp) without them. (Includes a charger, 3 taglets, and 1 smart tag.)
2. Bring Mozart on Safari
Boom Bottle
Rugged dual speakers with a built-in subwoofer and audio sensing EQ automatically provide studio quality sound indoors or outdoors. It is also waterproof up to 3 feet. Oh and there is a bottle opener because one must always be prepared.
3. Speaking of hearing… let’s skip the jet engines…
QuietComfort QC20 & QC20I
Pocket-sized noise-canceling earphones for long haul flights. When the world around you hums with sixty decibels of engine noise you need to retreat into a better place. This is the diminutive in-ear solution you want. With 16 hours of noise-canceling battery life.
4. Just go ahead and color us beyond prepared for all eventualities
Bomber 2.0
How to resist this jacket? Let me not count the ways as resistance is futile. Not only is the design classic and unfussy; this jacket has 20 (yes 20!) functions including detachable gloves and a hood, an inflatable neck pillow, eye mask, a bottle opener/whistle keychain, a footrest, a blanket, a zipper pen and so much more! For men and women in three stylish colors.
5. You have ONE job
Evolution S3 Travel Pillow
We ask only one thing from a travel pillow. That it will do what it says on the tin. And this travel pillow will allow you to sleep on an airplane.
6. I spy with my binoculars
Hookupz Phone adaptor
This might not be the answer to winning the next photography competition but it is a good workaround for using your binoculars when filming with your iPhone.
7. Smooth operators
Osmo Mobile 2 Handheld Smartphone Gimbal
A great little gadget for smooth stabilized footage with built-in controls that rotate it in one sweeping motion.
8. The square root of a cube is…
Pack-it Specter Compression Cube Set
Many of our Travel Designers absolutely swear by packing cubes and these are lightweight, thin and very durable. Also made from a material that will comply with most of Africa’s very strict no-plastic regulations!
9. The answer to everything is Burrito
Digital Burrito Pouch
Who does not feel like they definitely need a digital burrito pouch (and yes, it does look like a burrito if you like that kind of thing or you can get it in ordinary fabrics too)? This little pouch will safely store all of your chargers, cables, pens, and headphones. It also rolls up neatly.
10. And for the über stylish
Mayfair Luxe Knomad tech organizer
Keep your tech organized with a place for everything and everything in its place. It even has RFID card slots.
11. First, protect your data
RFID blocking leather wallet
A sumptuous leather wallet with added safety features to ensure none of your personal data is available to e-thieves. Both handsome and handy.
12. The little lantern that could
Pop up Lantern
Solar or USB Chargeable, Collapsible Space Saving Design, Emergency Power Bank, Flashlight and Water Resistant. Say THAT 6 times fast!
13. No more dreaded sweaty back
Unisex JESTER BACKPACK
A comfortable and stylish backpack with a FlexVent suspension system combining ergonomic shoulder straps with a mesh back panel. This daypack is built for comfort even in warm weather, aiming to forego that hideous lower back dampness that less breathable backpacks can impart. There is also an integrated padded sleeve for your laptop or tablet.
14. We use fashionable and compression socks in the same sentence. Unashamedly.
DVT does not look good on anyone. These compression socks look good on everyone: If Olympic athletes travel this way, we follow suit.
15. Never mind fresh, we just want to stay charged.
Renogy Solar Power Bank
The smartest way to power up on Safari is undoubtedly using solar power. This portable power bank features smart identification technology which delivers optimal charging power to any plugged-in device for the quickest and most efficient charge every time. It is splash proof, dustproof, and shockproof and can charge an iPhone five times and an iPad twice.
16. When you are hot enough to charge your own devices
Matrix PowerWatch 2
Compatible with all smartphones and devices, this smartwatch operates as a timekeeper, fitness and calorie tracker and more without ever needing to be charged. (If you can’t wait for the PowerWatch 2 to come out you can buy the PowerWatch X now.)
17. Hotspot to go
Jetpack MiFi
Safari camps are becoming a lot more connected these days… but if you want good, safe coverage no matter where you find yourself bringing your own hotspot is the way forward. This MiFi can connect up to 15 devices to your very own personal (reliable)network and features impressive battery life. (It can also function as a charger.)
Image © pololia– stock.adobe.com
