9 Travel Tools To Enhance Your Adventures
There’s charm in thinking about how people used to travel in the olden days. Without a phone or any other of today’s technology, they’d simply have to go out there and explore the world first-hand, taking it exactly as it came.
Of course, while it’s charming to think about that way of traveling, the reality was probably pretty awful. It’s much easier to experience all that life has to offer with a smartphone in your pocket!
In this post, we’ll take a look at some of the essential travel tools that all world adventurers should have to ensure that they can get the most from their trips.
Invest in a Power Bank
Your phone can’t help you to elevate your trip if it doesn’t have any battery. In fact, having a phone battery won’t just prevent you from making the most of your day on the road; it could also lead to problems. It’s not fun to find yourself in an unfamiliar city with no idea where your hotel is.
Investing in a power bank — and making sure it’s charged — is essential for ensuring that your journeys aren’t interrupted by battery issues, especially if you’re traveling overseas (where your regular charger may not work) or if you’re going into rural areas where finding an outlet might be a challenge.
Download a Currency Converter
You’ll need to spend money to explore the world. But how much you spend is, to a degree at least, within your control. Downloading a currency converter that you can use offline is essential for ensuring that you don’t end up spending more money than necessary. A price might seem reasonable when it’s presented in a foreign currency, but seem ridiculous when you see the cost in your home currency. It’s particularly important to use this feature when visiting destinations that receive a lot of tourists, since those spaces can be notorious for overcharging visitors.
Noise-Canceling Headphones
For the majority of your traveling adventure, you’ll want to have your ears and eyes wide open to receive what the world has to offer. However, there’ll also be times when you’ll need a little peace and quiet. Think of those long plane journeys, or when you need to complete a little bit of work in a busy cafe. During those moments, you’ll be happy that you’ve packed your noise-canceling headphones. They’re excellent for sleeping on planes and anywhere else where you might be disturbed.
Consider Smart Luggage
Smart luggage is the luggage of the future and is quickly becoming a must-have for regular travelers. This innovative type of luggage helps to remove many of the most annoying elements of hitting the road, the most notable being not knowing where your bag is.
Common features of smart luggage include in-built GPS tracking, weight sensors that tell you how much luggage you’re carrying, and remote locks that allow you to open/close your bag via a smartphone application. Does any traveler absolutely need these features? No. Will you love having them in life? 100% yes.
Language Learning Apps
No one’s expecting you to speak the language of the destination you’re visiting fluently, but you’ll definitely benefit from knowing at least a few phrases. It’s best to download a few language learning apps before you travel — they’ll ensure that you know the basics of the language, which will at least prevent you from arriving knowing absolutely zero words.
If you’re a frequent traveler, then you may consider buying translator earbuds. They’ll allow you to hold conversations (albeit relatively simple ones) with locals.
Get a Local Phone Number
Some countries have a habit of accepting all phone numbers, regardless of the country in which it is registered. But many only accept local phone numbers, and that can make it difficult for visitors to make dinner and travel reservations and, in some cases, even make purchases. Many coach companies, for instance, ask for a local number when making a reservation online. There are services that can provide a temporary local phone number and allow you to receive SMS online, ensuring that you can access services just as a local would. It’s easy to set up a local phone number, and they tend to be available for countries all over the world.
e-Reader Tools
Whether you’re planning to spend a week on the beach or you’re looking to backpack your way through South America, it’s always worthwhile packing a few books for your travels. But it’ll be best if you can pack them all in one handy container, such as an e-reader device. That’ll ensure that you’re not weighed down with all the books you plan to read. While you might want to take one “real” book for the romantic image, it’ll make sense to spend the majority of your time reading using a device.
Get a Trip Planner App
It can be a headache having to find reservations and other travel plans and all the rest. Using a travel planner app will ensure that all your essential documents and information are in one single space, ensuring that you never need to panic that you can’t find your train tickets when you’re rushing to the station with only a few minutes to spare. Think of trip planner apps as the modern equivalent of having a folder with all your documents.
Research What the Locals Use
There are a bunch of apps that are good for general, broad traveling adventures. However, it’s also recommended to conduct a little research to see what apps are popular in the destination that you’re visiting. You might have a taxi app that functions in the place you’re visiting, but there might be a better, more widely used app that offers cheaper rides. Before traveling, turn to Google and ask ‘Essential apps for visiting Country Name’ and see what comes up.
And there we have it! With the above tools, you’ll find that not only is traveling more straightforward but that you’ll be able to make the most of your journey.
Comments