Devices that deserve to go along on vacation

Don’t burden your trip with expensive or very heavy devices that you may not use. Here are some worth packing for use on an airplane, in a rental car or hotel, outdoors and overseas

CHILDREN ARE usually forced to pick just one or two of their beloved stuffed animals to take with them on summer vacation. Adults should consider doing the same with their electronic devices. You don’t want to weigh down your travel bag with gear you will barely use. And you probably should leave your more expensive gadgets at home, unless you want to become a target for muggers. What to do? Here is a guide to products that I have found useful on an airplane, in a rental car, in a hotel, in a house rental and outdoors, or travelling overseas.

On the plane

This happens too often: after cramming into your airplane seat, you shut your eyes to relax and a baby starts screaming behind you. You need a media device to drown out the noise with music or a movie. My favourite media tablet for travel is the Apple iPad Mini. Its compact size makes it easier to rest on an airplane tray. Because it is a multifunctional tablet, you can choose from a host of distractions, such as reading a book and playing a mobile game.

For watching videos on a tablet, SeaGate’s wireless portable hard drive may also be worth stowing in your carryon luggage. Ahead of your trip, you can load movies and other media on to the hard drive, and the drive creates its own Wi-Fi network to stream movies to your iPad.

In the hotel

Most hotels include cable television, but after channel surfing for a few hours, you will realise that the only movies that ever seem to air are Total Recall and The Shawshank Redemption.

Chances are you will be aching for the variety of programmes you could get from streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and HBO. So I would pack Roku’s new Streaming Stick, which is the size of a thumb drive, making it easy to stow in a travel pouch. One major bonus of the Roku stick is a feature called Hotel & Dorm Connect. It bypasses an obstacle in many hotels—the requirement that you log into their Wi-Fi networks through a Web page—by letting you enter the credentials through your smartphone browser.

In a rental car

The most annoying part of renting a car is all the up sells, particularly the extra fee for aG PS device and a mount—as if your smartphone did not provide maps already.

The best solution is to pack your own smartphone car mount. TechMatte’s MagGrip CD Slot is a fantastic travel companion on trips with lots of driving. The mount holds your phone with a magnet; you put a magnet sticker on your smartphone case, so mounting your phone is as simple as tapping the back of the phone on top of the magnet. What’s more, because the MagGrip hooks up to an unused CD player slot, the phone doesn’t block your view of the road. As for playing music from your phone, I recommend packing a standard audio jack that connects a smartphone with a stereo system.

Outdoors

When you’re outside, you don’t need much technology other than a camera. Assuming you bought a smartphone in the last few years, don’t bother packing an extra camera like a GoPro— that’s just extra space and another power cable to carry around. Instead, if you’re going to be in the water kayaking or splashing around at the beach, consider a waterproof smartphone case like LifeProof ’s Fre, which fits snugly around an iPhone to protect it from water without making it look ugly.

If you are the type who enjoys drowning out the sounds of nature with music, the Roll from Ultimate Ears continues to be my favourite wireless portable speaker. It has a slim disk shape, making it easy to pack in a travel pouch, and includes a bungee cord for strapping it on to a lawn chair or bench. Plus, it’s waterproof.

Travelling abroad

Earlier this year, I wrote a guide on taking your smartphone abroad while travelling, which involved unlocking it and buying foreign SIM cards. Some readers encouraged me to also mention Google’s Project Fi, which is offered in more than 120 countries and charges the same rate no matter where you are. In my testing of Google Fi for a few weeks, I found that the service offered robust coverage comparable to that of traditional wireless carriers. However, there are caveats: Google Fi is available only on a small number of Android phones, and in foreign countries, the data speeds are capped. I recommend a Google Fi phone for people who frequently travel abroad. But for those who seldom go overseas, it is more practical to use a foreign SIM card with your own phone.

Also, when travelling abroad, your smartphone battery is going to be struggling because of all the pictures you take. For iPhones, I recommend Apple’s Smart Battery Case—it offers enough power to keep your phone running all day.