Top Tips: How to be a tech-savvy traveler
Top tips is a weekly column where we highlight what’s trending in the tech world and share ways to stay ahead. This week, let's look at a few ways you can be a tech-savvy traveler.
Being a traveler is not easy, but with today's modern technology, it has become much easier. When we travel to places with no network, we sometimes forget about the ways we can use technology. Excluding the more familiar, I'm going to list some lesser-known tips.
1. Use your old smartphone as a Wi-Fi hotspot
Instead of relying on just your phone for the internet, use your old smartphone as a Wi-Fi dongle. Add a SIM and use it while you travel. It comes in handy for preserving your battery, and it's also a nice way to make use of your old smartphone.
2. Keep your receipts digitally
People who go on business trips typically save their receipts, but when we go on personal trips, we often don't. Instead, we collect a pile of receipts. Here's a great option and a safeguard: take a photograph of the receipt. If you bought something by mistake or overpaid, this receipt might be your only proof. Taking a photo of your receipts is easy to do.
Some people use scanners and other apps to store receipts, but I find it much easier to take a photograph first. It's quick and easy to do, and then you can organize them as you wish.
3. Organize your emails
Keep all your travel-related emails under a tag or a label, so you can find them easily. Instead of having to scroll through hundreds or thousands of emails, it's neat and tidy to have them labeled under a trip name. You can add hotel confirmation details, flight tickets, and it's also useful if you have multiple reservations for a single stay. Tagging related trip details with the same text or flag color enables you to easily search and sort it.
4. Offline maps
Maps allow you to save a city or a region offline. If that feature is available to you, it's wise to download a city or regional map for offline use. Keep in mind that you might not have network access available everywhere. This practice can ensure you have map guidance available when you need it most.
5. Have a multi-pin cable
How many times on an airline flight have you realized that you don't have the right cable to charge your phone? A wise option is to carry a multi-pin cable with you so you can charge your phone with any socket/pin available, not just on the flight, but anywhere you go.
6. Carry backup phone power
What if your phone runs out of power? You need a battery backup—quickly! Fortunately, increasingly less expensive options are available today. Bring a portable and light-weight cellphone power bank with you because, with a dead phone, you can't do anything.
7. Prepare for the worst
What if you don't have your phone with you? It's wise to physically carry key details about you and your trip arrangements with you. Have physical copies available of:
- Emergency contact details of family and close friends
- Embassy or consulate phone number and address
- Travel insurance details, if applicable
- Emergency contact details for your primary doctor, plus key details about your prescription medicine, allergy, and immunization records, as well as healthcare plan details
- Transportation boarding passes (airlines, trains, buses, shuttles or taxis)
- Lodging booking confirmations
- Your passport or ID
- Credit cards with a small or no foreign transaction fees
- Some local currency
A final word
These are simple tips, but they will ease things when you travel. Being tech-savvy is not just about carrying loads of gear while traveling, but using technology to your advantage and thinking of scenarios where you won't have the internet or your phone handy.