Which gadgets/items should I take on an extended holiday/vacation?

For those in the envious position of planning an extended trip, you may be asking yourself which items or gadgets do I really need to take? What follows is a list formulated from experience on a trip spanning five continents from September 2013 to May 2014.

SmartPhone

My iPhone 5 was perhaps the piece of tech I agonised about taking most, as the fear of loss or potential robbery almost decided for me. If you are planning to travel for an extended period of time, the smartphone keeps you well connected (for me this was a good thing). The phone became my line to life back home, and was significant in dealing with home sickness (allowing me to regularly hook up with friends and family). In most instances, the world is pretty well connected with Wifi/3G and I was surprised how many opportunities (data wise) we had to keep abreast of things. We were also able to check our current position with the aid of GPS apps which worked offline and didn’t require the use of expensive downloaded data. I was always paranoid unscrupulous Taxi drivers would take the long way round. With our live GPS (City maps app) we always knew where we were and if we were going in the right direction. There is also the obvious added bonus of being able to keep yourself entertained music, film and game wise.

Tip: Try not to be a slave to your phone, especially in hostels as there are fantastic people to meet in the world and you tend not to meet them if your eyes are constantly glued to a screen. AND SET YOUR DATA ROAMING TO “OFF”

Multi USB charger

I travelled as part of a couple, and we each had our own devices, both wanting to juice up upon arrival at the next hostel or destination. With a multi USB adaptor we were able to both charge at the same time. This cut down on frustrations and panics about not having a charged phone in a potentially scary place. Capturing unforgettable sights with a full battery meant we never ran out of charge, always being able to take the experiences with us. Our multi usb charger also had the added bonus of emitting a vivid bright blue light which helped us to navigate dark hostel rooms at night. On one occasion in the Atacama desert, the charger became invaluable as our extended travel group all wanted to charge at the same time, but with only one power socket available. With our charger everybody was able to charge simultaneously, and it broke the social ice leading to more friends made on the trip. Hooray!

Tip: We found it most useful to charge overnight and have fully charged devices for the day ahead.

Portable camera with wifi capability

Even with camera tech exponentially improving on smartphones, there really is no better way to take photographs than on an SLR camera. But for me, the cost multiplied by the weight and clutter of multiple lenses was not a viable option. I found the Sony NEX bridge camera series was the perfect in-between camera. Affordable, portable and with the potential to upgrade to better lenses in the future made it a perfect addition to our backpack paraphernalia. The camera features a large sensor which creates amazing pictures and HD video. When we got back from a day of seeing the sights, we were instantly able to transfer the pictures to our ipad/iphone via wifi. We could then view and make edits for our friends on social networks.

Tip: Look after your kit. A week before we left for our trip, I was taking photos of objects we were trying to sell on Ebay. I stupidly managed to catch the camera strap on the corner of a table which catapulted the camera floor-wards. This smashed the lens casing, and subsequently the internals of the unit, meaning we had the monetary misery of having to replace it, but also the panic of: Will the replacement lens arrive on time? Ours did arrive but with only two days to spare.

Swiss Army knife/Leatherman

Opening cans of food, fixing broken garments, and minor toe surgery would not have been possible without the use of a Swiss Army knife/Leatherman. The tool was essential in being prepared for when things go wrong. I found the longer I travelled, the more I used it. I purchased a Swiss knife and was very kindly gifted a Leatherman, which both had slightly different tools. I would say I used about 70% of the blades at some point on the journey.

Tip: Look after the blades on your Swiss knife/Leatherman. Before we left for our trip, I snipped the top off a superglue nozzle which then splurged large amounts of glue onto the scissor tool. This made them inoperable for the duration of our journey. I could have really done with those scissors so many times.

Money Belt

For piece of mind get a money belt to carry cash around. I used the money belt most when we were in big cities. In places where you don’t want to be targeted, use a money belt to appear you are not carrying possessions of any sort.

Tip: Spread small amounts of money about your person just in case. Losing a small amount of money to a pickpocket is far preferable to losing it all.

Good quality headphones.

For mobile entertainment and distraction less Skype calls back home, I would recommend a good quality pair of headphones that are durable enough to withstand the constant movement of travelling. I took a pair of Sennheiser CX500’s which just about hung on for the duration of the trip.

Tip: Don’t travel with white headphones, they tend to get filthy, often resulting in repulsed looks from your new traveller friends.

X-Mini/USB powered speaker

Invaluable for creating ambience or background music in a hostel room, or for when you are getting ready for a night on the town. The X-mini has an impressive bottom end for a speaker of its size. On the occasions you want to pump up the volume, it can also deliver a surprisingly loud output to the delight (or derision) of your hostel roommates.

Portable Hard Drive/64gb Memory cards

Back up the contents of your phone/camera when the opportunity lends itself i.e. in a hostel or on a well off travel buddy’s laptop. Instead of carting an expensive (or heavy) laptop around, take a hard drive/memory card around with you instead. Your back will thank you and you leave yourself in a better position should you stray into a particularly dodgy location.

Sports Bra.

So the wife tells me. In her words:

“The best and most awesome thing I took on the trip”.