Top 10 Travel Items
Here is a quick list of travel items that never leave our travel bags. I usually regret leaving any of these at home.
- Cell Phone Car Mount – The most handy items is definitely the car vent clip for my cell phone. It is small and compact and can be put into any pocket. I usually have the GPS on so I need it to be visible when I am driving.
- USB charger – I usually have the GPS on when I am traveling so you need to keep your phone charged. This is also useful for older American Airlines planes as they have the older 12V DC ports (while many other older planes have none). I’ve tried a few from Amazon and none of them worked real well until I found this one. My friend has a 4-port version but I just use the 2 port to keep it small. Also, the multi-connector USB cable should fit anyone in case you have different types of phones and chargers. You can charge almost any phone with just one cable (no more multiple cables)
- Portable Battery Pack – usually, either I forget to charge my phone in the car, plane, or lounge and my phone is running out of batteries, so I now carry a portable battery pack. It has been a huge lifesaver in a few instances. Some domestic planes still do not have charging ports in every seat so this is really useful on domestic flights.
- World Travel Power Adapter – I have forgotten my fair share of travel adapters so I decided to get this adapter that works in any country. There is only one outlet but usually you can daisy chain your electronics to your laptop to charge, albeit at a much slower rate. Still handy nonetheless
- Travel Router – sometimes the hotel only gives you wired access for your room and you have to pay more for wifi. Also, this will work if you have a lot of electronics and don’t feel like changing the password for all of them. This travel router can connect all your electronics to the internet wirelessly. Its great when you are traveling with a friend or spouse as you two can share the connection and eliminates the need to type in passwords.
- USB Wall Charger – there have been too many times where there is only one convenient outlet or one travel adapter, so this solves the problem by charging two devices at once. They also sell one that has 4 ports, but I usually only need two:
- Kindle Paperwhite – I recently picked up a Kindle Paperwhite because it was on sale for $80 (with ads). It is great for almost any location, but it is really useful on overnight flights where the cabin is dark and also reading at night. Usually, my wife will turn off the lights but I can continue to read. I loved my Kindle but the backlight makes it usable everywhere.
Noise Cancelling Headphones:
One of these items is a real investment for travel as each of these cost over $200. This is definitely not for the traveler that flies twice a year for the holidays. Not to say that it won’t benefit every traveler, but you have to be traveling quite a bit to justify getting one of these headphones. I have been flying 100k miles for the past few years and only recently got one of these. I normally use my SWU for AA international business class so they hand out an older version of the Bose Headphones, but sometimes they don’t give it out until two hours into the flight and take it away an hour before landing. I also just like my own set of headphones. Here are the two kinds I have:
- In-ear type: This type is better for those who sleep on their sides or usually rest the side of their head on the backrest or their hands when they sleep. It offers similar noise cancellation as the over ear type but without the bulk: Bose QuietComfort 20 Acoustic Noise Cancell…
- Over-ear type: This is the type that is usually given out in Business class on some airlines. It takes a bit getting used to but is a bit better than the in-ear type: Bose QuietComfort 25 Acoustic Noise Cancell…
I have tried a few cheaper versions from Sennheiser and Sony, but none of them can match the noise cancellation of Bose. The audio quality is noticeably higher in Sennheiser, but I prefer more noise cancellation than sound quality.