Going on vacation is fun, exciting, but also a bit scary – it’s not exactly easy to plan and bring everything you need with you.
Luckily, today’s technology has blessed us with amazing gadgets and software that make traveling a much simpler and stress-free experience.
So, here are some tech hacks you should try out next time you go on vacation:
You just caught your train connection at the last minute, struggled with your luggage, and managed to find your seat. All you want to do now is browse your Facebook feed and talk with your sweetheart.
But what’s this?
The guy sitting next to you is sneaking glances at your mobile phone’s screen. Maybe he’s bored and didn’t bring a phone, or maybe he wants to pass the time by invading your privacy.
Whichever the case, it’s an extremely annoying (and downright creepy) situation.
So what can you do to prevent that from happening?
You get a privacy filter (also known as a privacy screen), of course. It goes over your device’s screen (laptop, tablet, mobile phone), and prevents anyone from taking a sneak peek at what you’re typing and browsing. The only way they’d be able to see your screen is if they were staring directly at it.
A great place where you can get quality privacy filters is 3M.
Sleep is a tricky thing when traveling – you can rarely get enough of it. The noisy hotel guest next door is blaring loud music, your partner is snoring, or the plane or train’s engine is keeping you awake because you’re a light sleeper – the possibilities are endless.
That’s where the Music Sleep Mask comes into play. It’s an excellent way to block out unwanted sounds and light so that you can get your well-deserved beauty sleep.
Plus, this sleep mask has another great perk – Bluetooth headphones. They let you listen to your favorite tunes that help you fall asleep faster. You don’t need to wear any earplugs or headphones, so there’s no discomfort preventing you from falling asleep.
What’s more, you can also use the built-in microphone to talk on the phone hands-free. No more having to groggily wake up to answer an urgent call, and no longer being able to fall asleep afterward.
A VPN is an online service you can use to hide your IP address (thus hide your geo-location too) and encrypt your Internet traffic to make sure nobody can monitor it.
Without a VPN, there are tons of things that can ruin your vacation:
And yes, you can deal with cyber threats when you use free WiFi in the city you visit too – whether it’s in a town square, at a restaurant, or a café.
Plus, a VPN might help you bypass price discrimination when buying plane tickets on the go. You might get to save anywhere between $50 and $500 on flights by pretending to be from low-income countries.
But to enjoy all those perks, you need to pick the right VPN provider – like TunnelBear, for example. It has tons of servers, very fast speeds, a Kill Switch, and the IKEv2 protocol, which is perfect for traveling since it can resist network changes like a pro.
Having security software installed on your home computer is always nice, but you should take that kind of protection with you when you go on vacation too. It is advised to use cloud PC like Azure WVD based on desktop as a service technology while you are traveling as it can be accessed remotely from anywhere on any device!
Who knows, maybe you try to plug your smartphone into the public computer at your hotel to charge it before heading out to explore the city. And maybe you’re unlucky enough that someone left malware on that computer, which can freely infect your device.
Alternatively, the hotel network you’re using could get compromised by cybercriminals, who then use it to inject malicious files on all the devices that are using it.
Well, with antivirus/antimalware protection on your phone, you won’t have to worry about something like that.
Some good recommendations include Malwarebytes, ESET, and Kaspersky.
Always worried you’ll end up losing your padlock key when on vacation?
I know that feeling – I’m constantly checking my pockets too. The last thing I want is to end up not being able to open my luggage because I accidentally dropped my padlock key on the street.
But what can you do? It’s not like you can just stop using the padlock – it’s a good security measure when traveling.
Well, you can make your life easier by just getting a Bluetooth padlock instead. You don’t need to carry around any keys or remember any codes. You just use an app on your phone to open the padlock – simple and convenient!
You’re going on vacation – you’ll clearly bring your smartphone with you. It’s gonna help you navigate new cities, help you stay in touch with family and friends, and give you easy access to entertainment on long train or bus rides.
But its battery won’t last forever. And you can’t always count on the train or bus having power sockets that work well.
That’s why you should bring a power bank with you. You can easily charge it with a USB beforehand, and use it to charge your phone (or any other device) as much as you want on the go.
These are the main things I take with me on vacation to make sure I have a great time.
What other tech hacks would you recommend to make the trip even better?
