Traveling is wonderful in many ways. It captures us with a sense of wanderlust and has us longing for more destinations to visit, cultures to experience, food to eat, and people to meet. Not only teaches it to us the best lessons in life but we usually also create the best memories of our lives during our adventures on the other side of the world. And as Samuel Johnson once said: “All travel has its advantages. If the passenger visits better countries, he may learn to improve his own. And if fortune carries him to worse, he may learn to enjoy it”. But whether you’re backpacking, or jet-setting the globe, we all need some extra convenience on our trips to help solve many of the most inconvenient aspects of traveling. Or just for fun ;-) Either way, these useful and cheap travel gadgets will help you to make your trips easier. And if I may say so: this is also a great gift guide for all those travel lovers out there.
This might not be the first thing to think about before you travel, but I think it’s a great idea to place all your important documents including passport, insurance, bookings et cetera on a USB. It’s a lot easier to carry a USB around then a map full of paperwork. Sure, you can also save your documents somewhere online, but this way you will have (almost) always access to important documents. Even if there’s no internet connection.
A luggage scale is a true lifesaver if you ask me. Okay, I might exaggerate a bit, but it’s still a very useful tool. I think it’s one of the best cheap travel gadgets there is out there! If you’re like me and not a light traveler at all, it can help you save you quite a lot of money and frustrations at the check-in. I myself have a luggage scale that comes in with an integrated flashlight, which makes it even more useful.
A cup holder that keeps your drink suspended between the upright handles of your suitcase is such a smart invention. I never know where to put my cup or water bottle ( I assume it also can hold bottles). So, when I saw this TUGO Cup holder I put it on my wish list immediately. By the way, I think it’s also of great use for all the mommy`s who like a cup of coffee when they are walking with a stroller.
Though, instead of getting fun cup holders, this might be something I would need to purchase first. I am such a mess when it comes to cables and other small electronic stuff. The last time I flew I had SO MUCH luggage! I just squished in all my electronics into my hand luggage. Read: into shoes, eyeglass cases et cetera. At the airport, I needed to empty my whole freaking bag at the check-in. And after they checked all my stuff, I somehow managed to fit everything back into my bag. The result? A broken charger and two broken cables. The lesson learned? Next time I won’t bring so much luggage so I don’t have to cram so much stuff into my bag. Just kidding! From now on I’ll be a neat girl and purchase a travel case for electronics so I can securely bring them to my next destination.
Speaking about getting organized… Personally, I hate to drag around with bags and suitcases, it’s so tiring. For city trips and relaxed holidays in the sun, it’s not that bad, but when you’re actually exploring the world, you want to do it as comfortably as possible. And I think that’s to do best with a good and quality backpack specially made for traveling. I recently came across this amazing website called Backpackhack, and they are all about what their name suggests. They have the best backpack hacks; not only reviews about all kinds of different backpacks for all kinds of different occasions but also some great tips on how to choose the perfect backpack and checklists on what to bring when you’re going to travel. Check out Backpackhack if you can use any tips and tricks.
I love the water. To swim in, to shower with, and to drink a lot of. Heck, I barely drink anything else. I even carry a bottle of water with me everywhere I go. But while I was living in Turkey, I had some serious health issues due to unsafe water. Well, unsafe for me at least. I couldn’t even drink most of the brands of bottled water, because of the bacteria, chemicals, and viruses in it that my body wasn’t used to. My body would just reject it by making me sick every time I drunk even a sip of it. Luckily for me, there are water purifier bottles in this world and I somehow could manage my health issues most of the time. But did you know that contaminated drinking water is usually the number one reason travelers get sick? A water purifier bottle is simply of those must-have cheap travel gadgets for anyone traveling abroad. It’s not only safer for your health, but also for the environment and your wallet! And at Bobble, you can even customize your own bottle which makes it also a perfect gift.
Once I went snorkeling with my brother in Oman. We weren’t rich enough to buy a GoPro, so back home we’d already bought an underwater disposable camera to take some cool selfies. In the Gulf of Oman, we’d met with Nemo and his friends. We had an amazing time swimming with those little fishes, but we also met some super nice turtles. And also some other freaky creatures I sometimes still see in my worst nightmares. Back home we wanted to develop our photographs as soon as possible because well, we’re talking about Nemo and his friends. But out of the thirty photos we took, only three of them succeeded. I’m still not lucky enough to call myself the owner of a GoPro, so next time I’ll go to visit Nemo, I’ll bring a waterproof case for my mobile phone. It’s just something you should have, even if it’s only to capture weird underwater creatures.
In case you might spend a period away from electricity, a solar charger can come in handy. Sure, if you are a hardcore traveler it might be worth it to invest in a decent charger, but for everyone else who will just spend a few days in the middle of nowhere or is just going on a hiking trip, I think a cheaper one, like this one from Winterberg, will be just fine.
A travel steam iron is not something I would ever purchase for myself since I just hate to iron so much. Really, so much. I even pay attention to it while shopping and would never ever buy anything that needs to be ironed. But Nevzat, my personal ironing freak, says the travel steam iron from Steamfast might just be his new love (it might also be the smallest iron in the world, which might make me agree on purchasing it). So, for all those business travelers, neat persons, and other ironing freak out there a this might be just the one to remove inevitable wrinkles.
I`m not one to judge, but I’ll do it anyway =) The Ostrich pillow is just too ridiculous, expensive, and just huge that I don’t understand why one would purchase it. I mean, sorry, but come on dude! However, I’m all about comfort, so if you must bring a pillow I would recommend a travel hoodie pillow; cheap, inflatable, and still very comfortable!
For everyone who likes to bring back home a nice bottle of wine in a secure manner, an inflatable wine bag is a must-have cheap travel gadget.
