Are you gearing up for your next big vacation? Even though it could be two weeks away, you know it’s more like 13 days, 11 hours and 44 minutes until your plane takes off and carries you to your next destination. 

You’ve surely got your passport with you (and a copy if you lose it) and all the reservations booked, but what else can you do? Of course you’ll want to pack and double check the weather to see what else you may need.

With technology becoming such a big part of our lives, there are plenty of pieces of tech advice you can take with you to make sure you’re going to have the best vacation you possibly can. 

Image: Steve Johnson on Unsplash

Get to Downloading

We don’t just mean downloading a few movies to your tablet or phone before you trip, but downloading the essentials before you head out. 

Open up your map application on your phone and download the offline maps for your destination. Even though EU citizens can use their phones all across the EU, you may not be able to charge your phone as much during the day. 

Why is that important? Because you don’t need a data connection to access maps. You can turn your phone on airplane mode and use the GPS feature to find out where you are or find your next destination. 

In addition, download a language or translating application and download the language pack if you’re going international. Even though English is the international language, you never know when you may need to find directions or the bathroom in a pinch.

Screenshot Time

Before you start taking selfies, you need to have your phone take a picture of itself. If you’ve got airline tickets, hotel reservations, important addresses to remember or whatever else, make sure and take a screenshot of the information and have it stored on the page. You might need to pull out an address fast and if you’re having network issues, it may not load as quickly as you’d like it to.

Even though your email often stores past emails in offline mode, you can’t always count on it. Have a “hard copy” on your phone ahead of time. 

Back it Up

Advice for the dance floor and for your phone. Even though you may guard your phone with your life, the unexpected may happen. It could fall out of your hands, get wet or someone could snatch it. Not only are you losing your contacts and your high score on Flappy Bird, but all your precious photos.

Make sure your phone is connected to a cloud service before you go so all of your pictures back up immediately, usually when you get on WIFI. That way if something does happen to your phone, you won’t have to worry about losing any precious memories. 

Take Your Entertainment With You

Even though you may have every day planned out perfectly, squeezing out every possible second of vacation time, there might be a day or two when you want to head home early and watch a movie. 

You could be in the middle of your favorite series and want to keep up, but sometimes those pesky rights and copyright laws may restrict you from watching the content you want when you want. 

That’s why it’s smart to have a device that circumvents those restrictions, bringing you the content you want no matter where you are in the world. Say goodbye to international restrictions!

The External Charger

You’re going to be using your phone for just about everything, from directions to looking up restaurants and if you’re not careful, your battery may disappear quickly. One of the ways to keep your battery life up is by putting it on airplane mode when you know you’re not going to use it for long periods of time. But then you’ll have to go in and out of airplane mode continuously to use your phone, which can become quite annoying quickly. 

Another way is to invest in an external charger. Many are quite small and easily fit into your pocket and match up with any device. You can take it with you and have it stored in your purse or bag to charge your phone or tablet throughout the day.