Tech Travel Tools

Google Maps + Maps.me (offline). Wise (multi-currency). Google Translate (with offline language packs). Booking + Hostelworld. Skyscanner. Splitwise. Notes app. eSIM provider (Airalo). 1Password.

That's the whole kit. Anything else is a distraction — and travel attention is the most expensive thing in your luggage.

A 10,000 mAh power bank is non-negotiable. A small USB-C hub turns any hotel TV into a second monitor.

Packing cubes change your relationship with your luggage. Two cubes — one for clean, one for laundry — solves half the chaos of a long trip.

A good silk sleep mask doubles as a blindfold in any neon hotel room and is the single cheapest upgrade to your travel sleep.

Maps: Google Maps for navigation, Maps.me for offline. Translation: Google Translate (download languages offline). Transport: Rome2Rio for routing, then the local app for booking.

Money: Revolut or Wise for fee-free currency. Splitwise for shared trips. Notes: Apple Notes or Notion for the trip journal.

Skip the rest. A phone full of travel apps is a phone full of decisions you don't need to make.

20,000 mAh power bank with USB-C output. It charges a phone four times, a laptop once in a pinch, and saves your day in any country.

Universal adapter with two USB-C ports. The hotel will have one socket and you'll have two devices — every time.

Compact noise-cancelling earbuds. Sleep on planes, focus in cafés, take calls anywhere. Best €100 of travel gear there is.

One cable per device is too many. One USB-C cable for everything (phone, laptop, earbuds, e-reader) cuts your charging kit in half.

Charge overnight, every night. Not before bed — during. A phone at 60% in the morning is a phone you'll resent by lunch.

Carry the adapter in your day bag, not your suitcase. The day you need to charge urgently is the day your suitcase is in the hotel.

Phone, laptop or tablet, earbuds, power bank, adapter, two cables. That's the whole kit for most trips up to a month.

If you can edit photos and reply to email on a phone, skip the laptop. The trip changes shape when the laptop stays home — usually for the better.