Stuff summer essentials: The best travel tech for exploring
Upgrade your getaway with these on-the-go gadgets
THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED
Remember the good old days, when in-flight entertainment was limited to an airline magazine and the closest you got to noise-cancelling was two pieces of cotton wool? No? Probably because those days were rubbish. Travel might be a tonic for the soul, but without the right tech it’s just a whole lot of moving around with bags. Thankfully, we’ve trawled the tech aisles for those travel essentials that will give your summer getaway the upgrade it deserves. Here are some gadgets that’ll give you a helping hand if you’re planning on heading off the beaten path to see what lies hidden in the great outdoors.
TILE SPORT
Taking anything of value away from home is always a risk. Just look at what happened when you took your favourite teddy to Thailand. Thankfully, with this tracker attached you’ll always know where your prized possessions are – even if you’re too hungover from all those vodka buckets to go and find them. Fire up the partner app and you’ll see the Tile Sport’s last known location and if it’s within Bluetooth range you’ll be able to make it beep. It’s rugged, too, so it should survive even the toughest night out with Mr Snuggles.
PETZL REACTIK+
Walking the guy rope gauntlet is easily the most treacherous part of spending a weekend pitched up in a field – especially when you’ve spent the whole day sampling the local ciders. Shed some hands-free light on the situation with this Petzl headtorch. Strapped to your noggin, it’ll automatically adjust to the darkness – and you can even activate lighting profiles via the app. Sadly, it doesn’t have a ‘take me back to my tent’ mode.
SCRUBBA
Proper exploring means being prepared to scrub your smalls on the go. For this, you have two options: find a nearby river, select the cleanest rock and brave the chilly waters as you work your pants up to a lather. Or stick them in the Scrubba. While the former might leave you feeling at one with nature, the latter truly takes the labour out of laundry. Textured inside like a trusty washboard, using it is as easy as sticking your linen in, squeezing out the air and giving the whole thing a good rub.
LUMINAID PACKLITE MAX
Since the dawn of travel, lanterns have been guiding globetrotters on their adventures – through deep jungles, on high mountains and in dodgy hostels when the electricity goes kaput because the washing machine was on at the same time as the air conditioning. This solar-powered lamp will bring light to any situation: inflate it with a puff for a useful glow or connect your phone to the USB socket for added go. With a 50-hour battery life, it should trump even the longest of power cuts.
NANOPRESSO
You wake in some faraway hotel, draw back the curtains and survey the cityscape before you, enjoying the plush cotton of the branded dressing gown and the shallow comfort of the corporate slippers. You take a long sip of coffee. Yuck! Why did you think a sachet of dried granules would be any different here than at home? While you rue your foolish caffeine faux pas, we’ll be sipping delicious espresso hand-pumped through Wacaco’s wonder machine – now smaller, lighter and more powerful than before.
