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The term ‘BC’ has taken on a whole new meaning. Not so much a period of ancient history anymore, as that distant age just a couple of years ago – Before COVID. Remember those times?
Yes, it feels so long ago it might as well be ancient history. How was your life different back then? Maybe you were the sort of person who took every opportunity to jet off exploring new places, experiencing new cultures, learning new things about the world and yourself.
There’s been precious little of that since those BC times. But maybe, just maybe you won’t have to wait too long until you can start ticking places off your bucket list at a respectable rate again. As global travel gets back into gear, we could well see the return of that mythical creature from times of yore – the frequent flyer.
Of course, it will take time to get back into the swing of regular travel. You’re bound to be a little rusty after a couple of years back at the homestead. But you’re sure to pick up the groove again pretty quickly. Here are some things that will help you along.
Portable WiFi
Chances are being able to get online has been high on your travel essentials list for some time. First it was looking up internet cafes, then public hotspots, then finding cheap mobile data roaming deals. Now it’s all about portable WiFi.
Portable WiFi is essentially a pocket-sized wireless router that uses 4G connections to create a mobile WiFi hotspot. So it works the same way your smartphone data works. But the advantage is you can connect multiple devices at once, like your laptop, your tablet, your Kindle or anything else.
Noise cancelling headphones
It seems the whole world walks around with headphones these days – maybe a hangover from our COVID isolation. But as well as listening to your favourite tunes and keeping up with that podcast you’re hooked on, there’s one other very good reason to invest in a pair of noise cancelling headphones when you travel. If you need to sleep on a noisy plane, bus, train or anywhere else, they will literally cancel out all the noise to give you some peace and quiet.
Filtered water bottle
We all know it’s sound advice to drink plenty of water while you are travelling, especially in hot climates. But that creates a dilemma when you don’t trust the tap water but you also feel immense guilt about running through a throwaway plastic bottle or two a day. Well why not kill two birds with one stone? A filtered water bottle cleanses water to make it safe (the fancy ones are even designed for hardcore trekkers to filter water straight from streams). So no more disposable plastic, and no risk of nasty stomach bugs, either.
Multi-trip travel insurance
When you are travelling regularly, what you ideally want is a go-to set of travel essentials that are more or less ready to roll without having to give everything to much thought. The more you have to think about what you are taking with you, the more likely you are to forget something.
Buying multi-trip travel insurance is like having travel insurance already in your luggage every time you set off. You simply cannot forget it. Instead of having to remember to buy insurance every time you go away, you buy one year-long policy, and that’s it, you’re covered for 12 months.
Portable travel safe
Finally, security matters when you are travelling. Losing your passport, phone and bank cards are among the biggest misfortunes that could befall you. At the very least you will face all sorts of hassle and lost time as a result of these precious items going walkabout.
Portable travel safes feature a strong locking cable that you can attach to something permanent in your accommodation. They come in a variety of sizes, some big enough to keep a laptop in. Choose one with a combination lock rather than a key so you don’t have to worry about losing it.