Handy How-To's

Prepare a “travel kit” Here are some items that are so useful that they should have a permanent spot in your travel bag. Electrical plug adapter and extension cord You might encounter these situations that make it difficult or even impossible to plug your smartphone, computer and other electronic gadget into an electrical outlet. First, some hotel rooms have only one electrical power outlet. Second, the outlet is in an awkward location, such as behind the nightstand or under a table. Third, the outlet might not be of the same type as the one you use at home. The plug adapter lets you plug the extension cord into the outlet, while the extension cord lets you charge one or more smartphones simultaneously while they lie conveniently on a desk or table. Get a plug adapter that can be used in the USA, Australia, and Europe. A 3-meter-long compact extension cord with three outlets should be adequate for most situations. S hook Having an S hook is almost like having a third ...

Miscellaneous preparations Buy travel insurance that covers medical emergencies, lost luggage, and delayed flights. Make photocopies and softcopies of your passports, visas, plane tickets, travel insurance and other travel related documents and store them separately them from the originals. Upload the softcopies to your cloud storage or email them to yourself. Test all the important apps on your smartphone. Then, do not update your apps anymore until after you get back from your trip. The reason for this precaution is that an update may log you out of an app or, worse, cause the app to not to work anymore. For Android, open the Play Store app and, under Settings, select “Do not update apps.” Also, postpone Android upgrades when prompted. For iPhone, postpone software updates when prompted. Sometimes, your smartphone will prompt you to log on again to your email or other app. For this reason, make sure that you know the passwords of the various accounts that you have in your sm...

Take advantage of your smartphone’s capabilities Your smartphone can greatly enhance your travel experience and make life on the road more convenient. Complete as many of the following preparations as you can before your next trip. Activate international roaming Your first task is to ensure that you can call and be called through your mobile phone when you are overseas. The surest way to do this is to activate international roaming on your mobile number. Before traveling abroad, contact your service provider and ask them how to get international roaming. International roaming allows you to make long distance phone calls from abroad through your smartphone and instant access to the Internet via your smartphone’s mobile data. Compared to the alternatives mentioned below, international roaming is very convenient and more reliable. However, such convenience comes at a steep price, so resort to it only when the suggested alternatives have failed. For more on international roami...

Luggage-related tips One day, as I sat in one of those trans-Pacific flights, I heard the pilot announce that he was diverting our plane to Anchorage, Alaska because of volcanic activity that was happening somewhere along our original route. Luckily, I had chosen a connecting flight whose departure time allowed for some delay in my schedule. And boy, was it cold in Alaska! Although our stopover at Anchorage was very brief, I was so thankful that I wore my jacket instead of packing it into my checked luggage. On another trip, a flight attendant accidentally spilled coffee on me. I smelled like a percolator and felt uncomfortable for the rest of the flight. These incidents have taught me to always have spare clothing with me. I'm sure you also have stories to tell about trips that have gone awry. Years of traveling have taught me to be ready for sudden turns and mishaps. In this and succeeding posts, I will share how I have made myself better prepared as a traveler. While these ...