Holiday season travel can be an overwhelming and stressful occasion for many. Let’s face it, there isn’t much pleasure in sharing a cabin or car with overexcited passengers, tired children, or stressed-out parents. But Holiday season travel can be less overwhelming with the right tech.
If you’re on the road, backseat restlessness can escalate quickly, or your patience might evaporate somewhere between the umpteenth “Are we there yet? ” and the third emergency bathroom stop. Despite the chaos that is holiday season travel, there are plenty of tech gadgets and accessories that can help tame the madness.
From overcrowded, noisy airports to frustrating traffic jams with long, boring waits, overcoming challenges like staying powered up or creating some personal space are just a couple of situations where technology and its accessories offer solutions. Let’s take a look at some tech that can transform journeys from survival mode into more pleasurable experiences.
Bluetooth Trackers for Peace of Mind
Holiday season travel throws up all sorts of challenges, especially when trying to keep track of everything and everyone. Of course, your primary concern is keeping an eye on the welfare of your family members, particularly when navigating busy airports. But this means you can lose focus on valuable items like keys, wallets, and hand luggage when forced into situations like guiding your family through chaotic security checks.
Bluetooth trackers are excellent little devices to attach to essential belongings. Just place one in your bag or hook one onto your keychain, and you can easily locate any missing item. Tile is the most universally compatible tracker, and the Tile by Life360 Pro is the company’s most advanced yet. At 500 feet, it has the longest range of any Tile tracker, and its IP68 waterproof rating gives extra peace of mind, especially during winter trips.
It also integrates with the Life360 family-safety app, which allows you to track the real-time location of everyone in the family on a shared map. Additionally, anyone who feels unsafe or gets lost at the airport can use the tracker to send an SOS to everyone, adding a thick layer of holiday travel security.
A Bluetooth Tracker
Tile by Life360 Pro
$28 $35 Save $7
The Tile by Life360 Pro tracker offers an extensive 500-foot range, waterproof protection, and integration with Life360’s family safety features, making it the best choice for keeping track of belongings and loved ones during holiday season travel.
Entertainment to Keep Everyone Amused
Entertainment is crucial on long trips, and options like handheld gaming PCs, tablets, laptops, eReaders, and smartphones need no introduction. They can provide valuable options for all the family, from podcasts to movies. However, you can kick the visual entertainment up a notch with a giant virtual screen that you can watch anywhere with a pair of augmented reality (AR) glasses.
For best results, you may want to pair them with a set of ANC earbuds to get a completely immersive experience. Long trips will pass in a flash, and backseat boredom will be non-existent while users enjoy their own private cinema, minus the overpriced popcorn.
There are many AR options available, but the Viture Pro XR/AR Glasses are particularly good with their 135-inch, Full HD (1080p), 120Hz virtual display delivering a personal big-screen experience in sharp detail and vivid color. They also have myopia dials for nearsighted users, which is an attractive feature missing from many of its competitors.
To use the glasses, simply connect them to your chosen entertainment device, such as a Nintendo Switch or an iPad, and sit back and relax. No more craning your neck to see your phone screen or dealing with glare that makes your tablet look like a mirror. Just don’t forget to download your media before traveling unless you want to rely on cellular data.
A Pair of AR Glasses
VITURE Pro XR Glasses
The Viture Pro XR/AR Glasses will keep travelers entertained on long trips with their massive 135-inch virtual display, offering a portable big-screen experience.
ANC Buds for Tuning Out of the Travel Chaos
When traveling during the holidays, sometimes you need to create your own space and tune out of the ongoing chaos. Earbuds with active noise cancelation (ANC) are ideal for these situations. You can use them to turn down the outside world and relax to your chosen music, podcast, or audiobook and let everyone fend for themselves for a short time while you enjoy some zen moments.
They can also help you to get some much-needed sleep. Just switch to ANC-only mode, and the outside world is muffled, allowing you to drift off for a rejuvenating nap.
The Beats Studio Buds+ are an excellent mid-range option and suitable for all. Despite being an Apple product, they’re built for iPhone and Android, and they don’t have the heavy bass sound signature that Beats is renowned for. This makes them an excellent shout no matter which genre or media content you listen to.
Battery life is also excellent. You’ll get up to six hours even if you have the ANC on, and the included charging case holds another three full charges—more than enough to survive whatever your holiday trip throws at you.
A Pair of ANC Earbuds
Beats Studio Buds+
$130 $170 Save $40
The Beats Studio Buds+ offer universal iPhone and Android compatibility with balanced sound quality and impressive battery life of up to 24 hours.
A USB-C Charger for a Power Source
While modern cars are increasingly equipped with USB-C ports, the majority of our vehicles still only offer USB-A. Older cars may not even have any USB ports at all, so a charger that fits into your cigarette lighter is an affordable yet highly convenient option for festive season trips.
One such option is the Anker 535 Car Charger (67W), which offers two USB-C ports as well as a single USB-A. With 67W of power and three ports, you can fast-charge up to three devices simultaneously—ideal for preventing World War III when everyone’s phones or tablets start running on empty all at once.
The primary USB-C port uses Power Delivery (PD) technology to charge a laptop to 50 percent in just under 40 minutes. This also makes it a great gadget for regular commuters to make use of when the holidays are over. Additionally, it’s very compact at just over two inches long. It takes up very little space in the car, and with a next-to-nothing weight, you can easily pop it in a pocket.
Your devices are protected with the charger’s built-in safety features that monitor temperature and control power output, and the package comes with a USB-C cable and an 18-month warranty.
A USB-C Car Charger
Anker 535 Car Charger
The Anker 535 Car Charger delivers 67W of power through three ports (two USB-C and one USB-A) with fast-charging capabilities and safety features, offering a compact solution for simultaneously charging multiple devices during travel or commutes.
A Power Bank to Keep Everything Topped Up
Keeping devices charged during holiday journeys makes a power bank an essential festive season gadget, especially when traveling with family. On top of a car charger, a power bank is useful in many road trip situations. Think about those ‘quick’ restaurant stops that somehow turn into hour-long debates about dessert while your phone is limping along at two percent.
They are more than useful for gadget-loving families who need extra charging ports or anyone taking festive-season flights. However, when traveling by plane, you need to ensure the power bank in your carry-on bag meets FAA regulations. This limits you to 100 Wh per battery, although you can seek airline approval for batteries up to 160 Wh.
Thankfully, a large-capacity 20,000mAh power bank, such as the Anker 325 PowerCore Essential 20000, holds plenty of juice to keep everything topped up during long flights while still meeting FAA regulations. It has a slim build with dimensions of 6.2 x 2.9 x 0.76 inches and is relatively lightweight at just over 12 ounces (349 grams).
It features a USB-C port for charging a device or recharging the power bank itself (USB-C input and output models only), as well as two more USB-A ports, enough to keep the peace when everyone’s battery hits red together.
Additionally, you get Anker’s PowerIQ and VoltageBoost technologies to ensure fast, safe charging, including low-power gadgets like earbuds and speakers. However, with a 15W output, it’s not suitable for charging laptops.
A 20,000mAh Power Bank
Anker 325 PowerCore Essential 20000
The Anker 325 PowerCore Essential 20000 power bank provides an FAA-compliant 20,000mAh capacity in a slim design with three ports and fast-charging technology.
Affordable Accessories You Can’t Do Without
With all these gadgets and devices going with you on long trips, it can be easy to overlook the small accessories that can make or break the whole experience. How often have you rummaged through a tangled mess only to find every cable except the one you need or had to fumble under the seat for the adapter you dropped?
A travel organizer like the BAGSMART Electronic Organizer is a simple, affordable accessory that no modern gadget-juggling family can afford to forget—unless you enjoy playing ‘find the charging cable’ while sitting in a cramped airline seat.
You can keep all your chargers, cables, SD cards, and other accessories organized neatly and securely in one spot with its mesh pockets and elastic loops. It’s also easy to give the open bag a quick scan to see if you have forgotten anything. It easily slips into a carry-on bag, and the nylon fabric is water-resistant; good protection for an unexpected spot of light winter weather or an accidental spill.
Another ingenious accessory that helps make holiday travel easier is the Flight Flap Foldable Stand. You can shape this bendable-yet-sturdy flat mat into position to hold any small device you’re traveling with.
It’s big enough to hold a smartphone or tablet, and you can hook it over car headrests or tray tables onboard an airplane. It means you or your family members don’t need to hold onto their tablet or smartphone while watching content. Thus improving posture and keeping the experience hands-free and comfortable.
An Electronic Organizer
BAGSMART Electronic Organizer Bag
The BAGSMART Electronic Organizer features water-resistant nylon construction with mesh pockets and elastic loops to keep travel accessories neatly arranged and easily accessible.
A Versatile Device Stand
Flight Flap Foldable Stand
$12 $16 Save $4
The Flight Flap Foldable Stand is a versatile, bendable mat that can be shaped to hold smartphones or tablets hands-free on airplane tray tables or car headrests for comfortable viewing during travel.
