What gadgets and creature comforts are a must when you travel? There’s quite a technique to travelling comfortably, especially on long haul flights. Who better to identify the best travel accoutrements than our own Wegonauts!
Wego’s incredibly clever tech team along with our extremely well-travelled executive management shared what items they simply can’t leave home without.
The world of ‘i’
Not surprisingly iPads, Mini or otherwise, and iPhones were high on the list.
“I measure my flight travel time by the number of movies I can watch,” said Jee, Director of SEO. Paulo (Senior Developer), prefers his iPhone for photography in place of a heavy camera. “It takes decent photos and they’re easy to edit and share while you’re travelling.”
Project Manager Duc, can’t get through a flight without reading comics or playing games on his and Chu Yeow (Chief Technology Officer) says that while the MacBook Air is not a new thing, it’s ‘light and perfect for business trips’. The other advantage of the iPad mentioned by the team was it’s inconspicuousness and battery life.
While happy with the iPad so he can watch his ‘preferred and pre-selected movies’, RJ (System Administrator) thinks Nexus or Samsung tablets work just as well.
So hot right now.. Kindle Paperwhite
Latest fave
It appears that the Kindle Paperwhite is universally and overwhelmingly the latest in must-have travel accessories according to the Wegonauts. It requires minimal charging, is extremely light and perfect for reading just about anything. Wego CEO Ross Veitch is a big fan and also recommends along with others, good quality putty style ear plugs or noise cancelling headsets.
All charged up
Managing Director for Indonesia, Graham Hills recommends a USB charger that fits into a car cigarette lighter. “If you’re caught in traffic in a taxi it’s the perfect time to recharge,” and he should know being based in Jakarta which is notorious for traffic jams. Chief Operating Office Matthew Varley, a self confessed minimalist and clearly an Apple fan, carries an Apple travel adapter kit on all of his trips.
In touch
Our CEO Ross carries a spare phone that can be loaded simply with a local sim card on arrival and uses a fixed daily rate data roaming package for his international connections.
“I always carry a USB power brick and use a pre-configured VPN account to get around local filters,” he adds.
Universal plug adaptors are a must according to the team, you only need one and it doesn’t take up much space in your luggage.
In pictures
Photography and travel usually go hand in hand and the passion for capturing great pics hasn’t escaped our team. Bady (UI & UX Designer) likes a Mirrorless camera; very light and delivers decent quality images, whereas Ferdian (Front-end Developer) is ‘absolutely a Canon DSLR’ fan.
GoPro for the adventure travellers
Wilson (Front-end Developer) leans towards GoPro products. His favourites GoPro Hero3 camera, mounting accessories depending on your destination and a GoPro wall-charger with a dual USB port (can also be used to charge your phone) and has interchangeable AC plugs for all types of wall sockets.
Ricki (VP Media & Advertising Solutions) agrees. “If you’re an adventure traveller you can take images and great video from extreme angles including outside of a car, at the end of a surfboard, from your bike, even underwater,” he said. “I’d recommend the GoPro Black Edition which takes HD quality photos and video, with a variety of dust and waterproof casings and mounts. It can be wireless controlled or via an app.”
Getting around
Chief Flights Officer Dean Wicks racks up thousands of miles a year flying around the world for Wego and uses the Tripit App to keep track of his travel schedule. “It’s actually saved me money when it notified me that I had accidentally booked the same flight twice and I managed to get a refund for the duplicated booking.”
Like a personal travel assistant – Tripit
Graham Hills agrees but recommends upgrading to Tripit Pro which goes further acting as a personal travel assistant providing you with flight delay alerts, cancellations, gate changes direct to your phone. “It also allows you to track your frequent flyer points and share your itineraries through your networks.”
Allister (Manager Affiliate Marketing & Distribution Partnerships) uses a GPS app on his phone loaded with maps so you can always find your way around with ease.
While in agreement with all of the above Chief Marketing Officer Joachim Holte also recommends you carry a small travel towel. “It fits snugly in your hand luggage and you’ll be surprised how many occasions you’ll find a need for it. As they say in the book The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – a towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have.”
Of course before you go anywhere the greatest accessory to any trip will be knowing you found the best airfares and lowest hotel prices at www.wego.com! But you knew that didn’t you?
Feature image courtesy of Jeremy Keith
