Of all the posts in my Travel Light series, none of them have touched on something we all have to pack, electronics! Some people may call it a day at making sure their cell phone charger is in their bag, but when I travel I generally have my cellphone, a laptop, my camera, lenses, photography accessories, and chargers for all of it. Today I’ve partnered with HP to share my favorite way to pack electronics for travel, especially when traveling light.
Let’s start by saying (I hope it’s obvious by my overwhelming amount of posts about traveling light), that I only travel with a carry on. I have a thing against checking bags that may be lost, misplaced, or stolen, and I don’t like the extra time it takes up when checking in or trying to leave an airport. Even if there were some miracle time where I do have to check a bag, it’s certainly not going to be the bag that has my precious cargo (electronics) in it. On occasion when I am asked to gate check a bag, I happily oblige after removing any precious cargo and placing it in my personal bag.
Cellphone & Battery
In relation to my phone, I usually pack: phone, wall charger (usb cable and plug), car charger if I am renting a car, and an extra battery pack with it’s charging cord. Sometimes I even pack an extra case for my phone, but not always. To help keep my charger cord in line, I use a little cord keeper to help hold it in place. All of these items except the car charger adapter (goes in a cloth zipper bag) will go into my personal item. When I go through security, I be sure to place my phone in the small pocket of my personal item so it isn’t tempted to fall out or be lost. I don’t want the hassle of having to remove it from my pocket or have it laying out exposed in a bin.
Cameras & Accessories
I know some people may travel light with their camera or prefer to use their phone, but I travel with my DSlr everywhere. This means I bring my camera, any spare lenses I may need (I try not to pack more than one extra), battery charger, extra memory cards, and a card reader if need be. I put my camera in my personal item, and bring the spare lens in it’s bag. The charger, memory cards, and card reader go into the cloth zipper bag I mentioned earlier.
Computers & Tablets
As far as computers go, I travel with my laptop. I’ve tried to find other lighter solutions but they have not been able to perform the tasks I need. As far as laptops go, lighter is almost always better. I carry it in a protective sleeve in my personal item, and extra weight makes a difference. I love the new HP Spectre because not only is it absolutely beautiful (carbon and rose gold, yessss), it is 10.4mm tall and weighs only 2.5lbs (thinnest laptop in the world!). With 8gb of ram, it has enough power to handle the editing and work I do while on the go, and a large enough hard drive to support my raw files if I need to transfer them for some reason. The chargers roll up perfect and fit in my cloth zipper bag (there it is again), as well as the matching wireless mouse (I really dislike trackpads for photo editing work).
Headphones
I know these might not seem that important, but I always regret it when I don’t travel with a pair. I love these ones by Frends because they come with a travel pouch, but ear buds will work just as well. Be sure to pick up a cord keeper (or ten) to keep your cords in check. If you’re very sensitive to sound or plan to sleep, I’d find some noise-cancelling ones or stick with a full headset.
In short, I try to only bring what I need for electronics. Often I travel without the headphones simply because I don’t use them often enough to justify the space they take up. What are some of your favorite ways to pack your electronics? I always love to hear what other people do as well.
This post is sponsored by HP, a company I have grown to know and love over the years. Thank you for helping to support the sponsors that make this blog possible.
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