“During the last few decades, modern technology with radio, TV, air travel and satellites, has woven a network of communication which puts each part of the world into almost instant contact with all the other parts”—David Bohm
I love to travel. Camping, trekking, hiking and exploring the unfamiliar terrains drive me crazy. In the last few years, the way I travel, however, has changed enormously… I used to run after travel agents for my bookings and travel plans until a decade ago. Of late, with the digital revolution, I rely on Trip Advisor and Make My Trip for the entire planning process. There are robos to welcome guests like me at the hotels and guide at airports. Tech developments have completely transformed my travelling style and preferences from generic to a more personalised one.
With Airbnb disrupting the hotel industry, I have had solo female travellers opting to stay at a stranger’s private apartment comfortably. Online reviews, ratings, and the possibility to connect with and know people at distant travel destinations are surreal. Low-cost carriers are another set of winners in the web-dominated travel world. Maps is probably the most frequently used app by travellers for transit at a certain place.
While budget travellers are mostly dependent on the available online tools, luxury travel space gives a whole gamut of gadgets to explore. Many compact, lightweight and powerful versions of cameras, tabs, phones and portable chargers—the most significant being smart travel accessories—are available in the market. Anker and Iceworks are my must-have power banks. With massive 10,000mAh capacity, these support my workload for extended periods successfully.
Anker Portable power bank
For excessive travellers, the saying “Less is More” holds true. I have benefitted so much from it—especially, ever since I chose a smart bag as my travel companion. My smart bag has all the essentials, magical ways to create extra space, an inbuilt GPS tracker, USB charging ports, smart and secure finger-sensing locks, and solar-powered batteries. To top it all, it looks great, and is completely durable.
Iceworks portable charger
Raden A22 is one among my favourite smart bags because in addition to the above-mentioned features, it has an app that, when connected with Bluetooth, can even help you track the bag. Barracuda is another favourite from the list. In addition to being traceable, it comes with a stand that can be opened up to act as a table enabled with charging points.
Security procedures at airports have changed. At various European airports, passengers no longer have to wait in queues during peak hours because the security checking is technologically managed.
Raden A22 smart bag (Image: theweek.co.uk)
There are human scanners that take no longer than three seconds to check one person. These check a person front and back, scanning a complete 360 degrees in almost one tenth of the time taken by an individual staff.
Apple Watch (Image source: www.cleverfiles.com)
Smartwatches are another must-have accessory. Being an ardent Apple user, I always count on my Apple Watch as my backup mechanism.
—Nidhi Arora, executive editor, EFY
