Glad to see Packing Pro getting some love. Not elegant design (and there are a few things that could be altered) but absolutely indispensable for me (I go international at the very least 4x per year, and many domestic flights too; half a million miles, 79 cities 20 countries).
GOES is well worth it. NO taking off shoes, NO taking out computer. Don’t even have to take off a jacket (though a phone or whatever should be run through the x-ray of death scanner).
TripIt is also super useful. You just send them your confirmation email from the airline and they format the data for your app. That’s also where I got the travel-stats I cited above. Fun!
Rather than mess with the provided outlets, I just carry an Anker power bank. It’ll charge up my iPad, iPhone, iPods and anything else for even a 20 hour trip.
I do the same with electronics: I have an Anker charger that has AC and USB outlets on it, along with all the cords for my phone, laptop, iPad, watch, etc. When I travel internationally, I add a foreign plug adapter. It’s all in a bag, always ready to go, so when I travel, I just bring the devices and I don’t have to worry about cords or charging bricks. So much less stressful it’s worth the duplication expense. (And one time of having to buy an emergency replacement overpriced cord or charger at an airport or strange city will actually cost you more.)
I did have to replace my old charger when Apple switched to USB-C, but now it’s nice that a single USB-C cord will charge almost everything.
If @ace doesn’t mind and since it’s trending in that way already, what are everyone’s best travel tips? Not necessarily tech related. To the ones I mentioned above, I’ll add that unless it’s incredibly hot out, I try to wear a jacket that gives a bit of warmth and has lots of pockets. Planes/airports can be uncomfortably cold even in summer, and you’re always taking/getting handed/acquiring things that you have to put somewhere quickly. Good pockets are underrated.
If you are flying on a plane that can take a 3-pronged UK adapter, you can use a universal charger. The third prong (usually plastic on an adapter) stabilizes it in the outlet.
Like another response…I have a travel cords bag so I don’t have to pull the normal ones from the recliner. It’s got more than I need so I just pull what I or we need for this trip. The bag Lao has password wallets, travel scale, scoops and cable ties for whatever, and I just pull out what is needed.
The other big help is a standard trip prep list we developed over the years and keep in Notes…it gets duplicated for each trip and includes everything from week before to day before to clothes, electronics, camera gear, food if we are taking it, tickets, reservations and a reminder to put the garbage out…not everything is applicable to every trip but the latter has every possible item and after duplication the not this trip stuff gets deleted from the specific list. We started this idea back when we lived full time in the RV to ensure we didn’t forget anything vital or not…and when we find something new it gets added to the master list. Having a checklist prevents a lot of did I pack that questions. Items like clothes include everything from stockings to jewelry and hair scrunchies…down to bathing suits and assorted shoe types…because it’s easy to forget something vital. Those things are mostly easily replaced while on the trip…but then you end up with 2 of them.
And we use an always do it this way thing…for instance every time we leave the house we say door down to each other to verify the garage door is really closed after backing out…I learned in the Navy that standard procedures and always the same order and the same words makes muscle memory a lot simpler.
Ha! I go the opposite and just wear a windbreaker that can be scrunched up and stuffed into my bag in virtually no space when I don’t need it. But then I run hot and I hate having to take off a coat at an airport or on a plane and then have to carry it.
Last month I had a week in Paris with stops in London and Germany and other than two instances of rain – both just a few minutes long – and one evening where it was a bit chilly, I was fine with the windbreaker. It has a hood which helped with the rain. I walked about 8 miles a day in Paris and London and was plenty warm most of the time. I did take the windbreaker off on the plane home and I was glad I could. The Frankfurt airport had me walking so far and going through so many crowded lines I got very hot.
COVID is now considered endemic like influenza, so yes we are “post-pandemic”. Just get your annual covid shot when you get your annual flu shot; supposedly both annual vaccines will soon be combined into one shot.
Probably not. It’s nice that Packing Pro has a pre-built database of stuff you’re likely to pack, but that’s minor. Any checklist-like app would also work, as long as you can easily replicate one trip for the next.
Same here. I usually take off my coat and shove it into my checked bag after I get to the airport.
Which works great, except for one trip to Europe, where the destination airport didn’t use a Jetway for deplaning. I had to walk down the flight of stairs and about 100m to the building (and the line was moving rather slowly for some reason) in freezing cold weather - with my coat in my checked bag.
Just a comment on anTSA item: When my wife and I signed up for TSA PreCheck, way back in 2018(!) the in-person part of the signup was done at a contractor’s office. It was some sort of security business that had a contract with TSA. Not far from home here in the sticks of Dover, DE. (Yeah, capital of the first state but still in “the sticks” ) We just made an appointment as part of the online sign-up page. Pretty convenient.
I guess things have changed since then. I did see where you could now do it at airports or major businesses like Staples but I just assumed that was in addition to…
Anyway, maybe it’s still an option but not obvious. BTW, renewing, was completely online - no in-person required.
Less than two years ago, my wife and I signed up for TSA PreCheck and they directed us to a local business a few miles away for the in-person verification. IIRC it was an independent insurance agency office that also did Live Scan and took passport photos and the like.
My wife and I just got our TSA PreCheck KTNs in March. Based on the TSA website, there are apparently 3 private companies issuing them: CLEAR, IDEMIA, and TELOS. The fees vary slightly and IDEMIA has 620 locations, TELOS has 28, and CLEAR has 6 locations. We were referred to a AAA Northeast office near us, although there were also Staples and others near us (Long Island, NY). We got our numbers within about 2 business days for about $70.
if my wife and I are traveling together with checked luggage (almost always), in addition to having some clothes in my carry-on, we usually cross-pack a day or two worth of necessary items. After having my luggage lost on a trip (our first flight was late and our connecting flight was closing doors in 7 minutes after we de-planed), and my wife’s miraculously made it to the second flight, it took three days for my bag to reach me.
I mentioned it earlier - all of my travel plans are in the app/web site tripit.com.
In addition, for our travel together, I have a lot of that data replicated in Notes in a shared folder in the Notes app so that we can both see info in case TripIt isn’t working, one of our phones is lost, etc.
Like Adam’s article, I have a checklist in the Reminders app (but now I will take a look PackingPro) with all of the items I need to do before I leave (not just packing.) This includes things like notifying credit card companies of travel plans (less necessary these days I am finding), making sure that we have the proper interntional roaming plan set up (if we are leaving the country), putting mail and the newspaper on hold, downloading local copies of non-controversial movies or TV shows to my iPad to watch (nothing violent or with sex/nudity) - but mostly it is things to pack.
And like in Adam’s article, I use Flighty Pro to watch flight information. I turn on the subscription before we leave and let it expire after we are home, so it’ll just be active for a month at a time. It automatically grabs info from TripIt, too, so flights are just there. (Just to note that I used to use an app called App In The Air; I should really look at that again.)
And, yes, AirTags in everything basically not attached to my body (luggage, backpack or messenger bag). And when I get to the place I am staying I mark it as a place not to remind me that I have left items behind.
Much of my clothing is designed to be worn multiple times without laundering - merino wool shirts, undershirts made from tech material designed not to stink and/or absorb many stains, etc. Plus I have a lot of trousers/shorts from a company called Bluffworks with multiple hidden, zippered pockets, to make it harder for my wallet and phone to be pickpocketed. I also carry a small pretend-wallet with just a little cash and a piece of plastic that looks like a credit card that if it gets pickpocketed I won’t be too worried about losing.
I don’t have pre-check of global entry, though, because, frankly, I am one of those people who gets to the airport long before it’s probably necessary and long lines just don’t bother me all that much, and the last few times I have come home from international flights I’ve had to wait no longer than about 5 minutes at immigration, and I am either returning to my home airport, or I have a decently long layover wherever I clear immigration. I do have sneakers that I can easily remove and put back on without tying/untying laces, and while I am in line all of my small pocket items are going in to my backpack (Apple Watch, phone, coins, wallet; keys are already there.)
For several major trips overseas now I’ve made PDFs of all my critical info documents (airline, accommodation reservations, medical and health stuff, insurance, etc.) and keep them in a folder in Notes “On My iPhone” as well as having access to them via iCloud folders.
Great tips from everyone, especially for Packing Pro. These are some of my current practices:
I ‘inventorise’ my travel gear in an Excel file with volume, weight and price information, organised by functions (e.g. clothing, tech gear). I add the ‘container’ information in one column so I know where the item should be stored, and what items should be in each container (e.g. a pouch).
I keep copies of travel documents, itinerary etc. in a DEVONThink group and label them so they are displayed in the desired sequence. I create one group for every trip, and use replicants for some documents e.g. passport scans so I only need to keep one original copy in the database.
I tend to minimise the use of electronic devices when moving from one place to another (e.g. on a train or flight), and I usually switch the devices to flight mode once I no longer need to use the phone for check in or looking up information.
Consequently, my phone can usually last one charge even for a long flight, such as the 30+ hour journey from Singapore to Atlanta via London (with a 11-hour transit and walk around London). I have to charge my Apple Watch, though, and usually I use the Mac or a battery pack to do so.
The Apple Watch charger charges AirPods case well, though probably far from being as efficient as using a cable.
I carry a light pouch with me (such as this one; a thicker plastic bag works just as well) which I store my wallet, phone and watch before going through security. I usually keep some water treatment tablets in the pouch as well, just in case. When the pouch is not in use, it folds down to nothing and disappears until I need to use it again.
I have heard of many horror stories about security lines and screening, though thankfully I have yet to have a personal experience myself. I think being polite, considerate and efficient helps; being the one who scrambles to remove belt and retrieves laptops at the security line is not helpful. I guess dressing up a little helps as well, especially to countries where the norms are conservative.