I love travel. I love pretty much everything about it. From the planning to the mode of transportation to the foreign languages.
But for some people, despite enjoying travel (or maybe they don’t, but do it for their family or work), these aspects of travel bring them stress.
Fortunately, technology has evolved in a way that there are so many ways it can help with travel and heko reduce your stress in that regard.
Travel agents once enjoyed a thriving industry. They helped people plan trips, booked the most affordable (or fastest) travel itineraries, and advised them on essential details such as required documents and visas for entering a country. You can still find travel agents today, but the internet decimated the industry. Suddenly, anyone could research border entry requirements, research trip activities, and find cheap flights online.
We’re seeing a similar disruption today. AI vacation planners create travel itineraries incredibly fast. Smart luggage helps us keep track of our belongings, and language apps help us communicate in foreign lands. Here’s a look at nine ways tech can enhance your next trip.
1. AI Vacation Planners: Personalized Itineraries at Your Fingertips
Need a customized travel itinerary for Thailand, but don’t have the time to put one together yourself? AI vacation planners like Layla and Wonderplan produce personalized travel plans in a few minutes. All you need to do is enter some basic information, such as dates, the number of people traveling, and your interests, and the AI planner creates an itinerary that includes route planning, dining suggestions, and activity recommendations. From there, you can fine-tune the itinerary until it’s perfect for you.
2. Smart Luggage and AirTags: Revolutionizing Travel Convenience
Lost luggage can ruin your trip, even if it only goes missing for a few hours. Luggage trackers, such as Apple AirTags and the SmartTag2, utilize GPS tracking technology to locate your belongings, providing accurate locations to within a few feet.
Smart luggage comes with other features. The Weego Smart Carry-On and Airwheel SE3S both feature USB ports, allowing you to charge your devices on the go. The Airwheel SE3S is rideable, featuring an electric motor that helps you move effortlessly through airports. Smart luggage can also include extras such as built-in digital scales and fingerprint-activated locks.
3. AI-Powered Travel Assistants: Your Digital Concierge
AI vacation planners, such as GuideGeek, are phone apps that you can use anywhere you have a cell signal. GuideGeek and other on-the-go travel planners act like digital tour guides, allowing you to ask questions and receive recommendations in real-time. Taking a walk in Tokyo and want to know which local restaurant you should try? AI travel assistants can tell you that and much more.
4. Smart Packing Solutions: Maximizing Space and Efficiency
Packing cubes may not be the latest tech, but they’re invaluable accessories for anyone who likes a well-organized suitcase. Actually, they’re not invaluable: they’re pretty affordable. Bagail’s 8-piece packing cube set costs less than $24.00 and includes a laundry bag and a shoe bag. With packing cubes, you can divide your luggage contents for quick access when you arrive at your destination.
Packing checked luggage comes with a challenge: going even an ounce over the airline’s weight restrictions means paying an extra, pricey fee. Portable digital luggage scales, like the travel inspira scale, let you quickly check your luggage weight so you can shuffle packed items between suitcases to avoid those pesky overweight fees.
5. Enhanced Connectivity: Ensuring Reliable Internet Access
A dependable internet connection is necessary for accessing travel apps, not only when you’re traveling, but when you’re at home planning your trip. You’ll get the most out of an AI vacation planner if you have a reliable internet provider.
When you travel, try to book hotels with fiber internet. Fiber installations provide faster, more reliable Wi-Fi, which may not seem like a travel essential, but comes in real handy when you want to upload batches of vacation pics and videos to social media!
6. Collaborative Travel Planning: Sharing and Syncing Itineraries
Staying connected and organized is crucial when traveling in a group, especially one where each member has their own interests. If two of you want to go to the Louvre, one wants to go antique shopping, and three more want to take a boat tour of the Seine, you need a way to coordinate and communicate.
Apps like Wanderlog recognize this need, allowing your group to make real-time updates to your itinerary with collaborative editing and online discussion forums.
7. Sustainable Travel Tech: Eco-Friendly Choices
With the popularity of ecotourism, many travelers want to reduce the environmental impact of their wanderings. Bags like the Solgaard Lifepack Backpack help you keep your travels sustainable. Made with recycled ocean-bound plastic, the Lifepack earns extra points for including a solar-powered battery charger, with the option to add a Bluetooth speaker.
8. Virtual Reality (VR) Previews: Exploring Destinations Before Arrival
Not sure you want to stay at a particular hotel, or wondering if you’d enjoy a specific attraction? Many tourist destinations now offer virtual reality previews, so you can check things out in advance and make informed decisions. Many museums, for instance, offer virtual reality (VR) tours. Marriott, Radisson, and Shangri-La hotels also offer VR previews, which are becoming increasingly popular ways to attract visitors.
One (well, two) words of caution here. First, to get the most out of a VR preview, you need a reliable internet connection, so run an internet speed test before you dive in. And second, these things are addictive! It’s quite possible to spend several hours perusing VR tours, so set aside some time for it.
9. Language Translation Devices: Breaking Communication Barriers
Language has long been a barrier to travel. Trying to ask where the bathroom is in another language can be nerve-wracking, to say nothing of trying to shop without being able to ask questions. Portable translation devices, such as Vital Language Earbuds or Pocketalk, aid in understanding local languages. If you prefer to use apps, Google Translate offers a real-time conversation feature.
Travel and Technology Make a Great Team
AI vacation planners, smart luggage, and other tech have transformed how we travel. Travel tech offers convenience, enhances safety, and improves your overall travel experience. So next time you get the travel bug, explore your tech options. Once you use them, you’ll never travel the same way again!
