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There are certain pieces of technology that obviously go everywhere with us. My iPhone doesn’t suddenly become “travel tech” because I take it on vacation and the same goes for my iPad and laptop.
But then there’s another category: the gadgets we buy specifically with travel in mind. Maybe it’s a portable charger so your phone doesn’t die halfway through a day of sightseeing, a power strip because hotel rooms never seem to have enough conveniently located outlets or a pair of noise-canceling headphones to make a long flight more peaceful.
I’ve realized, though, that some of my favorite travel gadgets are way too useful to pack away with my suitcase. In fact, quite a few of them have become things I reach for regularly at home.
If you’ve got a drawer or bin filled with travel tech that only sees the light of day when you’re heading to the airport, it might be time to rethink it. Here are 10 ways to put those gadgets to work between trips.
Keep a portable charger within reach around the house
A portable charger is one of those things I would never travel without. Between boarding passes, maps, rideshare apps, photos, texts and everything else we use our phones for on vacation, watching your battery percentage steadily drop when you’re nowhere near an outlet is stressful.
But portable chargers are incredibly convenient at home, too. I keep a couple of the TESSAN portable chargers around my house and they ALWAYS come in handy. Sometimes my husband is already using the charger I wanted. Sometimes the outlet is across the room. And sometimes, frankly, I’m comfortable on the couch and just don’t feel like getting up.
The TESSAN charger has a 10,000mAh battery plus built-in USB-C, Lightning and Micro USB cables, along with USB-A and USB-C outputs, so you don’t have to go hunting for the right cord. It can charge up to five devices simultaneously and has a foldable wall plug for recharging the power bank itself.
It’s one of the easiest examples of a gadget that makes perfect sense in your carry-on but deserves a spot in your living room, bedroom or home office, too.
Turn your travel e-reader into your everyday library
I can’t travel without my Kobo Libra Colour. Having an entire library in one slim device is infinitely more practical than trying to decide how many books I can squeeze into my suitcase.
But my Kobo definitely doesn’t wait around for my next vacation. I use it all the time at home. The Libra Colour has a 7-inch color E Ink display, 32GB of storage and physical page-turn buttons. It’s also waterproof and offers weeks of battery life; Kobo says a charge can last up to 40 days under its specified testing conditions.
Travel may have been what convinced me I needed an e-reader but reading in bed, on the couch or outside at home is what makes it something I use practically every day.
Make hard-to-reach outlets actually useful
Hotel rooms have a special talent for putting outlets in the least convenient places imaginable. That’s why a compact power strip can be such a useful thing to pack: one outlet suddenly becomes a charging hub for phones, tablets, watches and other devices.
The same problem exists at home. I use the TESSAN Power Strip Surge Protector behind our couch, where there’s an outlet that would otherwise be annoying to reach. With the power strip in place, my husband and I can both plug in our phones and laptops without crawling behind the furniture or competing for that one outlet.
This is one of those simple upgrades that you may initially buy to solve a hotel-room problem and then realize solves an equally irritating problem in your own living room.
Give your travel hair tool a permanent spot in your bathroom
Dual-voltage hair tools are especially appealing to frequent international travelers because you don’t want to arrive overseas and discover your favorite styling tool isn’t compatible with the local voltage.
That was the appeal of the L’ANGE HAIR TurboStyle 5-in-1 Air Styler & Hair Dryer for me. It supports 100-240V universal voltage and comes with five styling attachments, including curl barrels, a hair dryer nozzle, smoothing brush, volumizing brush and defining brush.
It has been a game changer for travel but I find myself reaching for it at home, too. It’s lightweight, easy to use and leaves my hair looking and feeling great. At that point, why would I put it away just because I’ve unpacked my suitcase? A great travel hair tool should ideally be a great hair tool, period.
Use AirTags for the things you lose at home, too
I always put Apple AirTags in my luggage when I travel. Being able to keep tabs on a checked bag can provide some much-needed reassurance, especially when you’re making connections or standing at baggage claim wondering whether your suitcase made the journey with you.
But luggage isn’t the only thing worth keeping track of. At home, I put AirTags in things like my purse and wallet. They can also make sense for keys, backpacks and other belongings that seem to disappear exactly when you need to leave the house.
AirTag works with Apple’s Find My network and includes Bluetooth, a built-in speaker and Precision Finding technology; the current model also uses a user-replaceable CR2032 battery.
In other words, don’t wait until your next flight to use yours. You can just as easily lose things once you’re back home so make sure you’re getting the most out of your AirTags.
Turn your hotel-nightstand charging set-up into your home set-up
When I travel, I want everything charging next to the bed. I don’t want my phone across the hotel room, my watch charging in the bathroom and my laptop plugged into the one remaining outlet behind a chair.
The TESSAN Magic 65W Charging Station consolidates all of that, which makes it particularly useful on a hotel nightstand. But the exact same logic applies at home.
The Magic 65 has two AC outlets, two USB-C ports and one USB-A port, along with magnetic wireless phone charging and a detachable watch charger. One USB-C port can deliver up to 65W when used on its own; when multiple charging ports are in use, the available power is shared.
Put it on a home nightstand or desk and suddenly you have one designated place for the devices you charge every day. That’s arguably even more useful when you’re home 300-plus days a year than it is during a weeklong vacation.
Keep a portable fan handy even when you’re not somewhere tropical
A rechargeable portable fan is one of those little gadgets that can feel like an absolute lifesaver on a hot trip. I’ve used them while traveling, at theme parks and anytime I know we’re going to be outside in the heat.
But mine don’t get retired when we get home. I use portable fans around the house all the time, and I’ll sometimes leave one in the car so we have it handy if it turns out to be an unexpectedly hot day, especially when I’m out with the kids.
They’re great for sitting outside, sporting events, theme parks, stuffy rooms or just those moments when one person in the house is hot and everyone else insists the temperature is perfectly fine.
Just remember that rechargeable electronics containing lithium-ion batteries shouldn’t be left sitting in a very hot parked car for extended periods. Keep the fan accessible when you need it but bring it inside when temperatures soar.
Use Your Travel Headphones Beyond the Flight
For me, great noise-canceling headphones are non-negotiable travel gear. They can make a huge difference on a noisy flight, especially when you want to watch something, listen to music or simply tune out the constant hum of the cabin.
But my Apple AirPods Max 2 get plenty of use when there isn’t an airplane anywhere in sight. They’re my favorite headphones for going to the gym, taking a walk or listening to something when I want to block out the distractions around me. And that’s exactly why I don’t think of good noise-canceling headphones as something that should live in a carry-on bag.
If you’ve invested in premium headphones because you travel frequently, get your money’s worth out of them when you’re home.
Bring the vacation soundtrack home
A small portable Bluetooth speaker like the BOSE SoundLink is easy to justify for travel. You can use it in a hotel room, vacation rental, by the pool or outside while you’re relaxing at your destination.
Then bring it home and keep using it. A portable speaker is great for playing music while cooking, sitting outside, entertaining in the backyard or moving from room to room while listening to a podcast. Unlike a speaker that permanently lives on a shelf, a travel-size version can follow you wherever you happen to be.
It’s a simple example of why portability isn’t only useful when you’re hundreds of miles from home. Sometimes it’s useful because you’re moving from the kitchen to the patio.
Bring your travel sleep set-up into your own bedroom
A good sleep mask can be invaluable when you travel, especially on an overnight flight or in a hotel room with curtains that somehow allow a laser beam of sunlight to hit you directly in the face at 6 a.m.
The Manta SOUND Sleep Mask takes the idea a step further by combining a blackout sleep mask with ultra-thin Bluetooth speakers. The speakers are adjustable, the C-shaped eye cups are designed to keep pressure off the eyes and Manta rates the battery for 24 hours even at full volume.
That makes it an obvious travel companion but there’s nothing particularly travel-specific about wanting a dark, quiet and relaxing environment to sleep. At home, you can connect it to your phone and listen to white noise, music, an audiobook or a meditation without wearing traditional headphones or earbuds to bed.
And unlike a standard eye mask that’s easy to mentally categorize as “airplane gear,” this is the kind of travel gadget that can easily become part of your nightly routine.
The best travel tech shouldn’t only be useful when you travel
I love discovering a travel gadget that solves a specific problem: keeping my phone charged, finding my luggage, blocking out airplane noise or dealing with an inconvenient hotel-room outlet.
But I love it even more when I come home and realize that same gadget solves a problem there, too. So before you unload your travel tech into a drawer after your next trip, take another look at what you’re putting away. That portable charger might belong next to the couch. Your hotel charging station could clean up your nightstand. And the headphones you bought to survive a 10-hour flight might turn out to be the ones you reach for every morning at the gym.
The best travel gadgets aren’t necessarily the ones you use on the most trips. They’re the ones that prove useful long after you’ve unpacked.
