Forget all the cables: you only need 3 charging gadgets for travel
Forget all the cables: you only need 3 charging gadgets for travel
Keep your devices going no matter what type of port they use—even if you’ve only got AA batteries on hand.
BY Doug Aamoth2
I’m leaving for a trip tomorrow. It should be a joyous, exciting occasion. Unfortunately, I have terrible—nay, debilitating—battery anxiety when traveling.
Yes, phones last all day on a charge now. Usually. But what if mine doesn’t? What if one of my kids doesn’t properly shut down a tablet and leaves the screen on for a couple hours in a backpack?! What if the charger in my airplane seat isn’t working?!! All corner cases, to be sure, but still I fret.
However, I do have a few ways to combat these feelings. And it only takes a few, as in three. So without further ado, here are the three (and only three) battery-bolstering gadgets I bring with me on every single trip.
Multi-charging cable: $12
Forgetting to pack the right charging cables used to be a huge stressor for me. No longer.
Behold this cheap multi-charging cable, which has a USB-C plug on one end and four charging tips on the other: one for an Apple Watch, one for older Android devices (Micro USB), one for USB-C devices, and one for Apple devices that use Lightning, including pre-2024 iPhones.
I’ve bought one of these for each member of my family, and it’s the only cable that needs to go in each person’s respective bag. No more clutter, no more forgotten cables.
Anker wall plug/backup battery: $40
I need something to plug that multi-cable into, of course. For that, I use this very-excellent Anker wall charger.
It sports two USB-C ports to charge multiple gadgets at once, but the pièce de résistance is that while it’s plugged into the wall, it’s also charging up its own internal backup battery.
That means that once we get on the airplane and someone’s gadget inevitably dies, the plug itself holds enough juice to handily charge portable gadgets—including many laptops.
I use it at home to plug my watch and phone in at night, which means it’s itself always charged and ready to go.
Emergency AA/AAA battery charger: $8
If the inevitable should happen—and it’s only happened to me once—then I pull out all the stops with this tiny emergency charger, which takes AA and AAA batteries.
This is for a true emergency: I can tell you firsthand that it’s barely going to move the needle when recharging your phone. We’re talking just enough to maybe make a short call or two and respond to some messages.
But it uses readily available batteries, comes with charging tips for all types of phones, and does the job in a pinch. I bought it, kept it in its packaging so I wouldn’t lose the tips, and hope against hope that I never have to use it again.
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