Avoiding chord chaos during travel with electronics (and of course, kids)
For the organizationally impaired (like me), travel with electronics can add an extra element of stress and fatigue you probably don’t need on top of remembering and being responsible for everything else you pack for yourself and your young children.
So you can imagine why I used to enjoy traveling “unplugged” with little more than a camera and spiral notebook (sigh). However, for assorted reasons, this most recent trip to Europe found us traveling with a record number of electronics. Two laptops, iPod touch, monster digital camera, and two smartphones that double as high-res cameras.
While it’s hard not to feel like a mobile RadioShack when clearing airport security, I have to say we used ALL of these gadgets during this trip, and when stuck on a 10-hour flight with unsuitable programming for kids on shared TVs throughout the aircraft, I was especially glad to have them.
Packing any electronics, and all of the necessary cables, charging cords and converters to go with them used to feel like a hopeless proposition for me, but with the help of a few small Velcro bands, a little masking tape and a permanent marker, I feel much more confident about setting up my mobile office anywhere in my house or around the world.
With ALL my possible cords bound together, and each end neatly labeled for its corresponding device, I know if I’m packed and prepared to set up, recharge, and use these gadgets that after all were created for convenience. A similar bundle of recharging cords that plug into the wall instead of the computer (with travel adaptor if needed) goes in the other pocket of the laptop case.
How many gadgets travel with you these days? Have you found a way to simplify travels with your electronics and kids? Please share a comment below!
Previous post: My recommended Paris airport shuttle with car seats and boosters?
Safe journeys,
Author of the award-winning Travels with Baby and Take-Along Travels with Baby