When you go on vacation, you always need ways to keep everyone entertained, especially when traveling as a family. Whether you’re in the car, on the beach or walking through a city, there is a variety of gadgets that can enhance your vacation experience. You can make sure everyone is happy while you’re in the car or have fun when you’re out and about. If you want to make your vacation more high-tech, you can take a range of fun gadgets with you on your next trip. Try out these gadgets for plenty of family fun when you go on vacation this year.
Tablets
A tablet can perform so many functions for you while you’re traveling. It’s lighter than a laptop, so it’s easy to carry it around, making it possible to take anywhere. It’s useful in the car or on trains and planes when you might need to give the kids something to do. They can watch TV or movies, or listen to music with it. You can also store important travel information on your tablet, which is less fun but still necessary. In many hotels, you can now hook up your tablet to various hotel services and sometimes connect it to the TV in your room. A tablet such as an iPad is better than a built-in screen in the car, since it is portable and can be updated.
Speakers and Headphones
Music is a great way to keep everyone happy, whether you’re eating dinner or playing in the pool. Having a portable speaker means you can take your music poolside or to the beach. If you’re planning to take it around water, it is worth looking into a waterproof one. Choose a Bluetooth speaker if you want to do away with wires. When you would prefer that not everyone has to listen to something, decent headphones are also useful. Get these with Bluetooth capability too, and there won’t be any wires getting in the way. For travel time, consider something like noise-canceling Beats, so that you can enjoy your own quiet time on the airplane, or kids don’t bother one another in the car.
A Drone
Drones have become pretty popular over the last few years. You can get small ones or large ones, and some have cameras too. They’re great fun to play with wherever you are, for both kids and adults. Pack up a small drone, and it won’t take up much space in your suitcase. If it has a camera, you can use it to explore further than you might be able to on foot. Check out some of the top drones at rchobbyreview.com. Just make sure that you check the laws on flying drones before you use one. There are sometimes issues with flying them in public, and you don’t want to get in trouble.
Mobile Wi-Fi
If you’re a gadget-focused family, you likely enjoy being connected to the internet as much as possible. When you’re in a hotel or staying in a rented property, you can easily make sure you can get online. However, a stable internet connection isn’t always so easy to find. A mobile Wi-Fi hotspot will help you to connect whenever you want to. This is useful for keeping the family entertained with things to watch or maybe music to listen to. It’s also useful for checking out things to do in the area.
A Camera
It wouldn’t be a vacation if you didn’t take a camera along to capture some precious memories. The question is, what kind of camera is best? For quick photos anywhere and anytime, a digital point-and-shoot is easy for anyone to use and not too expensive. If you’re planning to get active, you might want a waterproof camera or an active camera, like a GoPro. Or maybe you want to take some professional and artistic photos with a proper DSLR camera. You could even go old-school with a Polaroid instant camera.
Portable Games
Another way to keep the kids entertained, especially when they’re just sitting around, is to have some portable games on hand. They can play a game to keep their minds and their hands busy in cars or airports. For example, you can try the Sifteo Cubes, which feature several preloaded games. Check them out at wired.com. They’re played by tilting and moving the cubes, and they’re small enough to be super portable. The games are pretty educational too, so you don’t need to worry about rotting your child’s brain. It also means you get to keep your smartphone or tablet to yourself, instead of handing it off to your child’s sticky fingers. You can pay for more games if you want to give them more to do.
Gadgets can help to keep everyone happy while you’re on vacation. Just make sure you don’t spend too long absorbed in your gadgets. Remember to look up every once in a while.
I would love to take a drone on vacation with me. I really need to learn how to fly one so I can start getting some amazing shots!
Hoping for a gopro for my birthday this year, even a drone would be fun. Both would give different views so a toss up. Heck maybe I’ll ask for both!
Getting a waterproof bluetooth speaker is very important in the summer months for us. You’re right, music is very important to some families, and we’re def. one of them. 🙂
Love this list, we have a Drone only because my boyfriend is FAA Commercially Licensed so he can run it for a business or hobby. Being licensed it has opened the doors to so many ways we can capture photos where the hobbiest cannot. That’s probably my favorite gadget on your list 🙂
We love our GoPro that we bought just for vacations. Have used it underwater so many times!