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Things to Take With You

There are the obvious things to take-

Smartphone and/or tablet

Charging cables for everything with a battery

Protective covers for phone, tablet and laptop

Portable power bank to keep batteries charged

when you don’t have electrical outlets available

Other items to consider

Digital camera

One or more extra SD cards (for digital camera)

or flash drive designed for your smartphone or

tablet (for on-the-fly backup)

Flash drive for iOS or Android smartphones for

photo and video backup

Organizer for packing phone, cables, cameras,

etc.

Kindle or other reader pre-loaded with books

Over-the-ear headphones for air travel

Portable hard drive with wi-fi for backing up

photos, videos en route

More information on the following pages.

Quail Creek Computer Club

Monthly Program Notes

February 21, 2017

Dianne Thomson, Nancy Lammers, and

David Andersen, presenters

Tia Thomson

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Portable External Battery Pack for charging phones, tablets, etc. When your phone’s battery is low and you need to charge it on the go. Can charge up to two phones at a time. Light enough to carry in a pocket or purse. Take charging cables with you. A must-have item when you are on the road.

Organizer—For organizing the tech gear you take with you: Smartphone, tablet, earbuds, charging cables,

lens cleaner, microfiber cloth, power pack, flash drives, etc.

Travel Technology Gear to Consider

International Wall Plug Adapter for use during overseas travel. The adapter shown has four USB ports

for simultaneously charging up to four devices at a time—e.g., laptop, tablet and two smartphones.

Shown: USB Charger Plug Syncwire 34W 4-Port USB Wall Charger

Kindle Reader is lightweight and easy to read in all kinds of light.

Or use the reading apps on your smartphone or tablet. Just be sure to download your books before you

leave home.

Only you know what gear you already have, how much you want to take with you, how many photos and videos you may want to

take, etc. This list includes a few of the items that some travelers will use as well as some things that you may not need. So con-

sider it a list of ideas and suggestions. If you will be buying some new gear, be sure to check reviews and specifications to be sure

what you buy will fit your needs. Good sources of information and reviews may be found on Youtube and Amazon.

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Backpack—Carry your gear more safely and comfortably with a backpack.– cameras, laptops, tablets,

phones. Choose the style that has the kind of storage you prefer, with pockets for things like water and

snacks.

Over-the-ear headphones (wired or wireless). In addition to alleviating crying-baby and airplane noise,

they allow you to privately listen to your music, podcasts, audio books, etc. (Don’t forget the charging

cables for the headphones, if they are wireless.)

External hard drive with wi-fi, 5-in-1 card reader, and power bank. This device would be very useful

at all times, not just when traveling. Backup photos directly from your camera’s SD card, and use the

device also to charge phones on the go. RAVPower Filehub is one such device, and gets good reviews

on Amazon. $32.99.

Flash drive for lightning-connected iPhones and iPads for backing up photos and videos.

Several brands and sizes are available. JetDrive GO 300 is a flash drive made for iPhone,

iPad and iPod with lightning connectors. USB 3.1 connector on one end, lightning on the

other. Sturdy metallic body. Back up photos and videos. Play music and videos directly from the flash drive using the included app. Supports a variety of file formats. Backs up with one touch. App installs when you plug it into your device. Reviews on Amazon 4.0 out of 5 stars; $38.94 for 32GB.

Flash drive for travelers who have both Android and iOS devices. iDrive has USB 3.0 connector with micro-USB for Android phones and tablets on one end, and a lightning connector on the other for newer iPhones and iPads. Several storage sizes available,

including 32GB and 64GB.

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Flight Aware—Free, live flight tracker and flight status from FlightAware This app allows you to track the real-time

flight status and tracking map of any commercial flight worldwide. It can also track general aviation (private, charter,

etc.) in the United States and Canada. Search by aircraft registration, route, airline, flight number, city pair, or airport

code. Tracking data includes complete flight details and full-screen maps with NEXRAD radar overlay. Push

notifications for flight departure/arrival info as well as cancellations, gate changes, delays, and diversions.

Travel App Box—The Swiss Army knife of travel apps. 15 tools for the price of one for all business and leisure trips! Includes

currency converter for over 30 currencies; offline city and area maps; maps of transportation routes; tip calculator;

flight status with info on terminals, gates, etc.; emergency numbers for police, fire & emergency doctors in 146

countries; phrase dictionary in 5 languages, and more.

Mobile Passport—This app speeds you through U.S. Customs and Border Protection at over 20 major U.S. airports and

1 U.S. cruise port. Officially authorized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, MOBILE PASSPORT allows travelers to

submit their passport control and customs declaration information via their iPhone or iPad and bypass the regular line

to enter the United States. This app effectively replaces the traditional blue-and-white paper declaration form required

of all travelers entering the U.S. by air or sea.

Seat Guru—Find low airfares, pick your ideal seat on the plane, and get real-time flight status alerts with the free

SeatGuru® app. We have rolled out redesigned high resolution seat maps with improved seat and amenity information.

The updated seat maps also have a new photos section with seat and cabin pictures from our SeatGuru community.

Air Travel & Out of Country Travel

Auto Travel

Waze is the world's largest community-based traffic and navigation app. Join drivers in your area who share real-time traffic & road info to save time, gas money, and improve daily commuting for all. Just by driving with Waze open, you're already contributing tons of real-time traffic information to your local communi-ty. You can also actively report accidents, police traps and other hazards you see on the road. Get road alerts along your route and find the cheapest gas prices around you shared by the community. Plus, you can add friends, send locations or keep others posted on your arrival time.

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Rest Stops Plus by AllStays—Where is the closest rest stop? Where is the next one in your direction? Or one with wifi or a RV dump? The only app that shows you directional access right on the map! Over 4,000 welcome centers, turn outs, service plazas, scenic vistas and rest areas in the USA and Canada. A detail view lists each rest stops amenities like restrooms, picnic tables, vending machines, pet-friendly, RV dump, handicap accessible, security and even wi-fi.

Bring Fido—Looking for a pet-friendly hotel? How about an awesome dog park, trail or beach? BringFido.com is the world's leading pet travel website and the #1 trusted resource for dog owners looking for the lowdown on the best hotels, attractions, and restaurants that welcome pets. Our app brings the best of the website to your phone, giving you free on-the-go access to pet-friendly information worldwide.

iExit—iExit helps you decide where to take pitstops on US interstates. It uses your device's location to determine where you are on the highway, and then displays upcoming exits in real time. Search upcoming exits for businesses (like

Starbucks, Cracker Barrel, or KOA Campgrounds), amenities (like WiFi, Playground, or Truck Parking), rest stops, hotel deals, and much more.

All Travel

Trip Advisor—This app is free and easy to use. Browse millions of reviews, opinions and candid photos by travelers. Find the best hotel for you, including Travelers' Choice award winners. Explore restaurants and reserve tables online. Discover cool things to do in any destination. Use Near Me Now to discover places near your current location. Get answers to your specific travel questions in the forums. Download maps, reviews, and your saves for over 300 cities worldwide onto your phone for free; avoid using expensive data roaming plans while you travel.

Gas Buddy — With this app you can find the cheapest gas—no matter the type—near you ; find gas stations by

distance or price.; report gas prices to help others find cheap gas; earn points and achievements for reporting gas

prices.

Enter to win $100 in free gas—every day!

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TripIt—Instantly organizes all your travel plans in one place. Simply forward your confirmation emails to plans@tripit.com. TripIt will create a detailed master itinerary for each of your trips in one place that you can access anytime, anywhere. It can import travel plans from your Gmail, Google Apps, Outlook.com or Yahoo! mail inbox. Access your travel plans on any device. You can sync TripIt with your calendar, so your travel plans show up alongside other meetings or events, making it easy to send specific plans, or your entire itinerary, to anyone.

Google Trips—Google Trips makes organizes your essential info in one place and makes it available even offline. Get activity suggestions based on what’s nearby. Travel reservations are automatically gathered from Gmail and organized into individual trips. Each trip contains day plans, things to do, food and drink suggestions, and more. See your flight, hotel, rental car, and restaurant bookings in one place without having to search for them individually. Find out when you’re near popular attractions (and whether they’re open). Every trip contains ideas for things to do, automatically organized into useful categories like Top Spots and Indoors or Outdoors. No Internet? No problem. Google Trips is available offline, so you’ll always have access to your info.

Around Me—This app allows you to quickly find information about your surroundings. The app quickly identifies by category your position and allows you to choose the nearest bank, bar, gas station, hospital, hotel, movie theatre, restaurant, supermarket, taxi. For every listing you can choose to see its location on a map, view the route from your location, add the information to your contact list, and email the information to a friend. The Nearby listing allows you to find information using Wikipedia about what is around you.

Packing Pro $— Create unlimited, 100% user-customizable packing lists. Edit your lists however you wish (add, delete, rename or reorder any category or item). Use any list (sample or your own) as a template for future lists. Sort items by priority, type or item, or by hand. Filter items based on need to buy, person and/or bag. Edit item details (number, weight, value, person, bag & notes). Total your list items, weights & values, by bag, by person & by category. Print your list directly to a printer.

Yelp (Similar to Trip Advisor)—Yelp is your local guide to finding the perfect place to eat, shop, drink, relax and play. Find the newest and hottest restaurants in your area. Make reservations, pick up food and order for delivery, all from your phone. Filter restaurant search results by price, location and more. Search for nearby businesses. Read millions of reviews by the Yelp community. Find great deals offered by local businesses. Filter your search results by neighborhood, distance, rating, price and hours of operation. Look up addresses and phone numbers, call a business or make reservations directly from the app.

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Maps.me—Fre, fast, detailed and entirely offline maps with turn-by-turn navigation for driving, walking or biking anywhere in the world. Directions to points of interest, hiking trails and places missing from other maps. Maps are updated by OpenStreetMap (OSM) contributors daily. OSM is an alternative to Google and Apple Maps. Offline search, GPS navigation. Search through different categories,

e.g. restaurants, cafes, tourist attractions, hotels, ATMs and public transport (metro, bus, etc). Book hotels directly from the app. Save locations and share with friends.

Rome 2Rio—Rome2Rio is a comprehensive global trip planner that helps you get from A to B worldwide. You can enter any town, address or landmark as your destination and Rome2Rio will instantly display flight, train, bus, ferry and driving options with estimated travel times and fares. This app will get you navigating like a pro and probably save you some money at the same time. It allows you to type in any starting point and destination, showing you exactly how to get from Point A to Point B as quickly and economically as possible—train, plane, bus, or bike.

Been—Keep track of countries and US states that you have visited. The app visualizes the visited countries both as a list, along with a ratio for each continent, and as a world map. The list is synced across devices using iCloud. The map can be shared on social networks such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, using the standard iOS sharing functionality. You can add previous travel as well as current and future.

SleepStream—SleepStream 2 is an advanced sleep inducer and relaxation aid. It helps you leave your busy day behind with a rich selection of calming sounds, soothing melodies, effective brainwave programs and beautiful visualizations. SleepStream 2 is perfect for sleep induction, relaxation, power naps, meditation, noise making, concentration. Te app also includes background sounds, calming music, brainwave programs for sleep, meditation and learning.

TripIt Pro—Where TripIt Pro sets itself apart is the way it tracks your plans. By automatically notifying you of travel information—airline delays, connection gates, etc.—via email, text, and/or phone notification, the app quickly becomes essential to traveling. TripIt Pro can advise you of flight changes even before the airline does. Another way the app tracks your travel plans is using their Seat Tracker alert system. Here you can select the type of seat you want for a g iven flight, and if one opens up you are immediately notified. Cost varies from time to time. Check the App Store or Play Store.

Viber is a free messaging and calling app that keeps you connected to anyone in the world through your Internet connection*. It’s the most expressive way to keep in touch with your loved ones and connect with anyone worldwide!

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WhatsApp Messenger is a free messaging app available for iPhone and other smartphones. WhatsApp uses your phone's Internet connection (4G/3G/2G/EDGE or Wi-Fi, as available) to let you message and call friends and family. Switch from SMS to WhatsApp to send and receive messages, calls, photos, videos, and Voice Messages.

Google Voice gives you a free phone number for calling, text messaging and voicemail. It works on smartphones and computers, and syncs across your devices so you can use the app while on the go or at home. You need to have a Google account.