As a guy it is hardwired into my DNA to love all things gadgetry. As such I have ended up with things that were useful and useless. There were however some that were gems and I take these with me on trips. In no particular order.
5. GPS device- in my case a Garmin that I purchased that was refurbished by the factory. There are many different brands (Magellan, Tom Tom, etc), types, and colors. You see I get lost easily in a new area. My wife also gets lost fairly easy. If you have two people get lost in a large city like Los Angeles then the stress is augmented and the arguments start. This isn't conducive to a relaxing vacation and things from the past can be drug up from obscurity causing an unpleasant vacation to be had. Take my advice, just get one.
4. World travel clock - I was looking around an Eddie Bower outlet store and found a very cool alarm clock that had a nob that you turn to change the timezone you were in. It was very handy when my wife went to Ethiopia because she didn't have to do any math to figure out what time it was. Plus it has a LED flashlight for those late night trips to the bathroom. I know what you are saying "my cell phone can do most of that". True, but your cell phone needs to be plugged in and some countries electricity is sketchy, my clock takes AA batteries and has never let me down.
3. Portable video player - This is a lifesaver on a long flight (or a short one if you are a toddler). We used this and Pixar movies (with a few Thomas the Tank Engine) to keep our 2 year old from making us and everyone else on the plane crazy. Plus when he went to sleep we could watch movies or our Netflix that we brought and mailed back from Hawaii. Tip is to find one with a super long battery life (Sony makes a nice one)
2. E readers - This will make a few of my friends mad because they are traditional book people. Let me say I love, love, love books. My wife and I have many shelves full. I just don't like the ideal of lugging them all over airports, cruise terminals, and the globe. While I do not own one of these myself, I have seen them in stores. I like the E-Ink on the Kindle ( haven't seen anything about the Fire), heard good things about the Sony and Nook if you like checking out books from the library. While they will never take the place of books they are better than back surgery from lugging the new Stephen King around.
1. Smart phones - I will admit I am addicted to my smart phone. I am not rude, I do not talk on it while checking out at the grocery store, and I do not drive playing Angry Birds. That being said it is great to be able to surf the web for the closest movie theater in Kauai, while simultaneously sending an email of you on the beach to your coworkers. My wife was in Ethiopia, and sounded like she was calling from Seattle. If you travel globally you want to make sure that your phone is a global phone and quad band. Also you will want to have your server unlock your phone or temporarily put the global plan in effect (it can save you $$).
There you go. My list of travel tech. For those who know me they may say "what no Digital Camera?" to which I respond " that is with me everywhere I go, it is a given"
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