I'm going on a European vacation this summer — here's 10 essential items I'm packing
I have a long-awaited (and long-needed) summer vacation coming up, where I'll be traveling overseas. I don't want to pack too much — got to save room for souvenirs — but being the techie that I am, I can't resist bringing along a few gadgets and some gear.
From chargers and smart glasses to apparel and headphones, here are the 10 things I'm packing for my summer trip.
Oh, and if you can wait, I recommend holding off until Prime Day, as many of these items are likely to go on sale.
As part of my trip involves an overnight overseas flight, I put a premium on noise-cancellation over other features, and Bose's QuietComfort Ultra headphones are the best at what they do. I just want to strap them on my head, put on some movie I may have missed in the theaters, and tune out everything while I'm winging away. While the Bose aren't our favorite headphones overall — their battery life could be longer — we did rate them the best for noise-cancellation, which is my number one priority.
The Bose QC Ultra are at the top of our list of the best noise-cancelling headphones. They're simply the best at blocking out noise, and they're exceedingly comfortable to wear. They're also available in a variety of colors. I suggest waiting for Prime Day to buy these, when they're likely to go on sale.
I'm bringing these open-ear earbuds with me for one specific reason: Anker has added free live AI translation to these buds, and it can interpret more than 100 languages. While I can reasonably get by in France, Italy, and to some degree Spain, Portuguese is like Greek to me.What's nice about Anker's buds is that, when used with the app, they can also translate English to Portuguese, so I can make myself understood as well. Because of their open-ear design, they feel a bit different than the best wireless earbuds. They're not as comfortable to wear when you have sunglasses — but their small charging case means I can keep them tucked in my pocket for when I need them.
The Soundcore Aerofit 2 open-ear headphones feature 20mm × 11.5mm racetrack drivers, up to 10 hours of battery life plus an additional 42 hours in the case. They can translate more than 100 languages, and come in four colors.
As I'll be traveling to a foreign country, I was really interested to see how the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses would work as an interpreter. They can translate English, Spanish, French, and Italian — which unfortunately won't come in handy where I'm going. But, the shades have more functions than that. While their cameras aren't the highest quality, I do like that I can simply ask them to take a photo or video without having to pull my phone out of my pocket.
The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses are far more than just a pair of specs with a camera. Meta AI features give them all the smarts to answer any questions about the world around you. All of this is underpinned by a stellar-looking set of specs that feel great to wear all-day round. Plus, boasting water resistance always helps. Multiple styles are available from $299.
If I'm bringing the Meta Ray Bans, then why am I bringing a second pair of sunglasses? I've been using the Smith Lowdowns for more than a year, and I absolutely love their ChromaPop lenses, which make colors — especially reds — really stand out. It's like someone turned on the Vivid setting in your eyes.
You can get these shades in a variety of colors and finishes, and for this year, the company also launched a pair with photochromatic lenses, so that they'll automatically darken in sunlight. After wearing these, everything else just looks dull.
The Smith Lowdown 2 sunglasses are available in a variety of frames and lenses, and come in three sizes (look for Lowdown Slim and Lowdown XL if you have a smaller or larger head).
You never know when it's going to rain, but neither do you want to pack a bulky jacket that you might not use. Outdoor Research's jacket fits the bill for me. It packs down really small, and is also very light and breathable, so I don't feel icky and sweaty if I get caught in one of those really humid summer rainstorms. I got mine in green, but it's available in a variety of colors and sizes.
The Stratoburst rain jacket is made of 100% recycled materials, weighs just 8.47 ounces, has an adjustable hood, zippered vents under the arms, and can be packed into its left-hand pocket.
It's always important to pack a pair of long pants, even if you're going to a hot climate; you never know when you'll need a pair to go out to a formal dinner, or if you're visiting a holy site that requires you to cover your legs. There's no way I'm bringing a pair of jeans — they're much too heavy — but these Stio Vallis pants are super light and breathable, and pack down into almost nothing. Plus, they have a bunch of pockets, and come in four colors. They're so comfortable, they're the pants I'm planning to wear on the plane.
The Stio Vallis pants are made of 4-way stretch fabric that resists wrinkles and creases, and has a PFAS-free water-resistant finish. The pants have zippered back pockets, weigh 10.6 ounces, and come in blue, green, gray, and coral.
One of the issues when travelling with tech means carrying a lot of cables. The standardization to USB-C is helping, but I still have a variety of cords for my older iPhone, as well as backup 3.5mm audio for my headphones — not to mention my various chargers.
Thule makes a few small travel pouches that make it easy to organize and store all your cables, so they're within easy reach if you're crammed in an airline seat. The Thule Aion is about twice as expensive as the company's other bags, but it includes a detachable RFID-blocking 2-in-1 pouch for your passport and other documents.
Thule's Aio travel organizer is made of 100% recycled waxed canvas, has three small mesh compartments, a zippered pouch, and a removable RFID-safe pouch for all your documents.
I try to avoid checking bags wherever I go, but even for my carry-on suitcase, an Airtag is essential if I have to gate-check a bag, or worse, if it gets lost or stolen. Because I have an iPhone, the AirTags are the best keyfinders for my use case, but others might want to check out the Tile Mate or Samsung Galaxy SmartTag 2.
Save $25 on a 4 pack of Apple's AirTag trackers in this early Prime Day deal. Once you have them, it hopefully means you won't be losing track of your keys, wallet or luggage anytime soon.
I'm lucky enough that the place I'm heading to for vacation has a private pool for me and my family, and the UE Miniroll Bluetooth speaker is just what we need for some water-side tunes. I like that it's compact and waterproof, yet it delivers really good sound for its size, and lasts a while on a charge. It's one of the best Bluetooth speakers around.
The Miniroll is the ultimate musical companion. It's a super small Bluetooth speaker, so it'll fit into a backpack without a problem. It's sturdy too, which will let it survive even the most traumatic of outdoor mishaps. The small but mighty device is a great deal at its original price, but if you can, wait until Prime Day to see if it goes on sale.
As I'll be out touring the sites, taking lots of pictures, and probably using navigation on my iPhone, I know battery life is going to take a hit. Since I don't want to be without a charge, I'm also bringing along the Anker 633 Magnetic battery. It has a capacity of 10,000 mAh, so it should easily keep my iPhone topped off. I also like that it has a small kickstand, so I can keep my phone propped up while charging.
The Anker 633 has a 10,000 mAh battery with a 20W USB-C port, as well as a Magsafe-compatible dock that will work with the iPhone 16/15/14/13/12 series. It's available in black, blue, or white.
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