Pre-trip Things to do related to Electronics

Sometimes I use this blog space to keep my list of things to do.  Tonight is one of them, but I hope it will be useful to others who travel, whether new or experienced.

Pre-Trip things to do related to electronics:

1.  Empty the camera's memory card. We want to take a lot of photos, so while our memory card is 4GB, we want to have access to as much space on it as possible.  Plus when we get ready to download our pictures, we won't have to sort through the random pictures of flowers, band banquet, and last day of school photos first.

2.  Charge all electronics that are going on the trip at least two days ahead so that any that aren't used frequently have plenty of time to fully charge.  And top off any that are frequently used the night before.

3.  Download any material needed or wanted for the trip.  This includes travel apps, entertainment apps, games, movies, books for your device(s).  Be sure to have things that aren't dependent on wifi to use, which includes downloading files from the cloud to your device.

4.  Save a copy of any email related to your travel plans, particularly confirmations for hotels, rental cars, flights, and tickets for venues onto your electronic device that you plan to have with you.  Many have the ability to hold email without being connected to wifi, so even if you don't typically use that setting for your email, make an exception.  Or you could take a screenshot of the confirmations so you at least have an image should you need it.

5.  Print any confirmations that are critical to the trip so you can have them handy should you need them.  The electronic version really serves as a back-up.

6.  Make sure chargers aren't left plugged into the wall.  It won't do to get where you're going and not have any way to charge your electronics. 

These pre-trip things to do are also good for preparing for your trip home, especially if you have a long journey ahead.