The Best Travel Tech for Families (2025)

Ah, nan joys of a vacation. A small clip to unwind and put your feet up. Or if you person kids, a chance to get moaned astatine successful a caller clip zone. The nagging kicked disconnected earlier my family near nan airdrome connected our past vacation and didn’t fto up.

“Dad, my net isn’t working.” “Dad, wherever tin I complaint this?” “Dad, what’s nan Wi-Fi password?” “Dad, are we location yet?”

Luckily, this twelvemonth I planned ahead, and you tin excessively pinch our champion recreation tech guideline to a harmonious family vacation. Disclaimer: I'll show you really to support everyone online and afloat charged, but I can't judge work for non-tech-related family arguments.

The Internet

In theory, it would beryllium awesome to time off your phones and tablets down and immerse yourself successful nan picnic acquisition to “live, laugh, love” your measurement astir nan world. In reality, recreation has dull moments and downtime, and teenagers cannot beryllium separated from nan net for long. You tin prevention yourself a batch of problem by ensuring that everyone tin get online.

A Travel Router

My apical extremity is to group up a recreation router before you go. Plug it into your existing router and past link each nan devices you are taking connected vacation, but astir importantly, you, your partner, and your kids’ phones. Now, erstwhile you get astatine your flat aliases hotel, you tin plug in, link nan recreation router to nationalist Wi-Fi, aliases moreover link your telephone to nan router and usage it arsenic a basking spot, truthful everyone is securely connected without needing immoderate login details. Here’s nan 1 I urge successful our Best Wi-Fi Routers guide.

Connecting Smartphones

You should cheque your roaming options based connected wherever you are going, but it’s a safe stake that roaming charges will beryllium a hefty unwelcome other disbursal erstwhile you get home, particularly if you let your kids to link to overseas networks. You person a fewer options to debar this issue.

• Use your telephone arsenic a basking spot: I person definite roaming recreation allowances connected my telephone statement that my woman and kids don't have, truthful it made consciousness to usage my telephone arsenic a basking spot for them to link to erstwhile we were retired and about. Check your statement earlier you do this, but moreover if you don’t person circumstantial benefits, you’ll find it cheaper to get information for 1 instrumentality than more. Here’s how to usage your telephone arsenic a basking spot. It will drain your artillery faster, but I person a extremity for that beneath successful nan charging section. Remember to move disconnected compartment work aliases mobile information connected nan remainder of your family’s phones.
• Buy a Travel SIM aliases eSIM: You tin snag world SIM cards to move into your telephone erstwhile you onshore abroad. This tin beryllium a cost-effective measurement to make judge you person plentifulness of information and tin link to overseas networks, though it does mean utilizing a different number for nan long of your stay. We person a guideline connected how to usage an eSIM for world travel.
• Buy a basking spot: Instead of utilizing your telephone arsenic a basking spot, you could ever snag a purpose-built 1 for everyone to link to. These portable devices request a SIM aliases eSIM and alteration you to link aggregate gadgets via Wi-Fi. Some portable basking spots moreover travel pinch work included. I precocious tested nan fantabulous but pricey Netgear Nighthawk M6 Pro ($800) and nan cheaper but inferior Acer Connect Enduro M3 5G ($356).

Download Ahead of Time

To hole for nan journey, you should download maps successful beforehand and crippled your routes. If you usage Google Maps, you tin pat your floor plan icon astatine nan apical correct (bottom correct if you usage Apple Maps) and take Offline maps to get started. Downloading a representation of nan area you are visiting is simply a bully measurement to prevention information and serves arsenic a backup successful lawsuit location are relationship issues erstwhile you arrive.

If you’re looking for directions successful Google Maps, opportunity for nationalist carrier from nan airdrome to nan hotel, retrieve you tin pat nan Leave drop-down container (Now successful Apple Maps) and prime a time and clip to get nan correct directions for your arrival.

It’s besides a awesome thought to guarantee you and your kids person immoderate intermezo connected your phones earlier you go. Pick a fewer movies aliases episodes of a favourite show and download them nan nighttime before. Here’s how to download videos to watch offline. Some of nan best mobile games tin besides beryllium played offline (I urge Mini Metro).

Entertainment

Speaking of entertainment, you should return immoderate pinch you. At nan extremity of a engaged time sightseeing aliases roller coaster riding, you mightiness want to unwind pinch an hr of TV, and nan novelty of Spanish soap operas aliases French statement shows will deterioration disconnected quickly if you don't speak nan language. I ever battalion our Chromecast, but immoderate of nan picks successful our Best Streaming Devices guide will do. This Roku instrumentality is our favourite and plugs easy into immoderate disposable HDMI port.

Just make judge that you are logged into each your streaming services and that you link them to your recreation router earlier you go. That way, you person each your favourite shows and nan correct adjacent section lined up. If you get blocked by those annoying login screens for edifice Wi-Fi, you tin ever link to Wi-Fi connected your telephone and log in, past usage it arsenic a basking spot for your streaming instrumentality to link to.

Travel Charging

It's important to battalion charging cogwheel erstwhile you travel. You’ll want recreation adapters, charging cables, and powerfulness banks. Make judge you person nan correct adapters for nan state you are visiting, make judge you person a charging cablegram for each instrumentality you are taking, and trial them each retired earlier you time off home. Don’t hide astir your smartwatch, fittingness tracker, aliases smart ring. I besides urge taking astatine slightest 1 spare recreation charger conscionable successful case. I tally done various options successful my Best Travel Adapters guide, but nan apical prime is perfect for family trips.

The apical prime successful our Best USB-C Cables guideline will complaint immoderate instrumentality pinch a USB-C port, but this Nomad cablegram is simply a useful action for folks pinch an Apple Watch.

You tin besides find respective options for different devices successful our Best Portable Chargers guide, but this is nan 1 I urge for travel.

Security

One of our favourite password managers, 1Password, features Travel Mode, enabling you to delete immoderate delicate information from devices earlier you recreation and reconstruct it pinch a click aft you’ve crossed a border. This prevents anyone, including rule enforcement astatine world borders, from accessing your complete password vault. You whitethorn besides beryllium willing successful how to protect yourself from telephone searches astatine nan US border.

If you are staying astatine campsites aliases rented accommodations and person concerns astir anyone rummaging done your stuff, aliases you consciousness there’s a consequence of theft, it mightiness beryllium worthy packing a portable information camera. For Airbnbs and places pinch Wi-Fi, effort a camera from our Best Indoor Security Cameras guide. Our apical prime is compact and affordable.

If you request thing that tin spell outdoors aliases link to a mobile web because there’s nary Wi-Fi, I urge this Arlo camera successful my Best Outdoor Security Cameras guide. But it is costly and requires a compartment work scheme erstwhile Wi-Fi isn’t available.

Bonus Travel Tips

Here are a fewer prize tips that mightiness thief your family travel spell a small much smoothly. Bon voyage!

While it’s ever a bully thought to transportation a small rate conscionable successful lawsuit you tally into a shop aliases work that doesn’t judge cards, you tin besides get integrative that’s wide accepted and enables you to alteration money pinch a mates of taps. I emotion nan Wise card and usage it connected each my trips because it offers instant physics rate speech successful nan app pinch decent rates for galore awesome currencies. You besides get a contactless Visa debit paper you tin usage connected your travels. Remember, it’s usually champion (cheaper) to salary successful nan section rate whenever you get a choice.

Photos and videos tin thief you sphere nan highlights of your picnic to bore your extended family and friends with, but they’re besides bully to person and look backmost connected successful early years. The champion camera is nan 1 you person pinch you, truthful astir apt your phone, but if you want to up your game, see our Best Compact Cameras, Best 360 Cameras, and Best Action Cameras guides.

We ever recreation ray because it intends nary waiting for bags astatine nan airdrome and makes it overmuch easier to hop connected and disconnected buses and trains. Check retired our Best Carry-On Luggage guide for recommendations, but ever cheque nan airline's rules for container size earlier you go. On our past trip, I utilized nan Ekster TravelPack Vacuum Kit ($129) to compress my apparel and compression much in. If you’re staying astatine an Airbnb aliases rented apartment, you tin ever lavation clothes, truthful you don’t request to battalion arsenic much.