The Best Power Bank, Portable Charger and USB Charger for Travel to the US - Travel Tech

There are ways to keep your travel tech and tech gadgets charged up in the USA that are better than others, as I’ve discovered on many visits. You know, of course that the USA doesn’t use the same plugs that we do in the UK (or in the EU for that matter) and you most likely also know that the voltage is different - so don’t try taking your UK hairdryer, because it won’t work unless it has dual voltage.  But if you’ve ever wondered how to easily keep your tech fully charged, not to mention why your US adaptors keep falling out of the wall, read on……

Where tech is concerned, your laptop or tablet, smartphone and portable charger, these will all work in the US and you can charge them using a US wall plug.  There are two types of US wall plug, 2 pin and grounded 3 pin.  I’ve found that the 3 pin wall plug is much more stable, particularly if you’re trying to charge a laptop with the charging block and plug in one unit.


This UK to grounded US wall plug and extender cable is much lighter than you’d expect, and is extremely useful if you have two items you want to charge/plug in at the same time.

Both single UK and EU plugs will happily plug in to these and you’ll find the wall connection so much more stable than the usual 2 pin adapter.  Order these for your arrival in the US or have them shipped to you in the UK.  A pain I know but these are soooo much better than the normal adapters you can buy at the airport.

This one again you’ll need to either order from Amazon in the US, or ship it to yourself in the UK, or preferably have it shipped to wherever you’ll be first staying in the US.  With 2 USB ports plus a grounded wall connection this charger sits flat on the wall.  It’ll let you plug in 2 USB cables directly and it won’t fall out of the wall.

Renting a car in the US or anywhere else for that matter?  I never travel without one of these.  Make sure you buy one with 2 USB ports of you’ll be fighting to charge your phone first

Another obvious essential is a portable travel charger for when you're on the move - and not travelling by car - this one by Belkin comes in three levels of power.  Be aware that it may be attractive to buy the most powerful but the more power you go for the heavier your battery will be.  I take a 5K portable charger with me everywhere.

The 10K and 15K version of this Belkin portable charger also have dual USB ports.  Silver and black are also available if you don't fancy the rose gold.

Finally a multi use charging cable which will allow you to charge up your phone whichever make you have with lightening, micro usb and type C usb connectors.

One reminder - make sure when you're on the move that whatever you've plugged into the wall gets to go with you .......

10 of the Best Tech Gadgets and Essentials for Travellers

Because we all take our tech with us everywhere, and want to be charged up, listening to music, watching a movie on the train, find directions at any given moment here is my list of tech gadgets and essentials you’re never going to want to be without particularly when you’re on the move.



Lightweight Laptop
The latest laptops are lighter than ever thanks to improved design and SSD - even if you don’t want to fork out for a Surface Pro or MacBook Air.  If you’re looking around choose something like Lenovo’s Ideapad which is very fast, light and slim and extremely easy to take around with you.

I like a laptop that’s ultra portable without having a ridiculously small screen.  I also like the way this one looks.




Portable Phone or Charger
I know, I go on and on about these, but no one should travel without one, glamorous or otherwise.  My most useful and also lightweight battery charger is Belkin’s Pocket Power Portable Charger.  It comes in silver, rose gold and black and has enough oomph to keep you charged up all day.


Michael Michael Kors Bracelet Smartwatch
If you’re a smartwatch kind of girl but also like the look of your ‘watch as jewellery’ then a smartwatch by Michael Michael Kors is probably going to be your answer for the moment.  Powered by Michael Kors’ Access app, this is designed to work with both Android and iPhone and being battery powered it doesn’t need charging.  It has a built in activity tracker, can call your phone for you, take photos and more. 

This is a Hybrid watch which doesn’t look at all like a smart watch and doesn’t have all the functionality you might want - if you want another choice that still looks like a watch but has more of the tech functionality you might want then check out Michael Michael Kors Sophie Bracelet Smartwatch



Fitness Tracker
If you don’t want to go down the whole smartwatch route but want to continue wearing your favourite watch (or watches) then Fitbit Alta HR Fitness Tracker is one you should consider, and the one I’ll be moving to when my Fitbit One gives up.

I quite like knowing what my hear rate is when in the gym or on a hill walk, but it’s not essential, and there is a version of this sleek fitness tracker without.  I also like knowing how many ‘floors’ I’ve climbed when walking up a hill, because far more useful than just steps, it’s a picture of how much cardio you’ve really done, rather than just walking around the stores at a leisurely pace and thinking you’re getting the activity benefit.  You are, but in a much smaller way.




Bose Wireless Headphones
Having bought these Bose Noise Cancelling headphones a few years back (the wired version) I can only say that I wouldn’t go on any long trip without them.  They’re an investment, but when you think of the number of pairs of inferior headphones you’ve bought and got fed up with these are worth every penny.

They’re brilliant for cutting out noise everywhere, and they come with a really good hard slim case and two charging cables, one to charge them up, and the other to use them wired when you’re in flight.  Once you’ve tried these you won’t want anything else.


Mini Bluetooth Speaker
There are lots of mini bluetooth speakers on the market but these by Mayhem not only look good but they’ll make a lot of sound, when you want to share what you’re listening for so pop one in your bag and everyone can listen.  Just keep them charged using the micro USB cable and you’ll get hours of sound.


Lightweight Travel Tote with Suitcase Handle Sleeve
Whether you’re travelling by train or plane this bag becomes indispensable as soon as you start to use it.  I use mine wherever I go, to put my tablet in, mini handbag in and anything else I want to be instantly accessible when I’m travelling and my carry-on is stuffed in an overhead bin or Eurostar luggage rack.

The best thing about these bags, is not just that they’re light and elegant, but that all important luggage sleeve slips over the handles of your wheelie when you’re moving around.  My favourite brand is without a doubt Lipault Paris, which you can now happily find at House of Fraser, online at least.  You can also find Lipault at Selfridges.



Smart Carry-on Suitcase
This smart carry on suitcase by Horizon Studios really is smart, as it has a removable 10,000 mAh charger accessible from the case itself or removed for portable travel.  Most suitcases now have a TSA lock, but it’s the charger and the built in USB ports which make it unique.  Watch out for more ‘smart’ luggage, but for now this sets the standard, and it’s less expensive than other premium hard sided carry on bags.


Smart Luggage Tag
This is another travel tech area that is going to be developed much further, but for the moment, from some smart suitcases having built in GPS to the much cheaper option of the smart GPS enabled luggage tag this is your best bet.

Dynotag do two versions, an aluminium smart bag recovery tag for your hand luggage such as carry-on bags and wheelies, and the steel smart recovery tag above, which is designed for your check-in bag. 



Digital Luggage Scale
Having turned up at Albuquerque a few years back with a bag just slightly overweight and had to fork out about $100 I never travel anywhere without these digital luggage scales.  Not glamorous? maybe, Essential?  Definitely

20 of the Best Tech Gifts this Christmas

It’s not hard to think of someone who loves tech gifts and gadgets - armed with our smartphones, laptops, Kindles and iPads who doesn’t enjoy adding to the experience with a bit of new tech.

One of the problems is that there is so much choice, and so many gadgets that no one is actually going to use, so better to think hard and buy something both useful and clever.

These are some of my favourites, from the portable charger that I would never be without to Bose Noise Cancelling headphones to Fitbit activity trackers.  Someone near you would surely love one of those.

When you want a clever tech gift that doesn’t break the bank consider Joby’s mini tripod designed for smartphones, Mudder’s dimmable USB reading light and the new Tile trackers which will find your keys, your laptop or your phone in a couple of seconds.  Take your pick.

The smartwatch you may actually take off your Rolex for

All this business about smartwatches leaves me cold.  I love my watch and I’m not going to exchange it for a piece of tech, no matter how clever, how shiny and new, any time soon.  It’s the reason that I wear a Fitbit One, which can be discreetly tucked away and access the data on my iPhone rather than a coloured fitness tracker band on my wrist.

As someone who is addicted to tech and gadgets and likes to be ahead of the curve I find this disappointing.  I would quite like to fall in love with a smartwatch, it could be fun, interesting, and tell the time, and do all the other things that smartwatches are supposed to do.  But swap my ‘watch as jewellery’ - which let’s face it is how so many of us wear our watches - for something less than attractive and watch-like? No fear. 

I am sure there are lots of much younger techie people who will take up the latest Sony smartwatch, the LG R (which is nice looking but very masculine and for Android only) or the Motorola Moto (ditto).

Then of course we come to the Apple Watch which everyone is holding their breath for.  The latest version of iOS has kindly uploaded an icon for Apple Watch onto my iPhone screen…..just in case, but I don’t like oblong watches (unless they’re Cartier) so this one won’t be for me either, despite all the things it can do.  And this again is disappointing from an Apple fan.

Then, finally, someone creates a smartwatch that is both fashionable and functional, with bling if you want it.  And yes, it’s attractive, and it would speak to my iPhone (or an Android device).  It’s definitely quite bulky, but if you like a larger watch that doesn’t look like a brick, but that looks like……a watch but has added benefits, then this may well be the watch for you.

Guess have partnered with Martian to produce their first smartwatch which will be called Guess Connect and should be released in the fourth quarter of this year.  Martian have already produced the reasonably priced Notifier smartwatch, recognising that we want watches that look like watches rather than like gadgets or bricks, if we’re going to wear them often, and the Guess Connect has been intelligently designed around one of Guess’s best selling watches.

I suppose it’s inevitable that it’s taken a fashion brand married to a tech brand to create something that non fashion-victim/tech-victim people would want to wear.  Letting the geeks into the design house without fashion and style in mind can only be a mistake and alienate a major percentage of the audience. 

Hopefully this is just the start, and there will be more wearable smartwatches that the luxury and fashion loving customer might just consider taking off their Rolex for.  Soon.

Keeping Warm - Uniqlo HeatTech

If you’ve read any of my posts from last winter you’ll know that I’m one of those people who seriously feels the cold, most likely because after the rush of running my dogs round the garden each morning I spend most of my time when not in London sitting at this desk working. I live in a barn of a house which, when the kids aren’t home (most of the time now) is far too expensive to heat and so I freeze. And oh yes I froze last winter.

Having missed out on Uniqlo’s HeatTech turtle-necks last year in the colours I would have worn (you know, black, brown, charcoal) I got my order in early this time. I knew the moment I unwrapped it that my black (!) HeatTech turtle neck top would be worn most of the time this winter (and thank goodness I ordered two). It is wonderfully soft, gorgeously stretchy, the neck fits perfectly and most importantly I am sitting here beautifully warm.

Now you may say to me hang on, it’s only October 1st, and we have a long way to go before it gets really cold and of course you’re right, but I have confidence in Uniqlo’s heat retention technology and of course I will let you know. For now this is bliss. I’m already ordering for the daughter at uni in Edinburgh - she is definitely going to need these.

I’m happy to see that the new +J collection will be in at Uniqlo on October 14th, it was brilliant last year and I’ll be interested to see it again. I will confess that I don’t like the Uniqlo stores, but then I don’t like any of that kind of ‘pile it high’ store. Buying online from the new website however is a breeze.

And by the way, while ordering the daughter's top I have noticed that some of the colours and sizes have already sold out, so get ordering now. You don't want to have to schlep to the store now, do you?

Michael Kors vs Apple Watch-the Best New Smartwatches for Glamour Girls

The best smartwatch for any girl who’s still attached to her ‘watch as jewellery’, as I am, has to be one that looks more or less like a watch but operates as a smartwatch.  And there have been - and still are - far too few of those although new smartwatches are appearing from Fossil, Emporio Armani, and new top of the range smartwatches from Frederique Constant and Tag Heuer although the latter are still very masculine.

Take a look at most of the smartwatches on offer and they’re either obviously a piece of tech, or they’re too masculine in style and I don’t go for either, although the Apple Watch  in its new iteration with its proliferation of colourful straps and watch faces is almost there for me and I never thought I’d say that. 


Guess was one of the first brands to launch, with Guess Connect, a smartwatch which actually looks like a regular watch and is clever with it and I’ve liked it from the start.  As far as the reviews are concerned it’s more watch than smartwatch but it’s still well worth looking at.

Michael Kors reinvented the smartwatch for girls who want the tech and the glamour to go hand in hand without breaking the bank.  So you can have your fitness tracking, notifications and alerts, plus a changeable watch face, at a reasonable price.  This will not be, again, the smartwatch at its very tech best, but frankly if I was in the market for one right now this is almost certainly the watch I would go for.

Apple has five times the share of the market of other smart watches, which makes the rest, quite frankly, also-rans, however as I’ve already said, if you don’t want that tech look (or you’re not into Apple) you’ll either stick to your existing watch or go for one of the other smartwatches here.

If I were considering giving a smart watch to someone as a gift I would need to know which they were likely to love, and make sure that they could change it if they wanted to.  After all, no matter how much you love leopard print they might not want to wear it on their wrist year round.  Guess Connect’s leopard print watch with sparkles is a fun watch, nevertheless…..

By the way, if you search for ‘the best smartwatches of 2018’ inevitably most of them will be firstly designed to be fitness trackers and secondly watches - but we’re talking about watches as jewellery here, after all.