Road Trip Gadgets You Need to Be Packing

What do you have planned on your next road trip? If it involves camping, a cross country trip by car, plane or train, or if you just want to drive to the country for a simple get together with the relatives, here is a list of gadgets that you will need to make the journey a pleasurable one.

Don't get lost again

Technology has made various breakthroughs over the last few decades. But nothing beats having a Global Positioning System (GPS) in your pocket. GPS units are now commercially available and can determine your exact location, speed, and direction. With this handy little device, you can plan out your route. Whether you want to take a long and scenic route or make your known shortcuts even shorter, remember to get yourself one of these to help map out your next outdoor adventure.

Business on your lap, in your palm or pocket

So you are going on a road trip but can't afford to leave the office behind? Take your work with you. You actually have three choices. Invest in a laptop, a smart mobile phone or a pocket PC device. One of these devices is sure to keep you computing wherever you find yourself. If you think you might do a little heavy computing, a laptop is definitely the first thing to consider. A pocket pc would be the next big thing in palm computing; but with smart phone technology becoming more advanced you can manage all your calls and documents on one simple device. In any case that you need to bring your work with you, remember to pack one of the three devices (or all three if you have space) before leaving the home or office.

Shoot 'em up...digitally.

One thing you don't want to catch yourself not having when you finally spot that UFO on Highway 65 is a trusty digital camera. The standard resolution for a digital camera these days is up to about 5.0 mega pixels. So anything you spot that is out of the ordinary is something you can easily catch a snapshot of. A simple digital camera will set you back about a couple of hundred dollars but the moments that you will be catching with friends or family will definitely be priceless.

Portable music: Endless partying

With the mp3 music phenomenon taking the world by storm, it isn't any wonder why more people have been developing portable players like pancakes. Take one with you and you will discover why. A simple 2 gig iPod will hold about 500 songs and higher-storage models will ensure that you don't listen to the same song twice during an interstate trip to your grandmothers. The great thing is that you can pocket this one but if you bring around a set of decent speakers as well, those will have to hit the bags. Next time you have those stopovers to have a picnic, make it less boring by bringing an mp3 player stocked with all your favorite songs. It beats listening to the complaints about how far your relatives live.