{"id":39410,"date":"2015-10-13T13:20:15","date_gmt":"2015-10-13T18:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/?p=39410"},"modified":"2016-12-14T10:44:07","modified_gmt":"2016-12-14T16:44:07","slug":"travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask an Orbitz Expert: How to be a tech-savvy traveler"},"content":{"rendered":"

World traveler and Orbitz Worldwide\u2019s Chief Technology Officer Roger Liew shares tips on how a few clever travel gadgets and tech tools can help you get the most out of your next vacation\u2014without letting it get in the way of it.<\/em><\/p>\n

1. Get a good translator.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s this really cool translation app, iTranslate Voice, that\u2019s easy to use. It has 42 languages\u2014you speak to it in one language and it\u2019ll translate it instantly, repeating your message back in whatever language you\u2019ve selected. And you can get people you meet to talk into it, and it\u2019ll translate for you, so you can have an actual conversation with almost anyone, whether or not you speak their language.<\/p>\n

2. International SIM cards are more complicated than you think.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cSo this is something that should be way simpler than it is. The easiest way to ensure you\u2019re always connected is to buy a SIM here that\u2019s designed for international travel. Tell the sales associate every country you\u2019re planning to visit, in order to ensure that you stay connected. You can also ask for help setting up the SIM\u2014there are often codes you have to plug in to get it to work.”<\/p>\n

3. You don\u2019t need to ask for directions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cSo, as a male, I obviously pride myself on being able to navigate really well without ever asking for directions. But I have to admit there were a couple of times when I was completely turned around, and was rescued by my phone\u2019s compass. It can be a very disturbing feeling to suddenly realize that for the last hour you\u2019ve been going in the completely wrong direction. So even if you think<\/em> you know where you\u2019re going, check that compass, just to be safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

4. Keep an eye on your home remotely.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI have a device in my house called Canary. It\u2019s basically a home security system. It has a camera, and texts me alerts if it detects motion in the house. It also tracks the temperature, air quality and humidity in case of emergencies. It\u2019s kind of cool, too, to see your house in HD when you\u2019re halfway around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

5. Take time out to look at the stars.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMy family likes looking at stars, so the Sky Guide app is a big one for us. It allows you to clearly see the stars and constellations wherever you are, no matter what time of day. And it\u2019s great when you go to places like Hawaii<\/a> or Colorado<\/a> where you don\u2019t have all this light pollution and can really see the stars. It uses GPS, so it\u2019s pretty accurate. And it\u2019s cool because the sky just looks so different on the other side of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

6. Finally, put the phone away.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my team members went to Burning Man<\/a> this year, and before he left he was like, \u201cI can\u2019t be contacted,\u201d which is a fantasy of mine. One of the best things about travel is how it exposes you to other cultures and other ways of life, and you shouldn\u2019t hide from that\u2014certainly not from behind your smartphone screen. Having gone on so many vacations while being fully connected with work, I seem to always want to go somewhere that doesn\u2019t have cell service. I\u2019m thinking for my next vacation, I\u2019ll go to a South Pacific island where thehotel is on stilts, over the water, like in Bali<\/a>. And, yes, it helps that it\u2019s paradise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"discount<\/a><\/p>\n

 \"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All the best gear and gadget recommendations for your next trip.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":157,"featured_media":39411,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":{"api_active":null,"api_title":null,"api_excerpt":null,"api_featured_image":null,"api_lob":null},"posts_api_cpm_point":"","yoast_head":"\nAsk an Orbitz Expert: How to be a tech-savvy traveler | Orbitz<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"World traveler and Orbitz Chief Technology Officer Roger Liew shares some clever travel gadgets and tech recommendations for your next vacation.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ask an Orbitz Expert: How to be a tech-savvy traveler | Orbitz\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"World traveler and Orbitz Chief Technology Officer Roger Liew shares some clever travel gadgets and tech recommendations for your next vacation.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Orbitz\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Orbitz\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-10-13T18:20:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-12-14T16:44:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-tech_orbitz-expert.1265x725.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"820\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"470\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Roger Liew\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@orbitz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@orbitz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Roger Liew\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Roger Liew\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f1fb9fd0aaaf71c6d99710dff8b36214\"},\"headline\":\"Ask an Orbitz Expert: How to be a tech-savvy traveler\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-10-13T18:20:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-12-14T16:44:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/\"},\"wordCount\":608,\"commentCount\":2,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-tech_orbitz-expert.1265x725.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/\",\"name\":\"Ask an Orbitz Expert: How to be a tech-savvy traveler | Orbitz\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-tech_orbitz-expert.1265x725.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-10-13T18:20:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-12-14T16:44:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f1fb9fd0aaaf71c6d99710dff8b36214\"},\"description\":\"World traveler and Orbitz Chief Technology Officer Roger Liew shares some clever travel gadgets and tech recommendations for your next vacation.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-tech_orbitz-expert.1265x725.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-tech_orbitz-expert.1265x725.jpg\",\"width\":1265,\"height\":725,\"caption\":\"Travel gadgets and tech, Orbitz expert\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ask an Orbitz Expert: How to be a tech-savvy traveler\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Orbitz\",\"description\":\"Travel Blog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f1fb9fd0aaaf71c6d99710dff8b36214\",\"name\":\"Roger Liew\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Roger-Liew_Edit-150x150.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Roger-Liew_Edit-150x150.jpeg\",\"caption\":\"Roger Liew\"},\"description\":\"Roger is Chief Technology Officer at Orbitz Worldwide.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/author\/rliew\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ask an Orbitz Expert: How to be a tech-savvy traveler | Orbitz","description":"World traveler and Orbitz Chief Technology Officer Roger Liew shares some clever travel gadgets and tech recommendations for your next vacation.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ask an Orbitz Expert: How to be a tech-savvy traveler | Orbitz","og_description":"World traveler and Orbitz Chief Technology Officer Roger Liew shares some clever travel gadgets and tech recommendations for your next vacation.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/","og_site_name":"Orbitz","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Orbitz\/","article_published_time":"2015-10-13T18:20:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-12-14T16:44:07+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-tech_orbitz-expert.1265x725.jpg","width":820,"height":470,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Roger Liew","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@orbitz","twitter_site":"@orbitz","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Roger Liew","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/"},"author":{"name":"Roger Liew","@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f1fb9fd0aaaf71c6d99710dff8b36214"},"headline":"Ask an Orbitz Expert: How to be a tech-savvy traveler","datePublished":"2015-10-13T18:20:15+00:00","dateModified":"2016-12-14T16:44:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/"},"wordCount":608,"commentCount":2,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-tech_orbitz-expert.1265x725.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/","url":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/","name":"Ask an Orbitz Expert: How to be a tech-savvy traveler | Orbitz","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-tech_orbitz-expert.1265x725.jpg","datePublished":"2015-10-13T18:20:15+00:00","dateModified":"2016-12-14T16:44:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f1fb9fd0aaaf71c6d99710dff8b36214"},"description":"World traveler and Orbitz Chief Technology Officer Roger Liew shares some clever travel gadgets and tech recommendations for your next vacation.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-tech_orbitz-expert.1265x725.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-tech_orbitz-expert.1265x725.jpg","width":1265,"height":725,"caption":"Travel gadgets and tech, Orbitz expert"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-how-to-tech-savvy-traveler\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ask an Orbitz Expert: How to be a tech-savvy traveler"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/","name":"Orbitz","description":"Travel Blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f1fb9fd0aaaf71c6d99710dff8b36214","name":"Roger Liew","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Roger-Liew_Edit-150x150.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Roger-Liew_Edit-150x150.jpeg","caption":"Roger Liew"},"description":"Roger is Chief Technology Officer at Orbitz Worldwide.","url":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/author\/rliew\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/travel-gadgets-and-tech_orbitz-expert.1265x725.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/157"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}