My Dream Vacation and Must-Have Travel Gadgets | #HTCOne #TroopOneX

If I am without my smartphone for just an hour I get a little anxious.  Don’t you?  I suppose that’s considered an addiction but I could be addicted to far worse things than my favorite gadgets.   That being said, I make sure that I have all of my gadget gear including my phone on my “tech packing list” well before packing for a trip.

blogger travel gadgetsWhat’s on my tech packing list?

1. HTC OneX+
2. External battery charger
3. A/C Charger
4. Regular length USB Cable
5. 10 foot USB Cable (like this one, for times when an outlet is not close)
6. Earphones
7. iPad – for watching movies on flight
8. MacBook
9. Charging Station

Before a trip, especially a blogger trip, I make sure that I move my most frequently used travel related apps to my HTC One X+ homescreen.  Some of my most used apps during travel are Delta for checking flight status, Foursquare for checking in, Pandora for music, Yelp for local restaurant reviews, Hootsuite for Twitter & Facebook updates, Instagram for fun photos, Google Maps for directions, Camera for taking photos, Skype for video chatting with family, and WordPress for blogging.

I mostly use my phone as my camera when I’m on trips.  I take a camera but chances are I’m going to snap the best and most candid photos with my smartphone, not my camera, because my phone is easier to get to.  And, it’s easy to share photos I’ve taken with my HTC One X+ with friends and family, and my social networks, in a snap!

On to my dream vacation

I stayed at Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa in San Diego California a couple of years ago for a media trip with Honda and have wanted to go back, with my husband, since.  While I have a few favorite places right here in Georgia that we travel to often for vacation, I would love for my husband and I to go on a vacation.. sans kids, sometime.  In the 14 years that we’ve been married, we have been on one (mini) vacation without the kids and that was a media trip for a cruise line about 5 years ago.  Hardly a vacation.

If I plan an amazing vacation my husband can’t say no, right?  Did you know that you can plan a vacation right from your smartphone?  There are tons of Android apps that will help you plan your dream vacation from flights, to hotels, to restaurants, and playgrounds!

The 2 top apps I used to plan my dream vacation

First, I checked the Delta app on my phone to see how much a flight to San Diego would cost.

Delta Android App

Then I searched for Estancia La Jolla using Expedia, Yelp, Kayak, and YP apps where I read reviews and got details about the hotel & spa and even checked room availability.  I was very happy to find that Estancia La Jolla gets rave reviews!

Estancia La Jolla

It looks amazing, doesn’t it?

I don’t think my husband will argue about my dream vacation destination.  I would love for the 4 of us to travel overseas to Italy, France, and Ireland but I can’t imagine finding the time anytime soon. I’ll keep you updated if that changes.

You can plan your dream vacation from just about any smartphone but I used my HTC OneX+ to plan mine.  Learn more about the HTC OneX+ and follow @HTC on Twitter.

Share your thoughts..

What is your dream vacation? What are your must-have travel gadgets?  Do you use your phone or camera to take photos while on vacation? Share with us in the comments below. 

Read more posts about my experiences with the HTC One X+:

Content and/or other value provided by our partner, HTC.

I received an HTC OneX+ as part of being a member of the TroopOneX review team.  All opinions in this post are 100% my own.

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