Gone are the days when travel had to be split between business and pleasure. Today, cosmopolitan professionals are cleverly marrying work with play during their trips. Called “bleisure trips,” also called workcations, have increased in popularity by 25% over the past few years. This trend has helped boost overall tourism levels, which saw an estimated 235 million travelers in the first quarter of 2023 alone.
But given that bleisure trips are unique opportunities that require some agility on your part, what you pack with you needs to be similarly versatile. Aside from the usual things like flexible clothing and good walking shoes, the right tech is essential to keep up with the demands of your work and personal activities. Some bleisure trips will be business class with luxury amenties, others might require smarting packing to ensure comfort.
In today’s digital age, smart gadgets are among the most intuitive and beneficial to use. As such, here is a quick guide on what tech to bring for your own bleisure experience.
Smart glasses
Sunglasses are a popular accessory on most trips, given how they can protect the eyes and elevate an outfit. For bleisure travelers, though, why not take it a step further with smart glasses? Although it’s a relatively new type of wearable smart item, this eyewear can marry ocular protection with hands-free digital convenience. One of the most popular today are Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. Powered with AI and livestream technology, you can easily capture and share content from virtually anywhere using your smart glasses. Moreover, these are not cumbersome, as they’re available in iconic styles like the Wayfarers, so you can wear them from professional meetings to casual meet-ups. In bleisure trips, smart glasses also enable you to seamlessly take calls and give virtual assistant voice commands that you can use to streamline communications and tasks while on the go.
Smart wallet
While you’re on a bleisure trip, you’re likely going to be making a lot of purchases, whether that’s for lunch meetings or fun excursions. Unfortunately, there are a lot of malicious individuals out there who will take advantage of this. A recent survey by All About Cookies found that about 22% of travelers have had cash stolen. To help prevent this, use a smart wallet. Brands like Ekstar Parliament offer a sleek solution that includes several anti-theft mechanisms. For starters, the bifold has an RFID coating to prevent identity theft and an aluminum storage pocket that ejects cards at the push of a button. For cash, there is a separate strap that can secure paper money and receipts (ideal for storing your ORs). In the event that you do misplace or lose your wallet, you can also activate the tracker, which works up to 200 feet. Another smart wallet option is by Stympro, which is designed to support iPhone users, in particular. Apart from holding your cash and cards, it can also function as a charger and phone stand, making it perfect for sudden video work calls. It can also be paired with the “Find My” feature on the iPhone, so you can track its whereabouts remotely.
Smart safe
In line with the above, it’s also important to double down on the security of your vital documents. Apart from the usual travel musts, like passports and tickets, this can also include USB flashdrives with key contracts, agreements, and reports while on a bleisure trip. Although most hotels and motels do offer a safe or two in their rooms, you may feel more security knowing you’re using something that nobody else has used or potentially tampered with. This is where a smart safe, like the Trova Biometric Vault, comes in. Designed to be portable, this safe has an aluminum alloy shell that can only be opened via biometric identification. The safe can also be connected via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for keyless opening. You can also turn on notifications and tracking so you’re alerted if it’s moved or kept open for too long without your clearance.
The article Three smart tech must-haves for a bleisure trip first appeared in TravelDailyNews International.
