It’s hard not to go on a road trip these days without taking a laptop with you. But how do you manage all the files and data you need to take with you too, including documents related to your travel?
A branded USB drive is the perfect solution for bridging the gap between home and the hotel. Thanks to their huge storage capacity (the largest ones hold 256 Gigs of data right now) and their indestructible design, they make the perfect travel companion, whether you’re going across town, across the country or around the world.
Branded USB drives can do a lot more than just hold a few key files that you’re working on. They can truly become a lifesaver when you’re traveling, if you add the right data to it before heading out on your travels. Following are some of the indispensables we never leave home without.
Boot drive
You can transfer the key files from your operating system disk onto your drive so you can reboot your computer on the road should it suddenly go haywire. You can get a tutorial on how to create a bootable USB drive at www.intowindows.com.
Virtual travel documents folder
You’ve heard the horror stories about people who have lost their passport or had their I.D. stolen while traveling. You can load copies of your passport along with your driver’s license and credit card information onto your branded USB drives so you always have a copy. If your passport or wallet is stolen, you can show officials at the consulate the copy of your passport so it can be replaced more easily. A branded USB drive is also a great place to keep your frequent flier numbers, airline and hotel printouts – anything you could possibly need during your trip. Once you have them on the drive, make sure you encrypt the file to keep it away from prying eyes that may happen upon your flash drive.
Portable email and browser
A lot of hotels have computers for guest use. But what if you don’t like the browser they use or you want to access your regular email client? With your own drive you can, including having all your bookmarks and email accounts with you so you can keep everything organized and synchronized while traveling.
Travel along apps
You can also do the same thing with your favorite apps. Many of the most popular apps can auto run on a flash drive so you can take your favorite word processor or photo editing software with you wherever you go.
Add extra security
If you’re worried about privacy and want to cover your activities on a hotel computer, you can get TOR for free (www.torproject.org). It includes a USB key so you can route your data over secure servers while covering your tracks. No one can see what you were up to or come along after you and access your passwords or account information because you forgot to log out.
Shoot as much as you like
Your camera’s storage may be limited, but don’t let a full disk ruin your vacation. Every night you can offload your images onto your branded USB drive and have a blank camera disk every morning. An added advantage – you can access the photos any time back at the hotel so you can edit them and share them while you’re still on vacation.
A soundtrack for your travels
You can pull your favorite songs off of your PC before you leave and enjoy them on your trip. Use your branded USB drives as a virtual jukebox of music that you can enjoy in your hotel room, cruise ship cabin or mountaintop chalet.
Encryption
O.K. So you have all your data on your drive. As we mentioned, there are things you want to keep safe while you’re traveling. We have found that Truecrypt is a pretty good solution – it offers fairly strong encryption and it’s free. Best of all, it’s a very small application so it doesn’t suck up a lot of space on your branded USB drive.
It’s available for users on all platforms. You can partition the drive so only part of your files are encrypted or encrypt specific files (like scans of your passport, for example). Just be sure that you remember your password so you can access your files on the road.
As you can see, branded USB drives can be one of your best travel companions. They don’t require a five star hotel and they never argue about which sight to see. But they are at the ready whenever you need an important document that you either lost or simply can’t find.