Technology has gifted us with the ability to juggle travel and study with ease. With smart planning and solid guidelines, you can make the most of your time, enjoy your trip and keep up your study commitments. Use these five tips to find a successful balance between travelling and studying with technology.
1. Plan first – failing to plan is planning to fail!
Whether you’re heading interstate for a week, or overseas for a month, the first thing to do is plan a study timetable. Plan to set aside, for example, an hour at the start and end of each day, (or longer blocks on longer trips) to get your study done.
Ensure that your assignment timetable is in a diary with deadlines highlighted. Sounds old-fashioned, but a hardcopy diary might be useful for giving you an overview of each day’s plan and due dates. When you put it next to your bed, it acts as a good visual reminder of your daily study goals and is a backup for when your tech needs to charge.
TIP: Before you go, add your travel times, day trips and tours into your diary first, then plan study times around them. Flights are also a good time to study, so download your material on your laptop and have it ready to go.
2. Travel apps to help you study with technology
Many clever apps can make your life smoother when on the road, and in the air.
TIP: Download and set these up ahead of your travel dates, and you’ll be travelling with ease.
- Airline apps – first up, get the apps for all the Airlines you are flying with. These allow fast check-in, virtual boarding passes and will alert you to any delays.
- iPhone wallet app – use for all your credit cards, membership cards and for quick access to boarding passes too!
- Flight tracking apps – keep track of connecting flights, airport gate changes, how long you might be sitting on the runway, and even monitor friends and family travel too. We like App in the Air, FlightView, GateGuru, and Flightradar24.
- Hotel and travel club apps – use these to check in to your hotel and get directions, and to monitor any travel clubs deals.
- Airport apps – essential for info on parking, food, terminal locations, customs info and toilet locations!
- Currency exchange apps – for when you need to know if you’ve got enough cash for a bargain purchase, and of course, what the going rate is so you don’t get fleeced at the exchange kiosk.
- Getting around – Uber, Taxi, and public transports apps for the cities you are visiting will make getting from A to Z fast and easy.
- Time zone converter apps – we like World Clock and Time Buddy.
- Seat Guru – provides reviews of seats on each aeroplane, including tips on legroom, draughts, lighting, etc!
- Booking apps – get all the best deals for accommodation, travel, food and entertainment at your fingertips with apps like Skyscanner, Booking.com, TripAdvisor and Lonely Planet.
3. Pack all tech essentials – adaptors, chargers, headphones
Make sure you take ALL the technology you need to study while travelling (particularly if you’re in a place that’s never even heard of a 7/11).
Use this checklist:
- All devices – laptop, tablet, smartphone.
- Chargers for each device (but every airport sells chargers, so don’t stress if you forget one).
- Universal adaptors with USB ports -put these into your carry-on to use during delays and stopovers. You’ll find USB charge points in food courts and power points in quiet corners of waiting lounges.
- Consider investing in at least one portable charger – they can be worth their weight in gold.
- Remember to download any materials you may need on-the-go, especially for flights, and just in case there’s no internet coverage where you are going.
- Noise-cancelling headphones, for listening to music or pre-downloaded movies, or if you’re worried about anyone chatty sitting beside you.
TIP: Remember, there isn’t Wi-Fi on planes, so to use onboard entertainment you’ll need headphones with a cord, not wireless headphones.
4. Flexibility is your most important ally
Delayed flights, cancelled trains, and even transport strikes will throw your well-planned schedule. Use that time wisely. Instead of fretting about your plans going awry, make use of free wi-fi at airports to study. Then you’ll be able to catch up on sleep or sightseeing once you finally get to your destination.
5. Study smart and take time to relax
Yes, it takes discipline to sit down for one or three hours at a time to study, when outside your window is an amazing holiday destination, so be sure to get out there and see the sites. Make these experiences a reward for study effort.
Expand your mind, meet the locals, and keep yourself fresh. That way you’ll have a holiday you’ll remember for the rest of your life, as well as achieving a qualification that will set you up for life.
