Adapters, power banks, cameras, laptops, drones, trackers, routers. Eleven chapters — from which plug fits which country to what the FAA actually does with your power bank at the gate.
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Every decision a traveling technologist actually faces — from the first adapter search to the drone permit at the border.
The electronics decisions that are simpler than the internet makes them, and the ones that aren't.
"The cable problem is solved the moment you commit to USB-C. Everything else is logistics."
The plug adapter question gets asked four hundred times a week. The answer hasn't changed in a decade. Type C covers most of continental Europe; Type G covers the UK; Type A or B covers North America and Japan; one universal adapter covers all of them. The mystery is why people still panic about this at 11 p.m. the night before a flight.
The voltage question is different and more important. Plug shape and voltage are separate problems. Your phone charger reads 100–240V on the brick — it handles anything. Your 1975-spec hair dryer probably reads 110V only, which means one bad outlet in a 240V country kills it. Read the label on the device, not the brand. If it says 100–240V, you need only an adapter. If it says 110V, you need a converter too.
The power bank rules are simpler than they look once you know the watt-hour threshold. Under 100Wh: bring as many as the bag holds, carry-on only. 100–160Wh: two max, airline approval needed. Over 160Wh: no passenger aircraft. The math is Wh = mAh × voltage ÷ 1000. A 20,000mAh pack at 3.7V is 74Wh — well under the threshold, no questions asked. The only variable is whether the capacity is printed on the battery, which it usually is.
The drone problem is the one that actually deserves the panic. Countries update their UAV regulations annually, sometimes monthly. A permit required in Japan, banned outright in Morocco, tolerated but technically illegal in Thailand. Our contributor Zoe has had a drone confiscated on two continents. Her process: check the aviation authority website for the destination country, verify on a secondary source, then call the airline about battery transport. In that order, before you pack it.
Four questions. We'll point you at the right chapter for your situation — no email, no quiz.
Click an option in each row. The recommendation updates as you go. Change your mind whenever — there's no submit.
Six pieces from the pack desk. One personal essay from Zoe. All bedside.
Reader questions, lightly edited. Seven answers — the ones that come up every week at the Pack Desk.
The rules are knowable. The cables are solved. The desk is on call. Start with the chapter that matches what's in your bag — or what you're deciding whether to put there.