Normally, I’m not the type of person who meticulously prepares for a trip. I don’t pack my bags weeks in advance, planning every outfit I might need. I don’t even pack the day before. Instead, I pack in the final hours before leaving! This usually means my bag ends up as a chaotic mess of random cables and chargers I grab on my way out the door.
But this trip was different. We were planning a big adventure to the USA — 43 hotels, 7 flights, 3 trains, and 7,800 miles of driving. With such an intense itinerary, I needed to be more organized. I tried a couple of charger options, but they all failed after a few days. Eventually, I settled on the Mophie Speedport 120 Travel Kit and two MagSafe Duo Chargers.
The Speedport comes with a felt bag, and while it’s compact, I was able to fit everything into it as long as the wall plug hung out the top. The kit only includes a single USB-C to Lightning cable, but I repurposed one from an old phone to complete my setup. One of the best features of the Speedport is that, although it only ships with a UK adapter, it uses a standard IEC C7 plug. This makes it easy to buy adapter cables for any country on eBay and pack them for your destination.
Because we moved from hotel to hotel so often, I quickly mastered setting up and packing down my gear. The cables supplied with the Speedport included velcro straps, so I could easily tie them together. Using a cable instead of plugging the power brick directly into the wall made it much easier to find accessible outlets. Most hotel rooms on our tour had power outlets built into the bases of bedside lamps, so I didn’t have to fumble behind dusty bedside tables to find power.
Unfortunately, Apple has discontinued the MagSafe Duo, and the Speedport is becoming harder to find. These were fantastic companions on our tour, and if you can get your hands on them, I highly recommend adding them to your travel kit.
