Why I Never Travel Without an External Charger Again

A few years ago, I got caught in a hurricane in Cabo San Lucas.

For a couple of days, we had no power.
No internet.
No way to contact the outside world.

The storm shut everything down. Flights were canceled. Roads were a mess.

And while I was trying to rebook flights and figure out how to get home, the most basic problem hit me:

My laptop was dead and my phone was dying.

No electricity meant no charging.
No charging meant no communication.
No communication meant isolation.

And when you’re in a foreign place during a natural disaster… isolation feels heavy.

I was lucky.

Before we lost power, I had the presence of mind to pull cash out of the ATM. That decision ended up mattering more than I realized. 

The only places open were small mom-and-pop shops that opened for the neighborhood residents. 

They had no power, but they opened anyway, because people still needed to eat.

No credit cards. No tap to pay. Just cash.

Thank God for those shops.

Thank God for local resilience.

And thank God for one kind stranger.

There was a guy trying to repair the electricity at the hotel. I asked him if there was any way I could charge my phone.

He let me plug it into his car while he worked.

That small act of generosity meant everything.

It wasn’t technology that saved me in that moment.

It was community.

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This hurricane taught me three things.

1. Community is everything in a crisis.

When systems fail, people matter.

For even more security, this external charger by Jinepin, also uses solar power to recharge itself.

2. Always travel with a portable charger.

A small power bank could have kept my phone alive for days.
That means access to:

• Flight changes

• Emergency contacts

• Weather updates

• Maps

• Family

It’s a tiny piece of gear that carries massive peace of mind.

3. Always carry cash.

I now recommend traveling with at least one $100 bill tucked away for emergencies. When the grid goes down, cash still talks.

The bottom line is… 

Storms happen. Power goes out. Airports close. ATMs stop working.

Preparedness isn’t paranoia.

It’s respect for uncertainty.

Not because I expect disaster.

But because I’ve seen what happens when you’re not ready.

And I’d rather never feel that helpless again.

Why You Should Always Travel With AirTags: How Mine Saved My Luggage… Again.

Today was a perfect reminder of why I never fly without AirTags in my luggage.

My day started with a delayed first flight, which meant that when I finally landed in Houston, I had to sprint across the airport to catch my connection to Baja. 

I made it to the gate just as boarding began.

Victory number one. 

But as soon as I sat down on the plane, the next question hit me:

“Did my bag make it?”

I always travel with AirTags in my gear because nothing calms my mind more than being able to track my bags in real time. 

And today, that little piece of technology kept me sane.

The airtag I use for my gear. Apple airtags.

We were about 20 minutes from departure, and I refreshed the AirTag location.

My bag was still sitting outside Terminal A… but I was in Terminal D.

Not good.

I waited five minutes, checked again: still Terminal A.

At this point I started to get nervous, so I opened the United app. 

In case you don’t know, United also tracks your bag and tells you when it’s scanned on or off a flight.

Five minutes later I refreshed everything:

The AirTag showed my bag in Terminal D, and it also showed it scanned and loaded on my United flight app.

Perfect. It on the plane.

When we landed in Cabo, I cleared customs and waited at the baggage claim.

And waited.
And waited.
And waited.

My bag didn’t come out.

The belt stopped, and about six of us stood there empty-handed.

Everyone else went to the customer service desk, but none of them had AirTags, so they had no clue where their bags were.

I opened my AirTag app…

My bag was definitely here. Somewhere close.

But not on the belt.

So I walked toward the desk, watching the little dot on the map get closer and closer.

And then, right as I reached the counter, the AirTag pinged right in front of me.

I peered over the desk…

There was my bag. Sitting inside the office.

No explanation.

Proper tag still attached.

The guy who rolled it in even acted a little strange about it.

But thanks to the AirTag, I found it immediately.

Without it?

I’d probably be filling out a claim with everyone else.

This Isn’t the First Time an AirTag Saved Me.

This is actually the third time the AirTag helped me find my luggage.

Once in Africa, my bag was left outside and never put on the belt.

Another time in California, it was sent down the wrong carousel.

In both cases, the AirTag was the only reason I recovered it.

So if you travel, even once a year, put AirTags in your luggage.

• They give you peace of mind.

• They save you time and stress.

• They help airport staff find your bag faster.

• They show you instantly whether your luggage made the plane.

• They prevent your gear from going missing indefinitely.

And if you travel as much as I do?

They’re not optional… They’re essential.