If you’re like me, you’ll be looking to make up for last summer with a few good road trips. Camping, the beach, plenty of barbeques, sunburn, you and I want the full experience.

And what better way to enhance the classic Kiwi road trip than with a bunch of gadgets? Here’s a list of some tech that can turn this summer from a good one into a great one.

Portable speaker

Of course, music is the most crucial part of summer… No, the second most crucial, behind food. If your car is getting a bit long in the tooth and the sound system isn’t quite cutting it, a wireless portable speaker can be a cheaper alternative to refitting your in-car audio.

The UE Wonderboom 3 I tested earlier in the year is a good option, being about the size of a fat can of Pringles and producing a much better sound. You can get two and pair them for true stereo – one speaker per channel. I haven’t tried it personally, but putting them in the front door pockets would probably work quite a treat…

Plus, because they’re waterproof, you don’t need to worry about getting them wet which means you can take them out of the car and throw them around on the beach or at a pool party.

Dashcam

A dashcam is a great idea regardless of time of year, but with the amount of drivers on the road over summer, this is a good time to invest if you haven’t already. Just in case the worst happens and you need to prove something to the insurance company. There are plenty of options out there, from budget offerings under $50 that will do the job but not much more to stuff over $500 that have all the bells and whistles.

If you’re operating on a budget, the Transcend DrivePro 10 is worth a look, recording at 60fps and 1440p resolution (higher quality than Full HD), meaning the footage is smooth and clear.

Alternatively, if you want to spend a bit more, the Nextbase 622GW offers 4K recording at 30fps, image stabilisation, GPS tracking, free cloud storage, and a touch screen.

A proper camera

If you’ve already got a decent smartphone or don’t want a new one, consider a good camera for your next roadie. The new GoPro Hero12 can take HDR (High Dynamic Range) video at resolutions up to 5.3K at a smooth 60fps with improved stabilisation while also supporting wireless audio devices like earphones or microphones for the vloggers out there. Naturally, being a GoPro, it’ll handle about every single thing you care to throw at it too, perfect for summer documentation.

Alternatively, if you’re more of a ‘fly-on-the-wall’ sort, a proper camera might be up your alley. This is dangerous because it’s very easy to spend a lot of money on a well-equipped camera, but I’d recommend looking at something mirrorless. These cameras are often as good as DSLRs but with a much smaller footprint. Some good budget offerings (relatively speaking) would be the Canon Eos R50 for stills, the Sony ZV-E1 for video, or the Nikon Z fc for sheer style.

Power bank

You don’t know how valuable a power bank is until you’re sitting at 2% trying to find a bach in a part of the country you’ve never been to. Or you need a bit of extra juice while camping and using those portable speakers you’ve just bought…

Either way, a decent power bank is a great thing to pack, just in case. The more capacity the better, but you could opt to sacrifice some of that for wireless charging. Brands like Belkin or Momax are good bets, with both offering up to 20,000mAh in capacity with multiple outputs and fast-charging capabilities.

If you don’t mind spending over $200, you can even get power banks that can jump-start your car or motorbike, which could well end up paying for itself. Mophie even makes one that has a built-in air compressor for pumping up tyres!

Portable coffee maker

I’ll be honest, I didn’t even know these existed until I started this list. For about $100, you can get a ‘Minipresso’ – a portable coffee maker that prepares espresso on the go using Nespresso pods and an external source of hot water (a thermos). How cool is that?

Of course, that only means people who like espresso shots by themselves can really use it, as the Minipresso doesn’t want anything to do with steaming milk, but if you bring a small jug of milk along, you can make a much nicer morning brew than a pot of instant could ever hope to be.

On the same topic, a good travel mug is a crucial accessory for those on more urban adventures.

Airtag

If you’re like me, losing or forgetting things is a skill that comes naturally. An Apple Airtag, Samsung SmartTag, Tile or equivalent are fantastic for keeping track of stuff, especially if you’re travelling with multiple bags.

Or, as I found out recently, if you have a dog that likes to take itself for walks to the nearby park. Instead of bellowing its name and hoping it comes back, you can just chuck a tag on its collar and find it with your phone.

All three of those tags have battery lives of at least a year as well, so you won’t need to worry about changing them out for a while.

Drone

Want to create an awesome movie showcasing your summer? A drone will give you those perfect shots, soaring above the beach or taking in a mountaintop vista. They are still on the expensive side, with the DJI Mini 2 SE sitting at just under $700 at the time of writing. This one is the cheapest I’d consider – you can get drones for less, but you start dicing with reliability and losing too many features.

The DJI Mini 2 SE doesn’t have a massive battery life with 31 minutes of claimed flight time but if you get really into it, you can buy extra batteries. Plus, it’ll stay level in winds of up to 38kph, can take video at very high resolutions, and has multiple in-built shooting modes for awesome instant videos.

If you want more, the newer DJI Mini 4 Pro can take even higher-resolution video and automatically track you as you’re doing your thing.

Electronics organiser

So you’ve kitted yourself out with a hundred and one awesome gadgets but now have to deal with all the extra cables lying around.

You could throw them all in the same box that has a couple of HDMI cables, some old RCA cables, half a dozen mini USB cables that don’t fit anything and an Xbox controller that doesn’t work, or you could nab a $20 electronics organiser and actually use them while you’re travelling!

While not technically a gadget, these organisers can hold plenty of extra cables, camera batteries, power banks, earphones and memory cards, making them critical for the holidaying techie.