Which plug adaptor?
Working out which plug adaptors you need to take where can be seriously annoying – particularly if you’re going to numerous countries on the same trip.
But I find the problem is largely solved with the Swiss Travel Products World Travel Adaptor*. It can turn any of the four major plug configurations into any of the others (ie. UK to US, Europe to Australia and any combination thereof). I tend to take two of them with me wherever I go, and that sorts out phone chargers, iPod, camera battery charger and laptop for the whole trip.
It’s especially handy for anyone who, like me, has a habit of leaving phone chargers in sockets and has to buy emergency replacements whilst abroad. A charger with a US plug is fine while you’re in the US, but hopeless at home or Europe. With the adaptors, it doesn’t matter so much – you can use your replacement worldwide without having to buy another set of adaptors. My phone charger, incidentally, has a US plug, and my camera battery charger has a European plug. I’m an absent-minded klutz, but using the adaptor at home saves me having to buy yet another replacement charger.
The Swiss Travel Products adaptor is not perfect – it won’t work in South Africa, and can be slightly too bulky for plug sockets that are too close to the floor – but it’s the best solution to the adaptor problem that I’ve seen so far.
*DISCLOSURE: Links marked with an asterisk will take you through to Amazon UK, and I’ll earn a small commission as a result of anything bought as a result of clicking on the link. The recommendation still stands irrespective of where you buy it, however. If you’d prefer to buy direct from Swiss Travel Products, click here (it’s pretty much guaranteed to be cheaper on Amazon though).
I actually have one of those and take it with me everywhere – full marks for pointing out that it is an essential piece of kit.
I also encountered a gentleman on my travels who seemed to be mesmerised by it: http://wp.me/ppqxP-3B
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