15 Battery Saving Tips While On Vacation

“Hello, Dave?,” you say. “Listen, we’re at our hotel down here in St. Augustine and I really need you to check on…….hello? Hello?” Damn. Cell phone’s dead. No bars, no battery, no call.

When you’re at home on your regular routine, it’s simple to keep your cell phone battery charged. But vacation time? With long flights, delays, sightseeing, and an unpredictable schedule it’s all too easy to find your phone’s out of juice.

15 Ways to Conserve Your Phone’s Battery While on Vacation

(See also: Here's how you can make extend the life of Android phone battery and how to make your smartphone battery live longer)

Turn your phone off - Did you forget you’re on vacation? The world will keep turning if you don’t jump the moment someone calls or emails you.

Turn it on only periodically - OK, OK, you’re Very Important. You need to check your calls, emails, need to post photos to Facebook. So turn the phone on, do your thing, then turn it off.

Short timeout - You can set the number of seconds of inaction before your screen goes black. Keep timeout as short as possible.

Keep your calls short - We’ve all overheard others going on and on and on about ridiculous nonsense on their cell phones. “Oh, really? Izzat so? Well, I sez to her, I sez, no way I’m gonna…” and so on. But aren’t YOU a blabbermouth sometimes? Keep your vacation calls short and sweet: it saves your battery, and keeps others from wanting to smother you.

Live without the extras - There was life before cell phones, wasn’t there? You can probably get by for a short while without battery-sucking Bluetooth, wi-fi, GPS, infrared, and other great-but-energy-consuming features. Turn ‘em off.

No signal? Stop auto-searching for one - Phones and phone plans vary greatly but most phones will automatically seek a signal to connect to. If there are none to be had, it’ll search anyway, burning up battery time as it goes. Turn off the phone or at least turn off wi-fi…or even put it in “airplane mode.”

Bad vibrations - Did you know it takes more battery power to make your phone vibrate than it does to make it simply ring? If you’re conserving power, let it ring, not vibrate.

Cut the back light (or dim it) - Your phone’s backlight makes the screen easier to read in some conditions. But, with conservation in mind, damping it down or turning it off will keep your battery alive longer.

No videos, please - Going online with your smart phone gobbles energy – especially if you’re watching videos. When you’re on vacation, save them for when you’re back in your hotel and you can recharge easily.

Bring a spare battery - You wouldn’t drive a car that didn’t have a spare in the trunk, would you? Well, if you can’t afford to be phone-less, pack an extra battery and keep it with you on vacation. Be sure to charge it fully before you use it so you get maximum capacity and utility.

Get an emergency charger - Some phones can’t take extra batteries. What to do? Get a battery-operated emergency charger.

Get a car charger, too - You got a wall charger with your cell phone but an inexpensive car charger can save the day on vacation.

Charge early, charge often - You’ll get best performance from your cell phone battery if you charge it well before it goes dead. Charge it early, keep it charged, and charge it often for best performance and longest battery life.

Cooler is better - Heat sucks batteries’ power. Keep your phone out of hotspots, especially direct sunlight. If you must leave it in a closed car, leave it on the floor, wrapped in a light colored towel that will insulate it from some of the heat.

Leave your cell phone at home - Go ahead - try a cell phone-free vacation! (You won’t be going cold turkey: virtually all hotels have guest computers you can use to check your email.)

Steve M. is a freelance writer based in Florida. He is a frequent content provider to vacationrentalpros.com

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