TECH BYTE: Top Tech for Your Camping Trip

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — Taking a vacation is looking a little different these days because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Most of us are going on road trips instead of flying.

Planning your trip is almost as much fun as being on your actual vacation, and technology can help with that.

Sometimes when you’re camping, you need to reserve your spot ahead of time. And you can do that with the Recreation.gov app, which can help you reserve thousands of camping destinations – from cabins, to tent and RV camping.

App creators say it can help you find and book campsites, review those location details for your trip, and access your reservation from anywhere.

The app even shows you real-time availability, so you’ll know how quickly you’ll need to book your trip.

Most of us can’t live without our cell phones, so it’s good to have a solar charger panel or portable charger handy to make sure your devices are ready to go.

You’ll need your phone for taking any scenic pictures, or looking at maps.

Solar chargers can easily keep them powered up, along with your lantern and other gadgets.

If bug spray isn’t for you, and you want to ward off those mosquitoes, you’ll want to get your hands on a Thermacell Portable Mosquito Repeller.

This handheld device can guard you from those annoying skeeters up to 15 feet away. And you don’t have to worry about that strong, awful bug spray smell either!

You also want to make sure you have water that’s safe to drink if you run out of bottled water.

A Steri Pen works as a filter. Put it in the bottle for close to a minute, and it’ll purify your water.

You can easily find any of these products online, or at your nearest camping and outdoor store.