There are plenty of essentials virtually everyone needs when traveling. Things like clothes, personal hygiene products, and device chargers are typical staples. But including an HDMI cable when packing can be useful for those times when you’re looking for more media options on the road. Like finding clever uses for extra HDMI ports on your TVs and computers at home, an HDMI cable in your travel bag can help you take advantage of ports while traveling.
For example, it can give you another option if you’re looking to expand the capabilities of the television in your hotel room. While your rate of success is going to vary depending on the TV, having an HDMI cable on-hand can help connect devices you may have brought along, like consoles or laptops. It’s not guaranteed to work in every situation, but when it does, you’ll likely be glad to have it.
There’s always the option of asking someone at the hotel if they have an HDMI cable, but it’s not likely. Carrying around an extra cable can also be nice should the television in your room not allow casting or screen sharing, which is often the case in order to protect the hotel’s network.
Why an HDMI cable helps while traveling
Like carry-on-friendly travel gadgets, an HDMI cable can be a rather small item to bring along when you need it in a pinch. Connecting an external device to a TV is as simple as locating the HDMI port on the TV, plugging the cable into your device and the television, and then selecting the right input on the TV. However, there may be some potential roadblocks.
Not every hotel is going to offer the same features on a TV. For example, a lower-priced hotel may only offer access to local programming, whereas a more expensive place could have on-demand content. In either case, the type of content offered may vary, and it may not be the media you’re actually looking for anyway.
There’s also the issue that hotels can limit what’s connected to a television and the possible inability to switch between TV inputs. You might also find that the television is mounted in a way that prevents access to rear-mounted ports. However, considering these cables can be relatively inexpensive — like the $7 best-selling HDMI cable on Amazon — it certainly doesn’t hurt to keep one in your bag if you’re a frequent traveler.
