Data backup while traveling – backing up photos and Co.

Traveling On Vacation:

When traveling and on vacation, you usually have your cell phone, camera and even a tablet or laptop with you. And let’s be honest, data backup is not an issue that we pay much attention to, even at home. How is it then on vacation? Data backup while traveling? Oh not now! The weather forecast for the next few days seems to be much more important to us. Can we go to the beach again tomorrow?

We are busy producing data, especially on vacation. You snap photos until the trigger glows, film how beautifully the fishing boats sway in the waves, take souvenir photos for the toughest days of the year – those after the holiday. And suddenly the nasty surprise: all pictures and videos are gone! They have not yet been secured! Well, unfortunately too late.

Memory cards can also simply give up the ghost, quickly disappear or display error messages. They can also no longer be legible due to salty air or very cold or hot temperatures. But all of this does not have to be the case and you don’t even have to take it down on it. We’ll show you what things to watch out for when it comes to backing up data while traveling.

1. Backup while traveling – memory cards and storage

A lot of photos can be taken quickly on vacation, according to a survey there are even 100 photos a day on average. If you keep in mind that a photo can be as large as 5 MB, in a week it is about 3.5 GB of data volume. However, it is less about the amount of data than about the amount of memories that have been saved with it.

It’s better to have multiple memory cards with a small capacity!

You should have several memory cards with you on vacation and on your travels. Don’t just take a large capacity card with you! They have a high storage volume, but if they are defective or lost, the damage is also much greater. You’re going to get really angry! Then everything is gone in one fell swoop.

It is better to take several cards with less capacity with you. So you are forced to change cards more often. If you like to film on vacation, you should also ensure a fast write speed (90 MB / sec). You also need a lot more storage capacity when filming. But the same applies here: it’s better to change the card more often.

Don’t delete everything at once!

Do not delete your data on the cards immediately. As long as you have more empty cards, leave your pictures on the memory card for now. You can sort out and empty when you’re back home. But important: if you have the option to temporarily save the images on a second medium, do it! Maybe you have your laptop, tablet or a hard drive at hand? All the better!

We have 6 memory cards with us because we take a lot of photos and videos. Also because we occasionally misuse memory cards with a small reader device as “USB” storage media. We always buy from the two providers SanDisk and Transcend. Some cards are 32 GB, some even 64 GB. We also need micro SD cards for our action cameras. 32 GB can be purchased from Amazon for just under € 10.

To protect the cards, we recommend a small storage case. So you can protect them against water and impacts, transport them and sort them more easily. A little tip: you can arrange full cards on one side and empty cards on the other. So you always know which card you can still use. If you don’t want to take a case with you on vacation, you should at least keep each card in the original case.

Treat your memory cards well!

Store your memory cards in a clean and dry place. Liquids are always mean and mean. It is also better not to let the cards fly around loosely in your pocket (memory card case). Format your card before use. This means that data errors are less likely, as the card has automatically deactivated damaged sectors during formatting.

What you often don’t think about: Every write access to the data on the memory card harbors dangers. So don’t delete or edit your photos directly in the camera. You can sort out and “prettify” them at home on your laptop or PC.

And what if the card doesn’t work for some reason? Get out of the camera, activate write protection and restore the data at home with a rescue software. Most of the time it works smoothly with all pictures. At least if your card is still recognized in the reader. If not, then you need to get professional help. However, this service can be quite expensive.

2. Data backup while traveling – external hard drives and UBS sticks

Do you want to back up your photos and videos on the go? There are multiple possibilities. If you have your laptop with you, it’s easy. Simply play your photos from the memory card directly to your laptop. You can then drag these images onto the external hard drive (e.g. Transcend Anti-Shock *). So your pictures should be well secured.

Tip: You should always protect your memory card with the small slider before inserting it into the laptop. On the one hand, this prevents you from accidentally deleting photos and, on the other hand, also prevents data errors that can arise from the reader.

You can also connect your camera directly to the laptop with a cable, but we recommend the method directly via the memory card. We use 2 hard drives with 1 TB capacity each (that’s a lot!). So we have enough storage space for the huge amounts of data that we keep accumulating.

Wifi and OTG functions

Many cameras are already WiFi-enabled. For example, you can connect your smartphone to your digital camera and copy the photo data directly to your mobile phone. Even if you only take photos with a smartphone, you can save the photos directly to a USB stick or hard drive. For this you use the “OTG” function. “OTG” means something like “on-the-go”. With this function you can connect your mobile phone directly to USB devices.

There are OTG-compatible USB sticks and cables * which, in addition to the normal USB connection, also have a MICRO-USB connection for cell phones and tablets. With this cable you can connect USB sticks and card readers (USB card reader Ugreen *) to your tablet / smartphone. You can access the USB stick with the help of your cell phone’s file manager and copy the images accordingly.

Multifunctional mini routers * offer you another option. With this device you can copy your photos from the SD card directly to a USB stick. This router provides connections for USB storage devices and SD cards. You can control the storage process using an app on your smartphone or tablet.

You should read through all the detailed information on the storage process and procedure before you travel. Important info: The router also works great as a battery in case the mobile phone is empty again (power bank) or as a WiFi router and repeater.

3. Data backup while traveling – online services

Nowadays, almost everything happens online. So is the data backup. Modern digital cameras can send pictures directly to a cloud (online storage space) via WiFi. But you should have enough power, as this process is very power-intensive. You can also connect your camera to your smartphone via Bluetooth (tethering).

Most providers are not free and often allow limited storage space without fees. We have been using the DropBox online service for years. At the beginning you get 2 GB of storage for free. If you need more storage space, you can buy more space. There are also different models here, such as DropBox Business with 1 TB for € 8.25 per month.

Manage, save and edit

And Google Drive is a really good provider too. There you have 15 gigabytes of storage space available. We also use the service for exchanging documents and as a “shared desk shelf” for a lot of work. We can work on, share and change documents at the same time. That often makes a lot of work easier for us. Communicating via this is also very easy and convenient.

Owners of iPhone, iPod or iPad can also store their photos in the iCloud. This online storage comes from Apple and gives you 5 gigabytes of storage space. In the photo app you can set whether the pictures should be saved directly in the cloud after they have been taken. On the Mac, the photos will then appear in the corresponding photo folder. Windows users need to download the iCloud Control Panel to be able to access the iCloud data on the PC.

With the iDrive service, you can store important content and data in your cloud. 5 gigabytes are free and you can upload your folder contents with the so-called “Now button”.

Are you an Amazon Prime customer? Then you can even use the unlimited photo storage. Amazon customers without Prime membership receive at least 5 gigabytes of free storage space.

Zenfolio is an excellent platform for storing photos. For only € 5 a month you get unlimited storage space. Really cool feature: you can create a website where you can sell your travel photos. In the best case scenario, you can even earn some money with it.

Adobe Creative Cloud

We also use Adobe Lightroom to process and store images. Here you can not only give your pictures the finishing touches, but also manage, sort and structure the pictures. We use the monthly subscription of the Creative Cloud for only 11.89 € per month. Photoshop is even included. The best thing about it: you always get the latest version and don’t have to buy a new one. Don’t feel like subscribing? You can also purchase a one-time license (Adobe Lightroom 6 *).

Conclusion: Since we always have the laptop with us, as well

Memory cards and hard drives, we can easily secure and save our data. We also use online services such as DropBox, Google Drive or Adobe with satisfaction. The backup via the mobile phone, via the WLAN connection of the camera or via an OTG cable is probably the simplest solution for backing up pictures, above all.

Tips for creating passwords

1. So what should you watch out for when choosing a password? The longer a password is, the more combinations there are that an attacker would have to try in order to crack your “code”. So don’t be afraid to use more characters than usual. The length is more important than the complexity (at least 10-12 characters). Safety First!

2. The order is important, but your password should be as “illogical” as possible. Characters should be chosen involuntarily, not in a logical order (example: 12345). Use as many different characters as possible, such as: “Ubs792nYkjdls”. However, you should avoid “Ä”, “Ö”, “Ü” and “ß”, especially because the keyboards are completely different abroad.

3. Hackers are not stupid and use different strategies. One of these strategies is the so-called “dictionary attacks”. Here, vocabulary in certain languages ​​and subject areas is automatically combed through. With the so-called “Common Word Attack” you try out common words and character combinations that are often used as passwords. So avoid long words and sentences, such as “I live in Berlin” or “Boating license”.

4. Words from the Duden dictionary in combination with numbers (Hallo1988 or H4llo) are also uncertain. Postcodes, telephone numbers, dates of birth or names of children, parents and pets are also not recommended.

5. Change your passwords regularly and do not use old passwords a second time. Especially if you use many services on the net that require registration by e-mail, you should not always choose the address with which you handle important mail traffic. Important: the same password for different services is TABU!

6. Have you saved passwords in such a way that you no longer need to enter them for new registrations? Generally very cozy and comfortable. But what if your laptop or smartphone is stolen and strangers now have access to these accounts? One can hardly imagine it. Do without this automatic function and rather enter your data again and again.

We hope that this post has helped you to get an overview of data backup. Take a look at our other travel tips. There you will find, among other things, the contributions to the best travel credit card, our photo equipment or travel insurance.

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