Did you ever think of having a free cloud backup while traveling? Can you even remember what life was like without constant access to a smartphone, tablet or laptop? No, of course not! Technology plays such a huge role in our everyday life, and that does not change when we travel. If you are like me, you even carry more than one expensive piece of electronic equipment with you on your journey. All of these items are worth quite a substantial amount - it is not unheard of to put down at least a thousand dollars for a nice item. In addition to the monetary value, you usually also have important documents and data on your machine, not to mention the sentimental value of pictures and videos. Therefore, getting robbed or losing their devices is one of the biggest fears of any traveler.

But do not worry: There are some simple steps you can take to avoid such trouble, even in high-risk destinations. In this article, I will explain what free cloud backups are, and why using them lets me travel in complete relaxation!

An insurance can protect your most valuable hardware

I grew up in, Switzerland, a country that tends to be over-insured, and personally, I never was a big fan of that business. We literally have an insurance for everything: health, unemployment, property, vehicles, working accidents, burglary and third party damage. According to statistics, we all pay way more for insurances in total, than those companies will ever pay us out. If this would not be the case, insurance companies would not be that profitable businesses. For that reason, researchers advise that you should only insure for life-threatening events. But if you are going on an epic adventure that includes a higher risk of loss or theft, a specific insurance may pay off after all. Hardware can easily be replaced, if you don’t have to come up with it, even better. Having an appropriate insurance is the very first step to a more relaxed trip.

Keep your most valuable belongings at the safest place

The most obvious step to keep your information secure might be the most important one: Keep your belongings in the safest place you can. I like to keep my most precious items in one bag, and then hide that one under less valuable items. Sometimes you have to leave your personal items unattended though, like when you park your car or when you leave your hotel room for dinner. In that case, my advice would be to lock the zipper to a fixed point.

But even if you are the most cautious person in the world, things just do get lost or stolen - you only can try your hardest to minimize that risk! Hardware is completely replaceable, but the content on them is what matters most. Luckily, there are a lot of free and cheap backup services: DropBox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive and Apple Cloud are all excellent applications. If you are still a little doubtful of these free cloud backups, there are private solutions as well. What all of those providers have in common is the ease of syncing the data from your local machine into the internet. On your laptop, they run as an invisible service in the background and send every updated or new document to their servers. This might also work on your smartphone and tablet. Some providers have to be synced on mobile devices manually though. Either way, I highly advise keeping a copy of ALL your data - pictures, music, personal documents - somewhere in a free cloud backup. Literally, this means that you can still access every single document, even if your device disappeared - for any reason whatsoever!

Use your free cloud backup even when you travel

Especially when traveling abroad, this synchronization can get a little tricky. Do not forget to sync your pictures and other documents on a regular basis. Whenever you find yourself in a restaurant or hotel with WiFi, take the opportunity to upload!

By having 100% of my data backed up, I feel completely independent. I literally could not care less if someone decides to steal any of my devices (in theory that is). As long as I have access to some money, I can go to the next store on my route and buy a new one. Then, all I have to do is download my data from the cloud and I am ready to go in a matter of minutes. It is so efficient, and it allows me to travel to some riskier places with my valuable equipment - completely relaxed.

We live in a weirdly intertwined and complex world, and anything is possible. Unfortunately, that also means you might misplace your bag, or be subject to a robbery. If you’re ready though, you won’t take the shock as hard. Replacing hardware is not hard at all, but only a question of cash flow. Your personal data cannot be replaced, unless you have pro-actively stored an independent copy. Using the great applications available, you can be prepared for the worst case scenario. A free cloud backup will let you relax and enjoy your trip to the fullest!