How to back up your precious photos while traveling abroad - CNET

Thanks,

Jaded Traveler

Dear Jaded,

Luckily, you have two great options to consider.

Automatic phone backup

The simplest and easiest way to ensure you never lose any of your photos is to sign up for an automatic photo backup service, which will store your images in the "cloud." It doesn't matter which cloud service you use. There are several. Apple users may opt for iCloud. There's also Google Photos, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, Amazon Cloud Drive, and even Facebook.

These services can automatically suck your photos in the cloud, so you don't even have to think about losing them. Some can also delete images on your device as they're stored in the cloud so you never run out of room on your phone. Services like Google Photos will help you organize and keep track of your photos by automatically tagging people and identifying well-known tourist sites. G9ogle Photos can also organize your trip into albums or a video of snapshots.

But there is one big downside to these services. Backing up to a cloud requires that you have a data connection, and roaming overseas can get costly. So make sure you're only backing up pictures while using Wi-Fi.

The portable method

If Inteet access is too pricey or you have security and privacy conces about storing all your images in a cloud service, you can use a portable hard drive that connects to your phone via Wi-Fi or some other short-range wireless technology to transfer files. You could also just take your laptop and back up pictures to it, which is likely what you do at home. But carrying around a laptop while traveling makes you an even bigger target for thieves, so I say leave the Macbook Air at home and get a more lightweight, less expensive portable hard drive.

CNET just put together a terrific list of these devices. They range in price from around $60 to $360.

The bottom line