If you’re traveling this holiday season to visit family and friends, or perhaps headed out for an exotic vacation, you really don’t want to miss a moment. Including hearing what’s going on! Just remember that all
the excitement and activity can really load up your hearing instruments with moisture. This is especially true if you’re heading to a warm weather climate. And doubly true for kids who we all know are natural sweat machines.
You already know the value of using Dry & Store every night at home. So, naturally you’ll want to take your Dry & Store with you on your trip. We’re here to tell you that’s definitely a smart decision.
Take care of your hearing instruments just as if you were at home, and they’ll take care of you!
To help you with that mission, here are a few tips we’ve learned from users who never leave home without their Dry & Store units.
• Carry-on or checked baggage? Both the Global and Zephyr models make good traveling companions, whether packed in your checked baggage or carry-on. It’s entirely up to you.
• Wrap your unit in a soft cloth if you don’t have one of the special Global or Zephyr travel cases. Leave your Dry-Brik in the unit, and be sure to include your power supply. (One advantage of the travel case is that you’ll remember to pack them together. . . and bring them home together when you’re headed back!) If you don’t have a travel case, a flannel drawstring bag made for shoes does a fine job of protecting the surface and keeping everything together.
• If it’s going into your checked baggage, burrow it amidst some nice and soft clothes to cushion it from rough and tumble baggage handling.
• If you have the Global II with the UV-C lamp, check that the lamp is seated properly in its sockets before packing the whole Dry & Store unit in your suitcase. The Global, including its lamp, is pretty darned sturdy. We hear stories from folks who have taken their Global units with them on really long, even international, trips with no problem whatsoever, so don’t feel that you have to worry about traveling with the lamp.
• Having said that, if you’re still not comfortable traveling with the lamp, no problem there either. Simply remove the lamp and leave it at home. Your Global II will work without the lamp. You’ll get the benefit of the heat, moving air, and desiccant, just not the sanitizing function for the duration of your trip.
• Whether you have the Global or the Zephyr, we think it’s a good idea to include a bit of literature about the unit in your suitcase next to your unit. Here’s a link to download the Dry & Store brochure (www.dryandstore.com/manuals). You can print it out and rubber band it around your unit to show the TSA folks in case they’re wondering what kind of contraption you’re carrying.
• If you’re traveling to a foreign country that has a different electrical system, the power supply that came with your unit will accommodate any input voltage (100-240V @ 50-60 Hz), so you don’t need a converter. But you may need a plug adapter. There are several on-line sources for plug adapters, or your local electronics store, such as Radio Shack or Best Buy, often stock those types of adapters.
• If you’re going for just a few days and you simply don’t have space to take along your Dry & Store, you still have another option that may surprise you because it’s so simple. Just take the Dry-Brik from your Dry & Store and put it in an air-tight container (like a Tupperware or Rubbermaid food-saver) every night with your instruments while you’re away from home. Although you won’t have the benefit of the heat and moving air that makes Dry & Store so effective, this solution will be “better than nothing” and certainly better than a bag or jar with silica gel. That’s because the Dry-Brik contains a desiccant called molecular sieve – it’s more powerful, more aggressive, and more efficient than silica gel. When you return home, just put the Dry-Brik back in your electric Dry & Store unit, and you’re back in business for the absolute best moisture removal.
We hope you find these tips helpful, and now we’d love to hear your travel tips! So use the box below to share your tips with your fellow Dry & Store fans, or share on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dryandstore
Happy trails to you and yours!
