Travel Tech Q&A: Tecala's Gleuto Serafim

Travelling well with tech is all about having power for your devices, according to Gleuto Serafim, CEO and chief enterprise architect for IT consultant Tecala. See his travel tips in this week's Travel Tech Q&A.

Gleuto Serafim
(Credit: Tecala)

Tecala provides consulting, project management, integration and procurement services, helping companies with IT challenges such as infrastructure, virtualisation, storage management, application delivery, unified communications, service desk and backup.

What tech do you travel with and why?

I travel light, but staying connected is vital to me! I have four essential devices that I always carry. The principal one is my iPhone (4S 64GB), which has international roaming and the ability to tether my devices onto the internet — a must for me. Then my laptop (MacPro), my iPad (3G 64GB) and my Livescribe pen and pad, which is an invaluable device, as I can take notes on a conventional paper pad and record meetings, then have the information saved on my computer soon after.

What's your favourite phone app for travelling and why?

The email app on my iPhone — I use it all the time on a business and social basis, followed by Twitter and Facebook.

For travelling abroad you can't do better than the TomTom app, with maps of your destination country preloaded, saving lots of time and frustration.

Personal travel advice/tip?

Before I travel I ensure all my documents relevant to the trip are available on my iPhone, including hotel reservations, car reservations, flight tickets, etc. I store them as images that can be easily retrieved when required. I also scan all sensitive documents and store them in my email travel folder including passports, driver's licence, etc.

How do you deal with jet lag?

I don't usually suffer from jet lag too much. I tend to stay awake as long as I can and when I arrive at my destination slip into the local time cycle. I've found "round the world" trips are easier on my body particularly when travelling from west to east.

What was your biggest travel disaster?

Travelling from Washington DC to Sydney via London. I missed the connection to Sydney and had to wait 11 hours in the Qantas lounge at Heathrow Airport.

Is there one thing you must do before you leave home?

I always make sure that all my devices are fully charged as it's extremely frustrating to run out of power — usually at a crucial moment! So, the Serafim checklist is simple: all devices charged and in the bag, the TomTom map of my destination downloaded, the passports in my pocket with respective visas ... then "au revoir".

What is your dream travel tech to have on planes/in airports/at hotels?

With internet availability on planes now becoming available, electrical power points should be compulsory for all seats (not only in business) to ensure laptops and other devices can be recharged. It would be good to see this in airport boarding lounges as well — nothing is more frustrating than to see your battery going so that the laptop shuts down just before you press the send button!

Favourite destination city to work/visit & why?

I have a passion for Tokyo as it's a city where everything works. I don't try to fit my western way of using technology into the Japanese infrastructure, I just enjoy the new things I experience in Japan. It's important to keep an open mind as sometimes western devices are not technologically compatible.

Which airport would you prefer to be stranded at and why?

I would prefer not to be stranded in any airport! However, if I must, it would have to be the Doha Premium Terminal at Doha International Airport and the Lufthansa First Class Terminal at Frankfurt airport. As a tech nerd, I only need to have a good internet Wi-Fi to be happy, although good technologically advanced infrastructure is always a plus, along with a good dining area.