A journey away from home is a lot more fun when you get a good night’s rest. But I’m the kind of person who likes to fall asleep to familiar TV shows and movies, so I always bring a cheap HDMI cable on vacations and work trips.
An HDMI Cable Lets Me Take Control of Any TV
Despite the global push for on-demand video streaming, hotels and resorts are fully committed to cable. It’s an odd thing—”dumb” TVs are practically nonexistent, so you know that the TV in your hotel room is “smart,” but it can’t do any smart stuff. I mean, maybe it’ll show you a map of the hotel or offer you room service, but that’s about it.
I still think that linear television is a lot of fun. Cable has decayed to the point of no return, frankly, but I was born to channel surf and watch random ad-filled movies. There’s just one problem: I’ve gotten in the deep, unshakeable habit of “watching” familiar shows as I fall asleep. Golden Girls and Star Trek are like white noise machines for me, and the randomized chaos of cable can’t substitute my nightly regimen.
Hence the need for an HDMI cable. If you want something done right, you’ve got to do it yourself, and all that. When I walk into a hotel room, I unpack my necessities, take a shower, and reach around the back of the TV to plug in my trusty HDMI cable. When it’s time for bed, I connect my laptop to the HDMI cable and fire up whatever show will lull me to sleep. If I accidentally leave the HDMI cable in the hotel room, it’s not a big deal, I only spent about $6 on it anyway.
Of course, I realize that most Airbnbs come with a smart TV. I wouldn’t need an HDMI cable if I just stayed at Airbnbs. But a lot of my travel is work-related, so I rarely have a choice of where I stay. There’s also something nice about the bland predictability of a Holiday Inn after a long day of seeing new sights, meeting new people, and eating new foods, at least in my experience.
An HDMI Cable Is Handy for Music, Too
This is probably a me thing, but I hate wearing headphones when I’m alone in a hotel room. It gives me the heebie jeebies—like, what if an axe murderer tries to break down my door? My paranoia demands open-air speakers. And if a TV’s speakers are better than the ones in my laptop, that’s what I’ll use to play music.
I like to play music in my hotel room when I’m packing, eating, or rushing through some remote work. Even if I go a whole trip without using the hotel TV as a sleepytime white noise machine (some TVs are just too bright), keeping an HDMI cable in my travel bag is worth it for the music.
However, TV speakers tend to be pretty crappy. If I’ve got room in my bag, or if I’m traveling with other people, I’ll usually bring along a small Bluetooth speaker for a slightly more enjoyable music-listening experience.
Unfortunately, Some Hotels Are Evil
Some hotels don’t want you to use the HDMI ports on their TVs. They block the ports in software, place arbitrary timers on HDMI video input, or give you a weird remote control that lacks an input-select button. I’ve also stayed in hotel rooms where the TV’s HDMI ports are physically inaccessible due to flush wall mounting or awkward furniture placement, though this is probably a consequence of poor interior design, rather than an intentionally malicious decision on the part of the hotel.
In any case, HDMI cables aren’t always useful when traveling. You’re bound to be disappointed every now and then. And I don’t really have a solution for this particular challenge. Thankfully, HDMI cables take up very little space. I may not love every hotel that I stay at, but I never regret packing an HDMI cable in my travel bag, even when I don’t have an opportunity to use it.
You’ve probably got plenty of HDMI cables laying around the house, and if not, you can just buy a cheap one from Walmart, Amazon, or some other retailer. It’ll only cost you like $7. That said, if you’re specifically looking for a space-saving HDMI cable that’s easy to pack away, I suggest buying one that has a coiled or retractable design.
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