Taking photos is both a joy and a challenge when traveling. I love capturing every moment, whether it’s a stunning view, a beautiful sunset, or a delicious meal. However, even short trips can result in hundreds or thousands of photos. These photos are essential for illustrating my blog articles, sharing on social media, and potentially using for future projects. They also include cherished memories with my husband, friends, and family. Losing any of these photos would be devastating, both personally and professionally. That’s why I was excited to try out the Western Digital My Passport external hard drive on my recent Uniworld cruise.

Before my trip, I tested the My Passport and discovered it needed formatting to work with my Apple Mac. The box indicated compatibility with Windows 8, Windows 7, or Windows Vista, but reformatting was required for Mac OS. Following the instructions from the included leaflet, I visited the provided website and found the formatting guide, which took about 10 minutes.

The My Passport is compact, measuring around 11cm x 8cm, making it easy to pack with my other travel essentials. I appreciated its slim, shiny white design, although aesthetics don’t affect its functionality. The version I have offers 1 TB of storage, which is 1000 GB. After a week-long trip, I had only used 6 GB, so there’s plenty of space left.

I already own two external hard drives for photo and video backups, which I use after each trip. However, since they contain several years’ worth of photos, I prefer not to travel with them to avoid the risk of losing everything. Instead, having a third hard drive like the My Passport for trips is ideal. I can use it as a backup and then clear it after each trip. Western Digital also offers a My Cloud personal storage unit for automatic home backups, which is another excellent option as my photo collection grows.

During the cruise, I transferred photos from my iPhone to my MacBook and then to the My Passport. This way, if my laptop or phone was lost or damaged, I still had a copy of the photos. Once home, I uploaded the best photos to my Flickr album and transferred them to my home hard drives, clearing the My Passport for the next trip. Spending 30 minutes every couple of days on this process is a small effort compared to the risk of losing my photos.

Even if you’re only taking photos for personal enjoyment and don’t travel with a laptop, having an external hard drive like the My Passport to back up your photos after returning home is a great idea. The security features allow for password protection if storing confidential information. There’s also an option for automatic laptop backups, though I don’t use this feature.

Since my review, Western Digital has updated the My Passport design with new colors. Overall, I found the My Passport easy to use and it provided peace of mind while traveling, knowing my photos were safely backed up.

Do you back up your photos when you travel? If so, what method do you use?