Study: Travelers Would Pick Smartphone Over Toothbrush, Deodorant

(KDKA) - It turns out people will give up just about anything to keep their phones on hand, even while on vacation.

A new study from Expedia and Egencia found that people would prefer to have their smartphones while they travel, even over other important items. The participants chose their phones over a toothbrush, driver's license, deodorant and other things that most people don't want to do without.

The study included 9,642 travelers across North America, Europe, South America and Asia Pacific. More than half of study participants said they wouldn't want to go on vacation without their mobile device.

Aman Bhutani, president for Expedia Brand Group, said that people consider their phones essential.

"We have found that travelers are using mobile devices at every stage of the travel process, from researching and booking trips to capturing and sharing the travel experience," Bhutani said. "A traveler can use their device to read work email and stay connected to the office, they also believe it improves the quality of their vacations."

At the same time, people said that mobile phone habits can be annoying while on vacation. People considered playing music, games or videos without headphones to be the most offensive phone habit. Taking photos/videos of strangers also ranked high on that list.

Plus, while a phone can be helpful with finding restaurants while visiting a strange city, more than half of the participants said their phones made it impossible to truly "unplug".