Kevin Smith

Good point on ditching the power strip so yeah also pop off the rear filter and wash it thoroughly then vacuum or blow compressed air through the intake while it’s unplugged to clear lint from the heater - blocking the intake with your hand or towel is a common culprit. Run it on high fan with a lower heat setting and use the cool shot every minute to keep temps in check. If it’s tripping faster than it used to, the thermal cutout can get touchy with age and repeated trips can blow the one-time fuse, so replacement may be the safer move.

One more thing to watch is the power feed: hair dryers hate long or thin-gauge extension cords or loose power strips which drop voltage and slow the fan, making them overheat. If your model has a removable rear filter/foam, pop it out and rinse it, and be mindful of hair covering the intake while you dry; lint packed into that screen is easy to miss and starves airflow. If it still trips even on medium with a clean filter and good outlet, the thermal cutoff or motor bearings may be on their way out, and replacing the dryer is usually the safer, cheaper fix.

If it will not focus even in bright daylight at the wide end with a single focus point and no macro or face detection and that is almost certainly hardware. If you can swap lenses, do that to confirm whether it is the lens or the body. Fixed lens models that have seen sand often end up with a jam and you might hear a faint buzz when it hunts. Repairs take weeks and you have a trip coming up so even if you send it now you might not get it back in time, and the bill can be a big chunk of what the camera is worth. I actually would borrow a camera if possible or use manual focus as a stopgap for the trip, then decide on repair after you are back.