I had a problem once when my laptop display was just black after booting. Triend everything, nothing worked. Return to OEM authorized support. They had my laptop for 4 weeks, so solution. Then just refunded the full price & retuned back the laptop.
Ubuntu LTS since then & no sick or weird issues since.
Get VLC Media Player or another similar of choice. Where it's easy for you to manage & watch/ listen to any media of choice.
Enjoy your upcoming travels.