07Jan14
This installment of Travel Tip Tuesday is about technology and what to bring with you when you are traveling. One of the questions we hear often is, “Oh, did you bring iPads?”
We thought carefully about what technology we really needed, so here’s a little about our thought process. Ultimately, we went with our laptops and iPhones to cover all our needs. We have a small digital camera that we bring when we’re going somewhere really picturesque. But the iPhone can still take pretty good photos, like this one of the Virgin Mary overlooking Santiago.
Questions to Ask Yourself
- How long am I traveling? Is this a short- or long-term solution?
- Am I primarily consuming media, or will I be doing productivity-related things, like word processing or video editing?
- Which one or two devices take care of all my needs? How can I ditch duplicative devices?
Laptop or Tablet?
We’ve gone on trips where we only brought a tablet, and it was fine for checking the occasional email, looking up information, or watching a movie. The upside, of course, is that even with a keyboard, a tablet is much more compact and lightweight than a laptop.
For our purposes, we couldn’t imagine only having tablets for a year. We knew we’d be working on projects where it would be easier to use a laptop, such as the videos I created for my Skillshare class. And while a laptop is bigger, a tablet is still too big to keep in your pocket, so it doesn’t make it easier to transport on a daily basis. Also, some mobile apps, such as the WordPress mobile interface, lack a lot of the functionality of the desktop version. Believe me, we tried it.
Lastly, some mobile apps only allow you to access things while connected to the internet. That’s fine if you’re someplace with wifi, but if you don’t have cellular data — which you won’t if you’re abroad and don’t have an unlocked device — then it’s super annoying. For example, want to remove photos from your memory card to make room? You could upload them to the cloud…if you have good wifi. Better to have the flexibility to transfer them to your laptop using a cable while offline.
Bring the Smartphone?
Even if you have a dumbphone and love it, I’d recommend getting an unlocked smartphone. We have iPhone 5’s, which serve as phones, GPS, e-readers, MP3 players, cameras, video recorders… Why am I saying this? You already know that these can do everything. Best of all, you can grab a cheap SIM card and get prepaid minutes and, if you like, cellular data.
The SIM cards we’ve gotten are less than USD$10 and come preloaded with some minutes, texts and data. It takes 15 minutes at a store to buy, install and activate. And then you have something you can keep in your pocket day-to-day rather than carrying a bag. Going for a run? It’s got your music. Lost? It’s got maps and GPS. Find a nice park? Grab a bench and read your book. At a coffee shop? Do a Skype video call over wifi.
Moral of the Story
Don’t bother with a tablet unless you’ll only be gone for a long weekend. We sold our iPad and it paid for some plane tickets.
