Gadgets You Backpack Around the World With? 625
ryrw writes "I'm planning to spend a year backpacking around the world and the hardest question I have to answer is: What technology do I take with me? Aside from the obvious (digital camera, ipod, et. al.) what technological devices would you you take? Specifically, I wonder if I should bring my nice and shiny MacBook Pro. I can think of lots of uses for it (offloading pix, updating weblog, email, etc.), but I'm worried it will be lost or stolen along the way. Does anyone have experience with travel while toting technology?"
None of that junk (Score:1, Insightful)
Of course, perhaps you are talking about backpacking from city to city and hanging out, which I wouldn't really call backpacking, more living the life of a hobo. If you are going to live the life of a hobo, don't bother lugging around a computer.
As Little As Possible (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:What about (Score:3, Insightful)
Unplug. (Score:2, Insightful)
As to the problem of theft, don't take anything you are not fully prepared to lose. or break. If you MUST take a laptop, get an old junky one, and make sure it has zero personal info on it. I have an old Sony Viao 505fx that I take on motorcycle trips. It's tiny, but powerful enough for uploading photos and surfing the web. All I need, and if it got stolen tomorrow, no great loss.
Stony
Probably not... (Score:4, Insightful)
That said, I think part of the fun of backpacking is not taking everything with you -- it's about seeing how well you can live without luxuries. Also, when you're backpacking, every kilogram and every litre counts; brining a laptop + its accessories means you'll have to sacrifice space that you could use for another couple pairs of underwear or a shirt.
As far as pictures go, get a large memory card for your camera. You'll find places that will take your pictures from your memory card and burn them to CD while you wait. Internet cafes are ubiquitous in many parts of the world. I think you overestimate your need for a laptop.
I wouldn't take a laptop. But it's really up to you.
Nothing (Score:5, Insightful)
This might be your last opportunity to live relatively low-tech. Embrace it.
Nothing (Score:2, Insightful)
my 2 cents
Re:Travel as light as you possibly can (Score:4, Insightful)
Most importantly, have fun, thats the point. Life is about experiences.
duct tape - a necessity (Score:3, Insightful)
From experience Hotel = Laptop, Hostel = pad of paper
Don't forget that travel is about experience, not about having your nose stuck in a computer. If you're going to do that, stay home - it's cheaper.
laptop? backpacking? (Score:5, Insightful)
I say if you're gonna be packing everything with you on your back everywhere, you've got to keep light. I read that even mp3 players are a bad idea, because every ounce (or kilohectare, for you metric lovers) counts when you're going any real distance with a pack on your back. I combine the mp3 player with the phone (but it doesn't do me any good, because my wife wants me to leave the phone at home with her).
I went on a 15-mile hike with the Scouts a few weeks ago, and I felt every pound I had on me. One of the leaders even told about how he dumps excess water if he knows there's a stream a mile ahead.
So I guess it's up to you. If you feel like you can take it, go on a 15-mile hike with everything you think you want to take. After 15 miles, you'll know what is worth hauling around and what's worth leaving. That's what worked for me. After that 15 miler I got a different pack, changed what I ate, changed how much water I carried (and how I carried it), and bought some new boots.
Test-drive your pack. It's worth it!
Re:Travel as light as you possibly can (Score:5, Insightful)
However, if you're truly going backpacking, don't bring a notebook of any type. You won't use it. I went for a 30 day trip through just Europe a while back (pre digital camera days) and brought 35mm camera with a couple of lenses and a medium sized lightweight tripod. Got great pictures, but that rig sure got heavy.
Went on another much later with a small digital camera and a super small tripod, took about twice as many pictures, got some relatively decent ones considering it was a point and shoot on a 4" tripod
It really depends upon what the purpose of your trip is. The time frame of 1 year also adds to it. If you're frequently going to places where power in unreliable or unavailable, look for something to take that runs on easy to get batteries.
I'm also going to guess you're going to be carrying some sort of cell phone, since you were considering a notebook. Maybe look at getting a phone that doubles as some or most of the functionality of the notebook that you needed will suffice?
Most importantly, remember you're going to see stuff, not your gear (you can do that @ home) unless you're writing a travel book or something like it.
Backpacking and gadgets = grief and hassle (Score:4, Insightful)
I traveled around Asia with a laptop, large camera bag, dive gear bag, and a backpack.
I've done other backpack-ish trips with my PDA and phone.
Long story short.
Laptop: Spent a large amount of money on it right before my trip. Had to carry it in a separate backpack. Had to hold it over my head while I walked through waist high flood waters on the sidewalk. It broke, a travel buddy broke it, ruined a friendship. No place in Thailand could fix it. Warranty couldn't be honored without long trip to another country. Heavy. Needed lots of converters. Lugged a broken laptop around on my travels. Wasted travel time trying to get it fixed. Stayed in bungalows that had poor locks/security - worried about theft. By the time I could fix the laptop, it had depreciated to the point that I would have been better off buying a new one.
Camera: Bring a small camera with extra memory cards as your PRIMARY camera. Burn CDs of your pictures regularly. Burn two copies. Keep one with you. Send one to somewhere safe. Large SLR cameras: Get a good telephoto lens and don't bring extra lenses. Decide how much you love photography and how much of your pack storage you're willing to devote to YOUR SECOND camera -- once you factor in the chargers and extra batteries and ram cards for each camera. Also, consider the security factors of your camera gear. Cameras are small and valuable/desirable and need to be protected. Keeping the number of things you have to protect to a minimum is a benefit when you travel. Also, you'll want to have some waterproof bag to put your camera/electronic gear in so that when you travel between cities in a minibus and your bags are on top of the minivan for 12 hours, you won't worry about the 4-hour typhoon-like rains ruining your electronic gear.
Dive gear: Not gadgets, per se. If you're a diver and your travel focus is diving, nothing beats traveling with your own gear. On the other hand, try being one person carrying 150 lbs. of bags with you and see how mobile you are when you're looking for deals on accomodation... Check your gear and stow it in reliable lockers in a big city when you're not going to be using it.
Backpack: Not a gadget, a necessity.
PDA: in my experience, PDA battery life and backpacking around aren't very compatible. I *WANTED* to use my PDA a lot while traveling, but battery life drains after a few hours and requires a long time to charge. Do you want to travel or spend time sitting in cafe's waiting for your PDA to charge? On long trips, your PDA battery will die and when you need it, you won't be able to use it. You'll run your battery down very low and get used the scary warnings about "BATTERY LEVEL CRITICALLY LOW: RECHARGE IMMEDIATELY OR RISK DATA LOSS"
Phone: chances are that your phone won't work in all of the countries you're traveling to. It's actually a good thing to have a working phone while you travel. Do your research in advance with your cell service provider. Make sure you have all of the proper adapters.
Internet cafes are easy to find. Don't encumber yourself with unnecessary gadgets. You'll find them much more of a burden than a benefit in general. They'll keep you from meeting interesting new people. *IF* you choose to bring gadgets, make some tradeoffs so that you don't bring too much stuff and keep your bag light.
Re:Travel as light as you possibly can (Score:3, Insightful)
If you *really* want a distraction, bring a small book or portable gaming device. Keep it light. And keep in mind that you'll usually either have to pay for storage or take your pack with you. Everywhere. Not a trivial thing, that. Especially when the weather is... "unpleasant".
Re:Travel as light as you possibly can (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Travel as light as you possibly can (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:laptop? backpacking? (Score:5, Insightful)
From what he said, it sounds like he'll be "backpacking" like "backpacking around Europe." That is, rather than taking a suitcase, the backpack will be the suitcase. Everything you need for the trip in there. You seem to be thinking of backpack-camping. That is where your backpack is your only thing. All food and housing (as well as water or water purification) must be contained within. That doesn't seem to be what he is doing. I've done both, and you pack differently for each. And we took a videocamera and GPS with us on a 40 mile hike, though we traded them off for who carried what at any given time. Oh, and of course, the cell phone, even though it was only good for about 2 of the 40 miles. But you gotta call for the pickup at the end...
Re:Travel as light as you possibly can (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Travel as light as you possibly can (Score:3, Insightful)
1. they can fill up and you might not be able to offload the pics.
2. it's good to keep those separate from your camera when you're not using hte camera on the off-chance your camera is stolen. a friend of mine had this happen to her when she was on vacation. she went swimming with her camera on her chair near the pool and someone ran off with it, taking all her pics with her.
Re:Nothing (Score:1, Insightful)
The gear you bring with you will have a few effects:
1. More weight in your bag - you won't want to walk as far with that heavy bag. This will limit the places you see.
2. More space in your bag - you'll need a larger bag. This will be harder to stow as you go. You are much more likely to be separated from your bag if it is big. (When you get on the bus large bags get put underneath or in the back where others may be curious about its contents. Small bags go on your lap, where you can keep an eye on them, get in them when you need a snack, camera or extra layer.)
3. Cause worry - a laptop is expensive and has all kinds of things you may care about on it. It will be vulnerable to theft, water, dust and getting dropped. The same applies to the iPod, though it is less expensive and you may have music backups. You are traveling to leave worries behind, not make new ones. Imagine a trip where everything except your passport is replaceable. All you really ever need with you is your passport and copies of your traveler check numbers and copies of your airline tickets and enough cash to travel to a city and find a bank and access your money. You can repurchase anything that was lost, stolen or soaked in a downpour. When you get home your valuables from the trip will be stamps in your passport, photos and memories.
4. Separate you from the experience of being were you are. I use technology for many purposes. One is distraction. This is subjective, but I'd recommend leaving as many gadgets behind as possible for this reason alone. Without earbuds you might suffer through hearing some conversations, but you might also hear more and pick up local languages more quickly.
But definitely bring the camera. Get one that you like and is small enough that you can carry it in your shirt or pants pocket for a quick picture. Bring extra memory cards - you probably know how cheap they are getting these days. Use the movie clip feature. Carnival and leaf-cutter ants need a bit of motion.
Internet access is really available everywhere. You will find Internet cafes even in small towns in the poorest countries where you can email, upload photos and read Slashdot.
Ear plugs and a LED keychain light are also highly recommended. Very handy in the evenings. If you want to carry a flashlight there are some cool LED lights that you charge by occasionally shaking them to move a magnet through a coil. Plenty bright enough for most any task. Bring some paper, perhaps a journal, to draw and write.
Have a great trip! Enjoy the people you meet.
-Jon
Re:Travel as light as you possibly can (Score:3, Insightful)
Get a few of yourself, too ... (Score:2, Insightful)
It can also be an eyeopener to see what the folks around you were seeing - I learned that the barbers had been having their little laugh. Good times.
Re:Travel list of champions (Score:3, Insightful)
Don't take a GPS (Score:3, Insightful)
Some of the most interesting things happen when you end up where you didn't expect to end up. Sure, it can be a little risky too. But if you're not up to a little risk you probably shouldn't be going on the trip.
I'd recommend getting a small compass, and learn how to use it. Compasses don't need batteries, and are cheap to replace.
Only other advice I'd offer is not to take anything you aren't afraid to lose. Because on a trip that length, you will lose stuff.