Friendly Computers found these helpful tips for packing and using your electronic devices while on vacation. These may com in handy when planning your next trip:
ATLANTA — Vacations make no sense.
A couple of times a year I leave my comfortable home and big screen TV for an average to below average hotel room. My fancy two-seater sports car stays behind, and I rent an economy car that huffs and puffs on hills. Between home and the hotel room, I squirm for hours in an airline seat designed for midgets.
No technology in the world can save you from all that. But there are ways to mitigate the torture using some well-selected gadgets.
Start with the fact that much of your high-tech work can be done before you ever leave. If you’ll be traveling without a GPS, print out driving instructions from the airport to your hotel and to various places you’d like to visit.
You can also search the Web for restaurant reviews and tourist attractions. It’s often possible to save a few bucks by printing out coupons you sometimes find on Web sites for restaurants and tourist stops.
Once that’s done, start assembling the gadgets you plan on taking along. Travel as light as you can — lugging a big backpack filled with electronics can turn a jaunt into a death march.
I’m assuming you’ll want to take pictures so you can bore your friends and remind yourself how red a person can turn after a few hours on the beach.
Your digital camera and memory cards for it will do just fine going through airport security scanners. However, there are a couple of things to keep in mind.
The air in an airliner in flight is very dry. Dry air increases the chance of static electricity. Static electricity can scramble electronics and memory cards. So, just to be careful, avoid removing the memory card while in flight.
And plan on taking along an extra memory card, even if there’s plenty of room for photos on a single card. I wish I had taken that advice while on a trip to Nova Scotia. My compact flash card stopped working and it was impossible to buy one at any price in my remote location on Cape Breton.
Now let’s talk about a gadget that is becoming more than a luxury — the iPhone. I’d give up vacations if I didn’t have one. Taking the iPhone along means I don’t need to lug 6 pounds or so of computer, network cables and the like. It serves as a GPS when I’m hopelessly lost. And a nifty iPhone application puts the Urban Spoon restaurant review site at my fingertips. You can find that application here: www.urbanspoon.com/blog/27/Urbanspoon-on-the-iPhone.html.
I realize you are unlikely to buy an iPhone just to take along on a vacation. You may feel the need for a notebook computer so that you’ll be able to ruin your vacation by reading worrisome e-mails from work.
My advice? If you can stand the separation pain, leave the computer at home. Almost every hotel will have a business center that allows the free use of computers and the Internet. That’s where I print out my boarding passes for the return trip.
And even if your hotel or motel doesn’t offer a computer room, you’re likely to find free computers at a public library. Worst case, you can pay to use computers at various businesses like this one: www.fedex.com/us/office/services/computer/index.html.
One final essential item to take along: zip-lock baggies. Since many vacation activities take place near water and sand, a baggie provides excellent, cheap protection for your digital camera, MP3 player and cell phone. Even a heavy rain can sometimes damage a digital camera.
That baggie can also do double duty by holding memory cards, connecting cables and spare batteries during your travel. That will keep things organized and make things go faster if the TSA folks decide to inspect your luggage.OK. You’re ready to go now. But you may want to consider my favorite vacation spot. It’s a place with a complete kitchen, your favorite gadgets and all the comforts of home.
Source: http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090620/ART16/906209971/-1/ART
