Cameras/Video

The largest consideration next to connectivity is probably camera “Stuff.” Media cards, batteries, card readers and cables are good things to have spares of;  pretty horrible to be halfway through a day’s activities and find that you have no more room for pictures, or have the camera battery run out of juice. It is just as bad to finish off the first day of a trip and realize that you have no way to transfer your shots to a drive and no more media cards! (More on that next.) A spare camera battery (or rechargeables) and charger are handy indeed.

Storage

Photography, and even more, videography can use a lot of storage space; multiple media cards are good: better a few small ones or one really big one. A large media card may never need to be removed. Having 3 or 4 smaller ones decreases the chance of a failure or loss meaning you lose everything.

Copy or move your pictures/movies to your laptop daily, or if you have a netbook with a small drive, get a portable USB drive. Small 2.5” external drives are pretty cheap, may be more durable than the physically larger 3.5” drives and are a lot smaller and lighter. A 320gb drive is around $100, which is probably money well spent for any traveler who takes a lot of pictures. Make sure to get one that is USB powered; why deal with yet another power cord!

If you don’t want to deal with transferring files, get a bunch of media cards and some decent cases. Enough media cards, and you can just swap out cards and go through everything when you get home.

If you are thinking about buying some of the devices, I personally suggest choosing cameras and devices that all support the same format card if possible; the convenience of having a dSLR, camcorder and laptop that ALL support the same media card is huge.

DVD Players

Standalone dvd players have become less common as laptops have become a staple of the modern “techy”, but they are still around. Don’t forget the cords and/or batteries for these too. If you DO use a laptop for watching dvds (or let the kids use one) consider copying the dvd’s you want to the laptop’s drive if you have the room; hard drives use a LOT less battery power than dvd drives! Virtual drive imaging software lets you load up a “fake” dvd drive with an image of the disk stored on the hard drive if needed.

MP3 Players

Most MP3 players can charge through a usb cord, and the same cord will often fit cameras and portable hard drives. Bring what you need and make SURE you have it. If you think you will be transferring music while away, bring whatever is needed for that.

Electronics Bag

A single, separate bag for your electronic devices may make it easier to keep control of all the cords, plugs, cards and batteries you need when traveling. Considering the cost of these devices, it may also minimize the risk of theft or loss although it DOES mean that if a theft occurs you are likely to lose everything. I suggest getting one that is padded and sturdy, and then keeping it with you at ALL times, of course!

If you are staying fairly close to home (not visiting a foreign nation) then the main thing you need to do is to remember all your chargers! Or pick up one of those devices with multiple output voltages/connectors. They are expensive but if you do a lot of traveling, one may be worth the money.

If you are going abroad, voltages and plugs may be an issue. Check what is used at your destination and get whatever you need for plug adapters! Fortunately, most electronic chargers nowadays work with the two most commonly used electricity “formats”: 120 volt, single phase AC (alternating current) and 230 volt single phase AC. Check yours before you try it though. Some devices only work on one input voltage, and some still have a physical switch for changing between the two!

One piece of advice I have should be read at your own risk; having multiple devices does not mean you need plug adapters for every one. A simple 3-way plug adapter should allow 3 devices to be plugged in with one plug adapter without problems. Be careful not to overload it however, and check it the first few times you try it to see how warm its getting. Hot is bad. (I am a welder and often use a 230 volt welding machine with standard extension cords.)

Check your chargers, get the plug adapters you need (and any voltage adapters if required) and don’t forget anything! Best bet to not forget: lay out all your devices on a table or bed and plug the chargers into them when you pack.

This is the first post in a series about gearing up for travel by new contributor, Douglas Getgood.

The world has gotten smaller in many ways thanks to modern technology; cars bring towns that were days away 100 years ago within just a few hours of (mostly) reliable transportation. A trip to a foreign nation an ocean away could have been months or even years in the past; now it is just a few hours on a plane.

Electronics bring the world even closer without leaving our homes. People around the world can join online communities and chat with folks they may never see  and yet still become close. But this series of posts isn’t about chatting in forums, blogs or private messages;  it is about deciding on our electronic needs while traveling.  Being “connected” makes it possible to stay in close touch with those at home even if home is half a world away.

Priorities for travel equipment vary, but a few things will be common priorities for most of use —  internet connectivity and photography at a minimum. There are other common electronics to consider as well including cell phones, dvd players, music players, video camera and extra storage for most of these devices…

A lot of stuff to carry, and charging all these electronic toys adds weight and complexity. I know a little about some of these issues because I am going on a trip to Africa in the near future and have put some thought into just what I’ll need. This is a question which is fairly serious: travel in the wilds of Africa is generally strictly limited to specific weights and a choice may have to be made between clothes and toys!

Let’s start with Internet Connectivity

How to Connect:

The Internet is just about everywhere using wireless or “mobile broadband,” but that does NOT mean it is always accessible; standards vary somewhat for  cell phones (wireless computer modems are just “non-talking” cell phones) and open, non-secured hotspots are rare in most areas now. Consider where you are going and just how critical a constant connection to the world is;  it is possible (or nearly so) but may be expensive! The same consideration applies to cell phones, of course, as they use the same frequencies and equipment.

I have chosen to go the cheap route. The places I will be all have internet access so at night I will be able to do just about anything I need: email, administer a web server, brag about my trip…. err, I mean stay in touch with folks elsewhere. I checked into getting a cell connection for the trip, and for about half my trip it is possible, but extremely expensive, and to cover as much as possible, I might need to connect to two different frequencies increasing cost even more.

For travel in a single nation, or to areas where the same cell frequencies are in use as where you live, this is less of an issue, obviously. Especially if you connect using a tethered cell phone.

Connect with phone? Computer?

Having an internet connection is fine and dandy, but there is also a question of what are you connecting WITH. Smartphones are enough for some folks. Laptops are the largest segment of the computer market now, and just about every techno-family has at least one. Netbooks are the fastest growing segment of the computer market and may be a good choice with a few caveats: netbooks have weak processors and most have little storage space as well as no internal cd/dvd drive.

They can be great traveling companions though; mine is an HP Mini 1010 with an upgraded drive, battery and memory. It is small and light, has 64 gigabytes of storage and lasts 5+ hours between charges when being used. Compared to my last laptop which was hard pressed to stay running for 2 hours, for my needs, it is almost perfect. Netbooks are NOT desktop replacements though, and they are not suitable for heavy-duty computing tasks.

But they are cheap and handy.  Hint: if you are considering a netbook, dual-core netbooks should be out soon and will probably be worth waiting for. Much stronger.

With the Internet, cell phones and a connected device covered, in my next post, we’ll switch to the single most common electronic piece to consider when traveling: chargers!