Electronics

Loyal reader Rob has asked about the electronic stuff that I have with me, especially the laptop used for this blog and email.

If such things do not interest you, you may skip reading this post.

As I prepared for this trip, I realized that there was going to be lots of extra stuff to haul around in addition to the bicycle. It is good that my clothing needs are simple and that I'm not too particular about making fashion statements. Otherwise, I would have needed a third suitcase.

Here is a picture of the electronic paraphernalia I have. It does not include the small digital camera that was used to take the picture:

You'll see two cell phones. One works in the US; the other in Europe. The European phone cost $49 with no monthly fees and includes a UK number. The per-minute charges are of course quite high but it is essentially for emergency use and infrequent calls (such as confirming the pick-up time and place with the lodge owner). The SIM card for the phone is from Mobal but now that I have the phone, I could purchase a SIM card with better rates or different coverage if my needs change or there is a better deal.

There are lots of chargers: camera, cell phone, laptop, iPOD. Standardizing these so that only one was needed would be a great advance for civilization.

The camera is a Panasonic DMC-FZ8 with a 12x zoom and 7+ MP. It isn't an SLR which makes it lighter and more compact but it has alll the manual features and settings that one could want. The other camera is a Nikon Coolpix S50c point and shoot. It takes good pictures but doesn't have lots of features nor shoot in RAW mode. if you know what that is you'll understand why it is important to me. If not, ask me sometime or read about it on the web. I brought the Nikon along just in case there were problems with the Panasonic.

A variety of SD memory cards from 1-8GB were brought along as well as an USB SD adapter just for good measure. An 8GB USB memory stick was brought along just for backing up pictures. On our trip to Portugal several years ago, half the pictures were lost when the memory card was re-formated accidentally. You wouldn't think that would happen with the camera buttons randomly being hit as the camera bumped against me but the 'Format Successful' message and complete absence of pictures confirmed that it did. I still mourn the loss of those pictures.

The iPOD has been with me for years as you can probably see. It's a first generation one and the battery has been replaced three times. The battery died early in the train trip to Paris. Maybe I should just break down and buy a new iPOD.

Two plug adapters are included to connect this stuff to the local outlets.

Finally, there is the laptop, an Acer AspireOne.

It is has a solid state drive, meaning no spinning hard disk, that is like a memory stick. It weights less than 2 pounds, starts up fast (15 seconds) and costs less than $400. It runs Linux and has lots of open source programs to do whatever I and most people need to do. Installation of other programs (like a full featured photo editor that I wanted) is easy. The *nix command line is there for those comfortable with it like I am. It is about the size of a National Geographic magazine but a little thicker. The keyboard is useable for touch typing (another of my requirements) and the screen is more than good enough. I highly recommend this computer for travel.

I took a mouse along which didn't make it into the picture as it is much more comfortable for me especially when dealing with pictures and moving stuff around.

Finally, there are the Bose noise-cancellation headphones. These are great for listening to music but their real value is blocking noise on the plane that makes the trip much more restful. The reduction in engine noise, not just noise made by other passengers, that is the benefit here. Also highly recommended.

And that for those of you still reading is my digital travel world.