Summer Time, Travel Time

Summer time is travel time for majority of the people in the US. With the summer heat, people tend to go on long drives, plane rides, beach parties or just simple frolicking under the sun. Travelling is not much of an inconvenience if you will go on a road trip - especially if you won't be the one driving - but it can be a pain especially if you will be taking a plane ride. One, you won't have the comforts of your home. Two, you must bring enough of your stuff so you won't be cursing at yourself for not bringing what you really wanted. I am a gadget guy so I will discuss here what I bring every time I leave the comforts of my home.

First off is my Macbook Pro. I would have done away with this and just use my iPod Touch, but I decided that I won't be able to do away with the laptop for now. Why? Because the iPod Touch is such a closed system that there is no way to put anything in it without going through iTunes. Take for example the iPad. If I have an iPad now, then I could put into it whatever photos and videos I take via the optional USB connection kit. Why would I need this? If I have the connector then I would be able to share the videos and pictures that I will take to Facebook and Twitter. I can also use the iPad as a back up device, though this may not be a very good proposition because it will fill up the iPad in no time, especially since I am shooting in RAW. So, for now, I will be bringing both my Macbook Pro and my iPod Touch.

The second thing that I would bring is a portable external drive. After each day that I shoot, I make it a habit to transfer whatever photos I take into an external drive and wipe clean my CF card. The harddrive will take care of all my photos for me.

Since I need to transfer photos to the external drive, I need to bring a card reader! Transferring photos via the USB cable provided with whatever camera brand you are using can be a really slow process. Better invest in a card reader and your transfers will be much quicker.

External drive, card reader, iPod touch... Don't forget to bring your cables. Remember that not all USB cables are created equal - there is USB-to-USB, mini-USB, micro-USB, Apple iPod connector, Apple iPod Shuffle connector... If only there is a universal USB cable...

Camera battery charger, iPhone charger, iPad charger, iPod charger, laptop cable, extra batteries for external flash, extra CF cards - so many things to charge. I don't think the hotel you would be staying in would have enough wall outlets to suit all your charging needs, so, I propose you bring a power strip also. This would be most handy when you travel to Europe since the outlets there are different. So what you can do in such a situation is to buy one universal outlet adapter and plug your power strip to that. This would be much cheaper than buying one adapter for each of the gadget that you need to recharge.

LAN cable, for those hotels that only offer such connection. And with this also, you will be able to save because you can set your Macbook to be your wi-fi source. With one Macbook, the wife and I can share the internet connection, including our iPod touches, etc. Just make sure you put a password for your internet connection. You don't want people from other rooms mooching on your dime...

And of course, I don't leave the house without a book or two. However, I now use a Kindle, so I don't need to bring two books anymore, just one Kindle. :) But, this is another thing that needs to be charged, so...

These are the only things I can think of right now. If something else will crop up, then I will just update this entry.

Enjoy summer and happy trip! :)