Comments

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  Ed Wetschler September 20, 2009 at 6:50pm

  I can't answer your question, Lise, but I can ask another one: Would connecting the Blackberry to one of those one-ounce, fold-up keyboards be of benefit?
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  Lise Tyrrell September 20, 2009 at 6:44pm

  As yet, I haven't travelled out of the country for work but I bought a Blackberry with internet and email capabilities. I'm hoping for domestic trips, I can get by with this. Anyone else use this set up? Granted, it's no good for actual work but I was hoping it would be enough to keep me linked in.
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  Mary Jo Manzanares September 20, 2009 at 6:04pm

  Early this year I bought a netbook specifically for a European trip. Best investment I made. I still have my other laptop for working closer to home, but for traveling light, nothing beats the lightweight netbook. I pack the ac adapter (it's not a big clunky one) and a mouse (I prefer using it over the touchpad), and I'm good to.
  
  Total weight -- under 3 lbs. And while I abhor having to pay for internet access at a hotel, I simply cannot be out of touch for tht long. I try to get hotels to waive or reduce the fee, or just connect every other day, but being totally off grid means triple the catch up time when I get home.
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  Allan Lynch September 20, 2009 at 6:00pm

  Yeah, I have a MacBook Pro which I love, but it doesn't fit in any normal laptop bag. I've been given five bags in the last year and none fit it.
  
  I don't take my laptop out of the country. For one thing, as a Canadian/foreigner, travelling to the U.S. I run the risk of having it confiscated by US customs. A number of travellers have mentioned having their harddrives searched and laptops taken away - sometimes for hours, others for indefinite periods.
  
  And since much of my work involves Europe, I find taking the laptop inconvenient. It's extra weight and extra worry. Plus there's the hassle of different electrical currents and the need for converters. There are plenty of internet cafes where I can dash in and for very little money check emails and empty out the stupid jokes from my inbox. Canadian High Commissions also provide free internet service to travelling Canadians.
  
  I also don't have tight deadlines that require me filing from the road. I keep in constant contact with my editors so they know when I'm home and when I'm away and where and that it may be a while before I can be reached (I do keep a cell phone in London that works all over Europe, so in an emergency they can reach me via it).
  
  On the road I love to take time each day to sit in a cafe or pub and make notes in a moleskin notebook (er, that's a real paper notebook, not a brand of computer). I find my observations and comments are vastly different from the notes I make on a computer screen. I like the "colour" pen and paper contribute.
  
  My other issue with travelling with technology is that it becomes a type of disconnect to the place. If I have my laptop with me, I usually end up emailing the same people I converse with all the time and visit the same websites as opposed to being out on the streets of this foreign destination.
  
  So I travel with my camera, microcassette recorder, pens and paper. It's old fashioned, but practical.
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  José Balido September 20, 2009 at 5:24pm

  I don't have one yet, but I think Netbooks are the way to go for travel writers on the go.... My own laptop has like a 19" screen, which is great for graphics work I do, but it's a PAIN for lugging on the road. I even had to buy a special over-sized bookbag for it!
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  Ed Wetschler September 20, 2009 at 5:07pm

  Joyce, I love the Verizon Fios deal that throws in a free Netbook. Only downside is, you're stuck with Verizon service. Verizon service. Oxymoron.
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  Joyce Copeland September 20, 2009 at 5:03pm

  I just bought a Netbook. Small, light. Incredibly easy to use. I love it!
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  Ed Wetschler September 20, 2009 at 4:43pm

  Mary Alice, I never travel without my laptop because I'm most comfortable doing emails etc. in my room--especially on a rush-rush trip. Many hotels will waive the wi-fi fee for travel writers. In addition, I need the laptop for photography. But if you don't mind putting clothes back on to go downstairs to the business center, if you're not taking a lot of large photos, and/or if you're carrying plenty of memory discs (may I please borrow one for my head?), then certainly, it's much easier on the soul to travel light.
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  Mary Alice Kellogg September 20, 2009 at 6:29am

  Hi guys:
  Am so glad to be in contact and to hear all your thoughts. Am going to Copenhagen/Stockholm on the 21st and they're really doing a major "go green" push -- tho as in all press trips it's a forced march mit jetlag. Will be back on the 28th and while am doing it for Everett Potter's Travel Report blog, am looking for any/all assignments that actually might bring money to the till. Know that I'm an old Copenhagen hand and do spirit of place quite well.
  Happy trails to all, and will be in touch after September 28th. I don't travel with the laptop as the hotels I'm staying in have (for a fee: fie!) business centers. The weight/adapters are just too much, especially without an immediate deadline.
  Any thoughts on whether it's worth it to take equipment abroad, if one isn't blogging but has old-fashioned future deadlines?
  Cheers, Mary Alice
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  David Paul Appell September 20, 2009 at 5:06am

  Good for you, Lise! You should consider posting in Hotels/Motels etc and Eco/Sustainable Tourism, as well. Good luck with the new venture!