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Things a Geek Needs When on Vacation

6 Responses (Add) | Friday, September 11th, 2009 at 5:24am

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When Geeks go somewhere new, it takes us awhile to acclimate. There’s just so much stuff we have to take with us everywhere we go. However, I’ve found myself packing a little too much at times, have you? What are your must have Geek items that you have to take with you when you travel? What can’t you leave behind? Ollie was kind enough to send us a list of the top things that a Geek must be sure to pack whenever they go on a trip. How does his list compare to yours?

A laptop. – Every Geek will undoubtedly take a laptop on vacation. Whether it be a netbook or a full blown, top of the line, 17” MacBook Pro. How would a Geek survive without access to the internet? How would he/she check blogs, watch Diggnation or even check emails?! A laptop left at home is an unhappy and lonely laptop. Don’t deprive it of a Vacation.
An external mouse. – While a laptop has a perfectly good trackpad, who wants to use this all the time? If you are sitting in your hotel room and you are checking up with the latest updates, your hand will most likely start to ache after sitting there for long periods of time poking at your laptop with a finger. A mouse is going to make you feel more comfortable and relieve the strain from your hand. It will also mean you are being more ergonomic and will reduce the risk of long term pain you may build up in your hand.
Travel adapters. – These are some of the most important things you will need, yet some of the most forgotten. Without travel adapters, you cannot convert power from foreign sockets and therefore not power your electronics. Not bringing these will defeat the aim of taking any kind of electronic device at all. You can pick these up at any general store for very little. Most laptop power bricks will have interchangeable plugs. The Apple Store sells a worldwide travel kit with different sockets for different countries and these just attach onto the white power brick. Be sure to check the power brick’s voltage first as countries operate on different voltages. Most power bricks operate at 110v – 240v which is fine for most of the world.
Spare cables. – You never know when you will need a spare cable. This could be an ethernet cable, for some older fashioned places or a simple iPod cable for when your iPod/iPhone needs a sync or even a charge. It can also be helpful to carry adapters for converting DVI – VGA just in case this place you are staying has a monitor you can plug in to. Other useful cables would be a Mini USB cable, a 3.5mm to 3.5mm jack, video cables and anything else related to your gadgets.
A comfortable bag. – If you are carrying all these heavy gadgets, you are going to need something to carry them in. The simple solution is a bag. This can be especially important if you are going to be flying, as you are likely going to be walking around the airport. If you have a strap that is digging into your shoulder, or putting strain on your back, you are going to regret it later. Find a bag that is comfortable to carry with heavy weights and is going to be ergonomically suitable to you and your needs.
An iPod/Zune. – When you are traveling, chances are you are going to get bored. If you are driving for multiple hours, you are not going to want to listen to some radio in a language you cannot understand. If you are on a plane and you want to relax and block the noise of everyone else and the engines out, just stick your headphones and watch a movie or listen to your own music. Be sure to charge and sync your device before leaving home.
Movies and TV Shows. – Continuing the previous point, make sure you have sufficient content for your device that would keep you entertained throughout the trip. You can rent or buy movies and videos through iTunes and rip them using Handbrake or a Windows equivalent. Make sure they are in the right format. Do not leave it until you want to watch it to find out that the content has not synced due to incorrect formatting.
A camera. – You will always need a camera to capture those special family moments or something that you like the look of and makes you laugh. Cameras today are not cheap and most video cameras will take stills so you do not have to carry two cameras around. If you forget your camera, why not use your cell phone camera? Just make sure that before you leave, you have tweaked all the settings you can to give the best image possible.
Comfortable headphones. – These are a MUST! You will get extremely annoyed if you have to sit there for ages with headphones that irritate or make your ears sore. Find some headphones that you can tolerate for more than an hour at a time. Test them before you leave. Go through the checklist: Comfortable? Wearable? Are they going to fall out? Do they make my ears hot? Test headphones out for about half an hour. See if they can keep their comfort for more than 5 minutes. A big no no, is cheap headphones. These will give you bad sound quality, bad build quality and will likely be uncomfortable.
DVDs. – If all else fails you have will have these back up discs. These are for emergency situations like rainy days, improper formatting or forgetfulness to do formatting. Your laptop will likely have a DVD drive, if not the place you are staying likely does. There is nothing worse than getting there, finding out the weather is bad and having nothing to do. This may not be the most interesting of things to do, but it is better than sitting on your bed bored to tears.

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