Do I really need a laptop ??
 

Im trying to weigh up the pro's and cons of a laptop on my trip to South America.

Pros:

Store music, photos, games etc,
Edit website offline before uploading,
Easy to edit waypoints and tracks with GPS software,
Something to play with when bored (airports, rainy days etc)
Store back ups of documents to print out etc


Cons:

£400 could be spent on petrol and food,
Takes a lot of space up,
Target for thieves,
Not the most reliable and hardwearing things on a bike,

What are your views ?

I've thought about this too and decided against. I don't have a Blog or website
but would like to write accounts and access email. But I can do all this at I-Cafes en route. I don't need to get to a computer everyday either. Once a week or so is fine for me.

It's funny...I just found this incredible high tech gadget...cheap too! its tiny, takes up no space and can be stored in breast pocket....it's called a pencil and paper. (Old School)

I'm not a video gamer....mostly read books and practice my Spanish. I won't carry a GPS either because there aren't many GPS maps for down there....but I guess that is changing? I plan to do Screen shots of Google earth and print those out on very rare occassions.

I know many carry laptops....mostly the "pros" who have big plans for a book or movie. Others are still at work...and actually get paid while on the road and do their whole job via computer.

I know of several riders carrying computers on RTW rides, at one time or another seems they all rattle them to pieces. Yes, I'll spend more money at I-Cafe's, but to me a computer is just a major headache.


Patrick:scooter:

The hubby (being a nerd - soz hun) would not only say take the laptop, he'd spend the next 2 years trying to figure out which one was the best one to buy and then worry away whether he'd got the right one!!

I wouldn't call myself a nerd, but we spent the best part of 4 hours talking to 7 people in 2 languages about a static IP address this morning and only one of those people had a glimmer of knowledge of what one was. At the end of it all, I was very upset and realised it was because I hadn't had my fix of 'news/emails/HUBB'.

It really depends on what you're going to use one for. I like to take the hubby out on my 'magical mystery tours'. I plan routes during the week and we ride them at the weekends. So last week, I spent most of a day planning a 150km route on road and down some remote dusty tracks. I got the longitude and latitude coordinates using satellite imagery (computer), then converted them to decimal degrees (computer). The hubby downloaded them onto his TomTom (computer). As a backup, I printed out the corresponding maps (computer). Off we go, the hubby with his TomTom mounted on his bike and me with 6 sheets of maps attatched to mine with a bulldog clip. Which do you think we ended up using? Well, both as it turns out. It soon became clear when we were off the roads that the coordinates weren't accurate enough (even though I zoomed in to 10m on the satellite imagery) and we ended up using the maps to get onto the right tracks.

Last year on our Euro trip, the hubby had his laptop (purely trasporting it from A to B) and I had a pencil and notepad. I wrote about our trip every night. The computer never came out of the pannier - it was too much of a hassle to set it up.

I'd say take an mp3, use internet cafes (can you upload pics there?), email all your docs to yourself so you can access them, take maps, talk to people when you're bored and never worry about it being nicked or breaking.

I work as a writer while I travel. It's a necessary piece of equipment for me. If I wasn't a writer, I wouldn't have one. Although the one benefit to having one is being able to write in the comfort and privacy of my own space. Years ago, when I wasn't a writer while travelling, I got along just fine without one. Cafe's are everywhere. However, in small towns, it's quite common to NOT have the ability to use your own laptop. You have to use their PC's. So there goes one plus of carrying a laptop.

I can't imagine being bored enough to warrant the bother.

I had an interesting conversation the other night with a Dutch fellow who's been living in Bogota for four years, and a Kiwi on a bike en route back to England. We all acknowledged a very humbling fact. When you travel, great friends you've left behind will not write to you nearly as much as you'd like, if at all. It's the same with blogs. The people who will be your support, will be your fellow travelers and locals. This is a conversation I've had with expats in other countries too. So to carry a laptop to keep in contact may not be a great idea.

Lorraine

I don't have the patience to upload hi-rez pics unless the I-Cafe has a reliable
high speed connection. If not, I can usually burn a CD for storage. Also, I carry several spare CF cards. But, yes, you can upload pics but I have trouble with PC's.....I'm a mac guy....since 1983.

When doing articles I have a tiny digital recorder with helmet mounted mic for making notes in route and laying down random patches of brilliance in zeros and ones for future transcription.

I have an I-Pod for music, but I'll have to leave my world class Sony MDR 7506 (V-6) headphones (reference headphone in Hollywood sound community) Too big. I've recorded sound and music all over the world so I'd love to do more of this but it's just not practical to carry the good stuff on the bike. I don't do mediocre so camera mics and cheap recorders/mics are out.

Blogs don't work that well IMO for staying in touch cause folks forget to go there. What works is a simple email list serve. Put all your friends on it and send out regular updates and reports. Even grandmothers have email and if they know it's you, hopefully they won't delete it as spam. On the list you can add links to pics/blogs/Utube/Pod Casts/voice files or whatever. Very simple and reliable and prods folks to respond....

Or you could simply send out emails when you update your blog with a link. You have to make it a no brainer or folks will drift away. With a list friends can quickly and easily respond. Computer savvy ones can send pics and links of their own.

Just a thought.

Patrick:mchappy:

Good subject..
I am planning B.A. to Chicago in December and have completed a 2 week trial run up to the north woods of Canada for which I brought my laptop.
I found it burdensome taking up one complete pannier on my bike (including carry case which you'll need to keep it secure on the bike on rough roads).I think the i pod combo will suffice for pics and with the frequency of i cafe's along the way e mail should not be a problem thus releaving me of the worry of the laptop being stolen etc.
I hope this helps but as others have posted your needs may differ

Consider a PDA - smaller, lighter cheaper .. will play MP3s, write documents, do a spread sheet, etc. And yes you can do some GPS stuff with it .. save waypoints and track logs .. err provided it has a serial port and teh GPS has a serial port .. USB is currently in the future. Even place the docs onto a memory card then use the card at an i Cafe to download it ..

Storage of photos .. well memory cards are better than hard disks .. even CDs ..

Quckie answer...

I've been carrying a laptop on long trips. It will readily suck up all the pics from my camera like a thirsty camel, stows easily on top of my clean and dirty, filthy clothes, rides in relative safety, and allows me easy Net access where ever WiFi is available. The WiFi thing is newer than Tommy Jeans in many Third Worldish type places - it's that latest and so cool...and doesn't need to be worn below your butt crack. :)

If I'm stalled for a day or more or just chilling somewhere where Net access is available, it's a nice comfortable convenience to have. Oh, how easy it is to become spoiled. :)

The Net cafes are always there. Some will allow you to use their cable and some will not. I think it's more of a personal mission and convenience thing.

IIRC, Stanley and Livingston did encounter the problem of Apple vs Bill...
How our world changes...and so very fast.

I couldn't bring a laptop because my bike is 6 volts. I bought an out of date Psion psa because it has a keyboard and saves onto a CF card. I'd write stuff on that and upload from the CF card.

It has a browser to save RSS and it'll download email as well. That way instead of a short message ("Hi, still alive but I'm in an internet cafe that is costing me money"), I can write a long message on the beach.

The Psion 5mx was out of date when I got it. They still show up on eBay, and you can contact another geek who fixes them up (there's a common problem about the screen that he can fix). I bought mine through him, and I'm happy.

www.psionflexi.co.uk

I carried a laptop on my trip and would do it again in a heartbeat.

Pros...

• Compose trip reports, and organize pics BEFORE going to the I-cafe.
• Secure connection to your financials and other personal accounts when you can hook up at I-cafe.
• You can store and organize your pics when you have free time, instead of putting it off until you get home.
• You have multiple pieces of software that help you organize your trip better.
• Store and manipulate maps

Cons...

• weight
• choose the wrong one and you've got an albatross...
• can be a distraction.

I'm not sure what laptops the guys were using that MollyDog referred to BUT my T60 Thinkpad made it from Casablanca to Vlad(crossing the Sahara twice) without issues...

Laptop? I don't even take a watch.

Steve

Pda
 

Currently using a PDA with a rubber, roll up, USB keybord. Works well.

John

This is a really interesting question and one I've been battling with for the last few months.

I'm off to Morocco (Journey To Morocco) in September and Russia (Journey To Russia) in July next year - both trips will involve me blogging all the way around and updating the relevant websites.

So without getting into the - I'd rather be out there on my own with no ties discussion! :wink3: here are the options I've looked at,

Palm with Bluetooth keyboard - used this on one of our training runs, and whilst it did work it was a little too cramped and restrictive for my liking - but the battery life was fantastic and it was very portable.

Full on laptop (12'' Apple iBook) - great - fantastic - wonderful to have it along - hooked up to wi-fi where I could and perfect for managing the photos and videos and blog entries. Wouldn't want to take this on a very long trip though as it's still a hard drive and they're not that keen on constant vibration

Ultra Mobile PC - on paper this is the perfect option (Asus Eee PC: £199 Linux laptop - Crave at CNET.co.uk) solid state hard drive, small, portable and has a proper keyboard and USB slots. It runs Linux so can't run MapSource (but XP can be installed on it if you wish)... but with only 8gb space you'd either need extra storage cards or keep your photos to a min

Discussion about that machine here http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ghlight=laptop

Personally I'll be going for the Asus Eee PC when it makes an appearance - mostly because it only costs $199!

m

"Laptop? I don't even take a watch."

I LOVE it!!!! If more people could think like you....
Lorraine

lol.. Hes right though isnt he.

Im not going to bother with a laptop now :)

On my last trip i carried a 12" Mac powerbook...it was indespensible! Music, video editing, photo's, wireless, etc. Internet cafe's usually suck because their computers are much too old and slow. The Mac is small and lightweight, only a few kilo's, and takes up very little space. The aluminum body is very durable and will dent or bend instead of shattering your internals. It never skipped a beat, and i dropped it twice!
Dave Smith mentioned he can't take a laptop because his bike is only six volts. Truth is, the only way to charge a laptop on a bike is with an inverter, and is absolutely unnesesary, there's places to plug in everywhere you go. Due to Garmin being a bunch os asses, i've up-graded to a new 15" Macbook pro and loaded Windows (Ughhhh!!) onto a partition so i can download my maps. I built my websight on the road and archived all my photo's and video. Most internet cafe's will let you plug in, i was only refused once in four months. Once you try a good laptop and use it, you'll always travell with one. If you only want e-mail or are a Luddite, stick with the internet cafe's.
BTW...i never run ANY antivirus software on ANY of my Macs. So far, so good :)

At the start of Easy Rider is a great piece of Symbolism, they have just done the drugs deal and about to set off on the road trip to Marti Gras. Fonda takes off his watch and throws it away and they ride off. Brilliantly encapsulates the freedom of a motorcycle and the open road.
If they remade the movie today he would have to throw away the Laptop, PDA, GPS, mobile phone, Satellite phone, radar detector, bike to bike communicators, MP3 player, digital camera and all the various chargers, wires and batteries. Then he would have to adjust the suspension because of the weight loss and then ride off.

You got to laugh.

Our temptation is load up like James bond after a visit to Q.

Steve

Arghhhhhh! You can't throw that lot away how could we possibly survive on the road without access to email, my complete iTunes library, skype, newsgroups, latest information from HUBB... arghhhhhh!

You're giving me nightmares!

m

I've got hundreds of books in zip files on my laptop even just a few would be more bulky than the computer. Trouble is it's a vaio and I don't know how tough it would be. It's fine for road based trips in it's neoprene case but I guess it would fall apart off road. I've heard of U3 pen drives has anyone actually used one ? Carrying your desktop and other programs with you sounds like a good idea and it takes up no room. Also you can cut and paste your passwords onto the web so no keystrokes get copied. It sounds great.

SPVs
 

I've used my old battered Orange SPV E200 Smartphone on cycling trips (yeah I kept the watch but chucked out the motor). I use it with an Elektex flexible keyboard and it's been fine. Sure the screen's a little small for serious web-browsing, and watching Casino Royale on it was a novelty of strained eyes, but for e-mailling, blogging, facebooking, MP3ing, and even updating my website it was fine. A couple of 2Gb SD cards provided storage and I use the same cards in my digicam. I even used it for short video-diaries which I could upload to YouTube. It's got bluetooth and I found European i-cafés either had bluetooth anyway, or would let me plug in my bluetooth dongle to transfer files.

http://www.hizone.info/data/2003/05/...eyboard_01.jpg

The whole thing packs up nice and small, and of course you've always got your mobile with you if you want to call. Depending on your phone plan you might even get decent data transfer plans, which means you can e-mail directly using GPRS, rather than stocking them till you find the nearest i-café.

I'm now looking at a newer phone, using Windows Mobile 6, hopefully the newer OS will provide a few more bells and whistles, and a lot of them come with WiFi, which is even better.

For South and Central America, no need, plenty of internet cafes.

For north America, probably, mainly because all you'll find are Wi-Fi connections and very few internet cafes.

"...how could we possibly survive on the road without access to email, my complete iTunes library, skype, newsgroups, latest information from HUBB... arghhhhhh!"

I think the bigger question is, what kind of trip are you wanting? What do you want your time away to look like? I see so many travelers spending soooo much time staring in front of a screen, all in a row with other travelers who are also spending much time in front of a screen. A computer/internet is like an umbilical cord. But once you cut the cord, ah, the freedom! OK, I'll shut up now, I've said my piece. (And yes, I'm as guilty as the next person, I just do all my writing in private.)

And I must strongly disagree about being able to connect anywhere with your own laptop. Yes, in touristy places, but certainly NOT in little towns.
Lorraine

Lorraine - you're making me feel bad :-( I can't go cutting the essential connection to the world.... I can't go a day without going online for most of it!

Perhaps that's my 'adventure'! at last... I've found the answer !

m

Maybe the question should be 'Do I REALLY WANT' a laptop:thumbup1:
No one really needs one:nono:
Gadgets, love em :rofl:

Trophymick

Iv had ANOTHER change of heart LOL..

Im taking my travel guitar with me of which I use my PC for all my tabulature and music files.

Im also taking my PSP which I need a PC to upload games and videos etc.

My MP3 player also needs a PC to upload and download music.

I hate being this connected to technology but its the world I grew up in !!!


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:confused1:

"On my last trip i carried a 12" Mac powerbook..." Mr. Ron
 

Mr. Ron-
I like the idea of taking my Mac but have been worried about the constant vibration and what it might do. I'm riding a thumper- How do you pack your Mac and what are you riding?
Tom

BTW- according to the current issue of MacWorld Magazine... "Garmin claims that it will have a client out by the end of the year (for the Mac)." See complete article on the Mac and GPS at http://www.macworld.com/2007/08/secr...emac/index.php

ya know, I really am surprised that there arn't more female overlanders :rolleyes2:

Very good, Ted- that's probably why I've always liked BRitish humor so much...

oh dear, oh dear... :innocent:

If it were me...
 

Ted, I really wouldn't bother with a lap top for South America. Here in North America, its been a right pain to get internet so I bit the bullet and bought one. The internet cafes in South and Central America and Mexico are fine for most stuff you'll need. You'll be lugging around an additional 6lbs or so plus chargers etc carrying a lap top and its also something you'll be worrying about for the duration of the trip.

Just take a couple of large memory cards (2gb) for your camera and get them burned to CDs fairly regularly, keep one and send a copy home. If it gets home ok, you can bin your copy.

As for mp3s, my old 20gb Iriver has worked just fine for the whole trip and haven't felt the need to add more music to it. I got some decent moulded earphones to use while I'm riding, expensive at 140quid but worth it.

I play guitar too, so a travel guitar would have been a nice thing to have but again, its something that you'll have to carry on your bike and hope someone doesn't nick it. I bought a nice little handmade Charanga in Bolivia and carried it for a few months from La Paz up to San Diego then sent it home before it got wrecked. I know how to play guitar so it was fun to learn something in a different tuning!

I started off carrying more than I needed and gradually I sent stuff home (including a PDA and mini keyboard) until I was left with the minimum. You basically want to take as little as possible, so you want to get everything you need in 2 lockable metal panniers and one top box OR a waterproof bag (Ortlieb etc) for your clothes etc on the back seat and Pac-Safe that to the bike. I used adjustable Rok-Straps to hold the Ortlieb to the bike and I keep them on the bike all the time.

And just one more thing...Get that flight booked!!

Great comments about Lap tops and traveling light. Besides the PDA what stuff have you jettisoned overboard along the way?

I'm fighting to trim down baggage too (in more ways than one). We reviewed Rok-Straps but the boss got hold of all of our testers and gave them to his kids...who promptly lost them.

How are they working out? I've heard superlatives on them...are they really that good over bungees?

How many liters is your Ortlieb? Holding up well? Do they make any with separate compartments or zipper pouches? I like to stay organized and different pockets help in this regard.

Thanks Mike,

Patrick

The PDA is my MP3 player .. and carries my manuals (bike, camera, phone etc) and ebooks and maps and .. you get the idea. The pda is smaller and lighter than the books .. that is the pda and key board and eye plugs are smaller and lighter than the books etc. The significant savings are in not taking cotton clothing .. then cooking gear .. one pot does all. Tent and sleeping bag are the largest items ..


I like my external access points simple - a single zipper is best ... too many zippers leads to idle fingers playing with them .. one zipper = one small lock .. or a key ring to slow the fingers..

The main reason I sent the PDA back was that the bloody thing never held its charge so whenever I wanted to use it, it was dead. I've no doubt a newer one would be a lot more reliable and useful.

"Lorraine - you're making me feel bad :-( I can't go cutting the essential connection to the world.... I can't go a day without going online for most of it!"

I've written about 100 posts in the past 5 weeks. Just because I CAN. And I needed some escapism. I leave tomorrow, finally. And though I'm feeling the panic of, Yikes, what will i DO without logging on???? I do know from past experience that once gone, I'm gone. And I don't give it a second thought.

As to all the female overlanders... well, perhaps there's more of us out there than you realize. They're perhaps just in far removed places being rather private with their machines. ;-)
Lorraine

Everything I have charges off the bike (saves adaptors, transformers). The PDA (when the bike is running) is running Oziexplorer with the GPS to show whatever raster map I have of that area.. and so it is charging off the bike most days.

Flat batteries I get with the phone and camera .. bit of a pain if I'm a mile or two from the bike.

It can be addictive.
I think it's phases you go through.
The contact is nice, but when you're away, in the wild, you're enjoying something else and don't feel a need for it.
I'm a Net whore myself, but truly love when I'm off on some travels/mission/track, etc and it's not there.
Kinda like on the teat and off the teat...if that makes sense.

Rok-Straps :thumbup1: wouldn't leave home without them. I tried a lot of other straps and such, and now only carry Rok-Straps - 4 sets to strap the stuff on.

I was carrying an extra set of tires for a bit - new Pirelli MD-21s to put on in Bolivia, then carried the Scorpions that still had life in them a bit after that - they were rubbing on, wearing the Rok-Straps too much - got rid of the still useful tires in Sucre!

18 months ago Garmin published a press release that they were going to make their software Mac compatible by 2007. :oops2:

Solid-state HD?
 

For those that are concerned with a laptop being too 'fragile' for the road, take a look at the newer solid-state hard drives hitting the market. They are still pretty expensive compared to standard drives, but prices are coming down quickly. Outfitting a new Dell laptop with this kind of drive costs about US$400 more, but I imagine they will be much cheaper in a year or so...

They have no moving parts, thus getting rid of the most vulnerable part of a laptop. The hard drive are made of fast flash memory, similar to the popular USB memory sticks.

Here is a link to Dell's info about them:
Home & Home Office: 32 GB Solid State Hard Drive, 1.8MM for Dell Latitude D420/430 Notebook - Customer Install

I haven't personally used one, so I can't speak for firsthand performance, but when I replace my current laptop, I will look seriously at this type of drive, since I travel so much.

I've decided not to take a laptop on the Central & South American trip I'm planning. The availablity of Internet Cafes and the worry of having another expensive piece of equipment along make the decision easy. In my perfect world, an Internet Cafe will appear just before the skies open up and the rain starts falling:stormy: . I'll have a great cup of coffee while I catch up on email, add to blog and check weather and news on the web. The storm will pass, the sun will be shining and I'll be back on the road; worry free, and glad I saw this discussion on the HUBB. Thanks for all the insightful comments.:mchappy:

Yeah I've pretty much decided the same thing - unless I get my hands on this http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ghlight=laptop

then I'll take it. Other than that... nope I'm going to be 'free' - blame Lorraine.

m

Well, this has been an interesting read. I can agree with quite a number of points including to be free and not take one, but also to take one but try not to get hooked, if I can not get any hookeder:cool4:

I like the idea of those solid state drives, but I have over 56G of music. I would also like to use my lappie as a movie player as well. So, that means taking a few of these as each movie is ripped to at least 750M. But, to listen while riding using an MP3 player is great and they seem to mostly use Nodoze as the OS, so I would need to partition a drive specifically for expee.

Then there is my GPS, which also uses expee, I would like to convert my Garmin tracks onto GoogleEarth as a running theme, it just adds that visual dimension to a blog that can be missing so often. As long as I do not become tied to it I should be fine.

Photos, of course are essential, well to me anyway. I like to take them at max size and will most likely burn and send home as previously suggested. But, I also use a program called Polyview which converts the photos to a decent image size automatically(whatever you set it too, like 600x800 and 100kb), which is great for posting to blogs, also they are nice to have on hand, in case someone actually wants to look at my 'slides':D Also, my camera is only uploadable to windoze.

I am doing a short lap of Oz next year in March as a precurser to my RTW, so that will be decision day as to whether I will be laptop free or burdened.

Until then, the more info I can soak up from forums like this the better

Cheers
TS:thumbup1:

I'm bringing the lappy! A new macbook 13". I really want to build material for a book, as well as photo editing. I can go through a 2GB card in about 2-3 hours of decent shooting, so I'd need to bring a HECK of a lot of card to make it the next i-cafe...

No movies, some bike manuals, etc. Integrates with the GPS (Parallels and Garmin Mapsource. grrrrrr...)

It's not an entertainment device, but it does have Spanish and Russian language lessons on it!

I'm packing it in a neoprene slip cover, and then it sits in a waterproof bag on top of an inch or so of spare "Pelican" foam, usually on top of some other padding-type stuff. All inside an alu pannier.

I like to think I've really done my home work with respect to packing. At any rate I have lots of space for chargers, etc.

I'll let you know if and when it fails.

Mitch

Whats the need mate
 

Ted Mate,

I am doing the same as in south america for a year starting Dec/Jan. Have spoken long n hard to my brother who is a computer whizz kid in the US. & the answer is you dont need it mate.

All this talk about that we can use it to watch movies, play games etc. Cool but are we really travelling through S Am to play video games in our tent?? Sounds crazy to me that we need that kind stimulation.

Your Ipod, if you have the latest one will hold 60gig of music n photo,for you. A PDA I do reccomend as I use it a lot to remind me when its someone B,day I guess. Got into soo much trouble for forgeting!! Also you can use a PDA with a big enough memory card to write all you blogs and up load it from most internet cafes.

PS. if you need a PDA I have one going spare.

See ya in south America Mate.

Cheers Mojo.

Okay so not so free
 

Well I couldn't get my hands on the sold state machine - still not out - so I'll be taking along the Samsung Q1 - it's small and very portable, has padding and shock resistance around the hard drive and comes with a tiny portable USB keyboard too.

It runs XP so connects happily to my GPS / camera etc - all possible with OS X and *nix too of course.

I've borrowed it so no real cost thank goodness - I don't think I'd have been able to afford to buy one of these brand new!

m

Oooooooooops !!!
 

Well i turned to the darkside !

I sold a new Kawasaki GTR1400 in work and made £300 commission :clap:

So, I bought a few beers and ended up picking up a high spec Dell for £300 online.

Its cheap enough that I dont care if its pinched and its warrentied for 12 months too.

I know I dont NEED it but when I thought about things that I would LIKE, it just made sense.

Even if it stays in my panniers for 6 months, it will be used when I get home.

Toughbook
 

Hi, I carry an ancient ToughBook. It survived the recent crash and everything else my incompetence has made it suffer. However it weighs a ton and I need to watch my leg for the rest of the trip so am finally leaving it here at the Hotel Argentino in Rio Grande. Will I replace it? Yes, if I can find something small and light with a good screen that will stand up to the conditions. I enjoy working at sidewalk cafes. I loathe being bottled up for hours in an internet cafe. However this is governed by the amount I have to write and send in each week. But for that, I would return to paper and a good ballpoint. What joy!
:oops2: simon at home

laptop
 

The old story, kiss , keep it simple stupid the more crap you carry the more there is to breakdown and more weight to pick up when you drop it.

And.... more to lose when you're robbed at knife point..... And more heartache over the loss.

We all have so much stuff that costs more than many folks in the 3rd world make in a year. And in some places....life is very cheap.

Simon's point of having the freedom to do write ups in a cafe as opposed to I-Cafe is tempting.....but my hand written notes seem to work OK. I carry a log book that contains travel notes/thoughts, maintenance records/mileages, motel/hostel info, border info, embassy info, road/route tips, Weather notes, traveler's info, and on and on.

When I find a decent I-Cafe (they are not all torture chambers) I up load my notes and pics. I'm not on deadline and don't think I'll be writing the next pulitzer winning book, so I don't need a computer with me.

Patrick:mchappy:

I agree with Mollydog and others who say its unneccessary...

But, I still bought one.

I am taking a small travel guitar with me and now I can carry 1000's of guitar tabulatures (scores) and about 80 gig of music and photos for home sickness.

Thats the only reason really..

Plus i will write a daily dairy and upload it to my site when i get net access.

I think it is so cool your bringing a guitar! Awesome! :thumbup:

Man, this will really open a lot of doors out there. If I could still play worth a crap, I'd take one too. I played in bands as a kid (didn't we all?).

I think it was you who mentioned that Mexican town where they make guitars?

I was there in 1972 on a MC trip. Paracho? or something like that?

Be sure to check out the Tango world and musicans in Buenos Aires, the Samba
clubs in Rio and on and on. The locals will adopt you if you can play well.

One of the Kiwi guys we got launched on the S. America trip took his low budget travel guitar. It got broken in a crash I think. :tongue_smilie:

Patrick:scooter:

mini JVC....
 

sorry - long-term female rider here (4 half years on the road so far) and only just managed to get off the dirt roads to internet access!!
caught this thread.

as we travel we keep a very busy website up and running therefore we need a laptop...go see 2ridetheworld.com

we also write articles, have taken over 10,000 hig res digital photos and have needed to downlaod and upload our GPS track log over the years..

so we have taken with us a JVC mp xv841 mininote Laptop. It has coped with being in a pannier over some of the worst off-road areas you can go to. Truding through mud in the Amazon to fech-fech in the Sahara - to 25 below in Bolivia.....and its still alive! go to the website and have a look.

However, if you are only going on a short-ish trip and can cope with small internet cafes - then do. South America is stuffed full of them but dont expect to be able to log in in the altiplano of Bolivia.
nor in the more remote areas of Africa - actually even the large cities promised connection in Uganda but with 15 pcs all linked to a 56k modem...I email per hour was about as fast as it got!

depends on what you want to do and why....2 hours a day infront of your laptop fiddling with mp3's ....or essential downloading of photos and GPS...etc?.... However, it is really liberating to 'get-away' from 'it' all.
cheers
Lisa

Hi lisa, quite a trip so far.

I'm sure the GPS is handy for you as a professional writer/traveler. I hope your enjoying your new career, I see you've had quite a few, you and Simon.

Bit off topic....

Once you do all the GPS routes and mapping, what will you do with that information? Is it available?

Do you have a book coming soon?

I noticed some long stays in some countries along the way, like Argentina, Brazil and USA, and yet through Cent. America, you spent a day or two in each country.

Have you been able to find work in Argentina, Brazil, US? Any work permit issues? I would like to seek work along the way too.
Cheers,

Patrick