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Packing dilemma for the gadgetry-challenged traveller
These days I can pack for three months, fall into winter, weighing in at 20.15kg out of my flight allowance of 23kg. Years of travelling has taught me to only pack only the things I plan to wear, this using the age old art of mixing and matching.
No longer is there room in my packing routine for 'what ifs.' My packing problems no longer revolve around which of my six pairs of blue jeans to take, or whether there’s room for my black boots, my black kitten heels and my favourite pair of black patent flats. These days my packing dilemma is much worst, it’s what piece of gadgetry to take.
The weight of the problem
Now I know there are much greater issues assaulting our consciousness, but being the queen of making a mountain out of a molehill, I obsessed for weeks about what gadgets to take.
My type A personality insists I must be ready for eventualities, what if my creative mojo returns, this may be the trip where I finally get round to writing my award-winning travel or life memoir. Then again, what if I go some place and take some stunning, heart-stopping photos worthy of a top ten Christmas coffee-table book. I can’t take any chances.
There followed many sleepless nights counting gadgets, much justification and rationalisation, emotional turmoil, then resigned re-packing, before I settled on the following items:
- one Mac laptop [recent research by Generatorhostels.com, revealed a third of travellers consider laptop as a top travel essential]
- two phones – an iphone plus a back-up phone (in case my US sim doesn't work in my open iPhone)
- iPod
- one digital camera
- one pair of noise cancelling head phones
- one battery charger (for digital camera and headphones)
Then there are the accompanying peripherials:
• a laptop cooler, fan, with four USB ports and slots for various sized media cards
• various USB leads and plugs
• two travel plugs (don’t ask!)
• Slim portable 60 GB, hard drive.
Picture: peripherials for Apple products
Sadly, as much as I love coordinating my iphone cover with my colour of the day, I decided to leave four of my five iphone covers at home.
I also had to leave behind my prized baking possession, a slim digital scale*.
Picture: Silicone Skin Case for Apple iphone (Pack of 6)
Picture: Salter Slim Design Electronic Kitchen Scale
I kid you not, it took a friend many phone calls, followed by an intervention, before I accepted the soothing reasoning, that…”you'll definitely find the same or similar scales in the USA. Remember, you’re going to the home of the ‘more sugar than cake’ cup cake.” The scales were then gently prized out of my clammy hands, and hidden outside my home just in case.
Caring for my prized possessions
Finally, there's the issue of making sure my precious goods, not much change from $2K, are covered by my annual travel insurance.
Many providers told me that my household insurance should cover them. Uhm! Should doesn't work for me, I like a little more certainly. I finally settled on an extensive, and not cheap, policy from AMEX that included an extra $14.99 for business cover.
The business cover gives me piece of mind in the event any of my children, sorry gadgets get lost, stolen or damaged. I’ll be covered, with no excess, for up to $500 per item. In case you think that won’t cover the cost of a replacement Mac laptop, it’ll do, all I have to do is add a little bit and buy one from the US, again.
Travel insurance aside, I can't risk my travel office getting lost or damaged, so everything has to be crammed into my hand luggage. This takes the form of my flexible friend, a Samsonite back-pack on wheels (picture below). My Samsonite bag fits nicely into most overhead cabins [but not the titchy ones found on some of the airplanes used by US low-cost carriers].
I can't be the only one out there who goes through this crazy ritual each time she travels. For example, I know parents with small children go through similar packing madness. So, share your packing, gadgets or otherwise, stories, tips and tricks.
* Plan to do a lot of baking while away.
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