Taking off Travel blog

What is your computer setup?

I recently wondered whether business travelers dare to unplug in the 21st century. If your answer is a resounding ‘no’ then it’s time to look at what you need to really stay connected today. Here’s a peek at my setup. I hope you’ll share yours in the comments below.

Computer

This almost goes without saying. Over the years, I’ve fluctuated between desktops and laptops. My current set up is a Dell desktop machine for home use with as large a screen as I could afford and a small laptop (Samsung NC-110) for taking on the road.  Tip: Choose a laptop with as big a keyboard as possible; tiny keys can be hard on the hands and wrists.

Other Hardware

One essential item for me is a good headset. Not only does this prevent me from annoying others around me when I play music and videos, it also comes in handy for VOIP software. A webcam is another tool that’s almost essential. When you are talking to and meeting people online, it’s good to be able to see their faces and gauge reactions. Read more »

This has been an interesting month. I’ve spent a lot of it visiting first Florida and now New Jersey, but today my travel will be virtual, as I look at some of the posts that caught my eye during the month of September.

First, a recent post by Darren Cronian where he says it is Time to take a stand against school holiday price hikes. I couldn’t agree more, as this is an issue that’s annoyed me for years. He adds:

come on, increasing the price every school holiday to increase the price by £400 is just outrageous.

It will be interesting to see if anyone weighs in with a practical solution for this long-running problem.

Thanks to World Hum, I found this gallery of travel trick shots - optical illusions that boggle the mind. I particularly liked this shot of the cannon.

Vagabondish discusses the hyperforeign traveler. Omri Ceren says:

Your 10 day post-graduation Amsterdam hostel stay didn’t open your eyes to “how much more laid back Europeans are about sex.”

Quite right.

Still on Vagabondish, Turner Wright posts on why it’s easier to stay fat, stupid and untraveled,  outlining four trends that lead to sloth:

With technology and the mindset of the general population slowly changing to accommodate the sloth, the world is essentially becoming the antithesis of what vagabonds desire: conveniences to eventually strip away the need for any physical activity, and the propagation of information designed to inhibit growth, not encourage greater understanding.

Two Go Round The World gives some good tips on getting a safe night’s sleep when traveling, asking:

are hostels safe? The answer is “yes—and no”. For the simple fact that safety is not quantifiable in a hostel, there will be some dangers. However, most of them are avoidable. Bottom line—if you know the risks before you check in, you can be prepared for any situation.

The rest of their traveling safely series is also worth a read.

Nomadic Matt takes a trip through the Paris sewers, pointing out that some of the best sights in Paris are underground. Although he does concede that they are “a little bit stinky”, Matt does a great job of reviewing an unusual tour.

There’s always something worth reading on Jaunted. Three that caught my eye were posts about the forthcoming Harry Potter attraction in Orlando, how mathematics might solve airport delays and a list of the top five counterfeit shopping districts in the world.

On Elliott.org, I enjoyed My Ticket Price Fell, How About A Refund. It’s a good case study in how to get your money back under those circumstances.

I think the only reason airlines feel they have to offer these refunds is because they play price games, offering a rock-bottom ticket price one minute and quadrupling the price the next.

Maybe if they stopped that nonsense, you wouldn’t feel ripped off when the price of your airline ticket fell.

Finally, for those who are not ready for international travel, here’s an interesting post on Seeing The World Without A Passport on the Matador Trips blog. It highlights American “one-of-a-kind sights might just tide you over till your bank account starts cooperating.”

Enjoy!

Last month I asked whether business travelers dared to unplug when taking a trip. If your answer was no, then you’ve probably got a list of items that are essential whenever you travel. As a location independent writer, I like to think I’ve got managing my business on the road down to a fine art. Here’s how I do it.

In The Cloud

One of my main strategies is to be able to access as much stuff as possible from the cloud. That means having a good online backup system which also has editing facilities. My choice for that is Syncplicity. Anywhere I go I can get to the latest backup from my home computer and get the files I need. As a backup, I occasionally email things to myself (I use Gmail) so that I can open things in Google Documents. With word processing, spreadsheets and presentations, Google Documents is a pretty nifty MS Office replacement. Read more »

Facebook logo

Back in January I looked at some of the key Facebook applications for travelers. Since then, I’ve continued to explore Facebook in search of groups and pages related to travel. There are literally hundreds of each, so I’m not going to make any claims to be objective or comprehensive in my selection. However, here are some that caught my eye.

Soultravelers3

Soultravelers3 is among my favorite travel bloggers on Twitter, so it’s no surprise that the Facebook group is also a fun place to be. Run by Jeanne Dee, the group, like the blog and Twitter account, follows the adventures of a family of three on “an open ended, multi year trip around the world”.

I Wanna Travel The World

The I wanna travel the world group appeals for similar reasons. It’s worth browsing the forum, skating past the plugs from obvious spammers and looking for the gems, such as posts on eco tourism or finding a travel partner.

Open Travel

Moving on to some interesting Facebook travel pages, I was struck by the Open Travel fan page. It accompanies the site by the same name which features travel experiences from real travelers. The fan page is worth following for the excellent photos alone, though you could just subscribe to the blog. Read more »

You can never be sure where your next business trip will take you. Some of the nicest destinations (such as Florida or the Caribbean) are also the ones prone to be affected by tropical storms and hurricanes during the June to November period. And there are also other places where storms can strike unexpectedly. So how can you do your best to stay safe if you’re going to one of those areas?

Tips for traveling into a hurricane zone

Watch Or Warning?

One of the key things is to pay attention to the news and know the terminology. A key resource is the National Hurricane Center. If a hurricane watch is issued, then there may be a hurricane within the next 24 to 36 hours. If it’s a hurricane warning, then a hurricane is expected within 24 hours. Accuweather’s advice is ‘run from water, hide from wind’. In other words, stay away from areas likely to flood if a storm surge is coming, and if the wind is rising, then the most interior room of your accommodation is the best place to be. Read more »