Taking off Travel blog

Flight delays - don’t you just hate them? There’s nothing worse than arriving at the airport to catch your flight only to find that you’ll have a wait of several hours before you can leave. So, what do you do? Here are some suggestions.

1. Get Out And About

If you’ve checked your baggage but haven’t gone through security yet, there’s nothing to stop you from leaving the airport. After all, there will be cabs right outside, so you might as well find out Where The Locals Eat and have a decent meal instead of airport food.

2. See The Sights

If you have time to leave the airport, it’s also worth checking out some of the places to visit near where you are. A surprising number of airports are near city centres, which means now might be the time to see those attractions you missed. Read more »

If you were keeping track, you will have noticed that I skipped last month, mostly because I was dealing with the aftermath of recent trips. This month, though, I’ve got some great posts lined up that should provide plenty of reading material for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. To get things started, have a look at this great video on world air traffic, which I saw on the Matador Network.

Lessons On Location Independence

Lea Woodward gets some lessons from her daughter in 5 Things Our Four Month Old Could Teach You About What It Takes To Become Location Independent. It contains gems such as:

By treating new skills development & learning as a game rather than a serious “must do” to cross off your list, you’re likely to create a far more fun and enriching experience

Nomadic Matt reflects on the experience of being back home, highlighting the enjoyment both of exploring the new and experiencing the familiar. Read more »

We’ve all seen it in the movies: luggage is moving round a carousel and the bad guys step in and take the bag belonging to the good guy (or vice versa) and walk straight out of the airport to examine the contents at their leisure. But as the luggage thefts at Phoenix Sky Harbor airport show, that doesn’t just happen in the movies.

On my recent trips, I’ve often thought about the security of my luggage. Years ago, my bags were so nondescript that it would have been easy for another traveler to walk off with them without being noticed. That was something I considered, particularly back in 2001/2002 when your bags had to be left for scanning without a secure area to leave them in. But a travel accident gave me the solution - and yes, it should have been obvious. Read more »

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 »

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 »