When I travelled to Cuba in the simpler time of 1999, I went technology free. I didn't have a laptop, iPads were two decades away, and my tiny, primitive cellphone remained at home. I was travelling to a country where most people did not have land line phones and which was cut off from the emerging global Internet. Avoiding the resorts in favour of renting rooms from individual families, I had access to email twice in three weeks, and the first time, when I borrowed a computer station at the University of Havana, I was charged a dollar per email. I wrote long emails to get my money's worth.
Fast forward to this past month when I travelled to Berlin. I took a smartphone, two tablets, a portable keyboard, a portable speaker and all the charging cables required. It was my most high-tech trip ever, and among the easiest foreign journeys I've taken thanks to quick access online for travel information, maps and contact with home. Here are a few tips about what I learned for travel tech:
1) Travel light: the less you carry the better. Take the cheapest, lightest gear you have that's versatile, easy to use and not a huge financial hit if it's lost or stolen.
Avoid taking a laptop if you can and opt for a tablet, preferably in the seven to eight inch range like the iPad mini or Nexus 7. A small tablet will have all the online access and apps you need and be portable enough to carry around during your daily sightseeing.
For Berlin, I took both a Nexus 7 and a 10-inch Windows tablet with a portable keyboard. I used the Nexus on the plane to watch videos during the long flight and as a portable e-reader when lounging about in Berlin's ubiquitous outdoor cafes. It was also excellent for web browsing and consulting local online maps on the go. The larger tablet I used for photo editing and writing, but I could have survived fine without it for simple travel.
2) Use your smartphone camera as your camera. The latest iPhone, Samsung Galaxy and Nokia Lumia lines have very good lenses that are better than the point and shoots you used five years ago. They all have excellent apps for photo editing and sharing.
3) Don't use your phone as a phone while travelling: Turn off the data connection and roaming ability and use your phone only as a mini-tablet at wifi hotspots. If you must use your phone outside Canada, buy a travel package from your cellphone provider. They are notoriously expensive for a trickle of data and talk time but will prevent you from being hit with hundreds or thousands of dollars in roaming charges. Advanced techies might consider unlocking their phones and buying a local sim card as a cheaper alternative.
I opted to make local calls from my hotel room, just like we used to do in 1999.
4) Take a travel plug adaptor: This goes without saying for travel outside of North America. Plugging your iPad into a socket in Thailand will fry that tablet without a voltage adaptor, thanks to different parts of the world developing different standards for electrical systems and outlets.
5) Charge your devices fully before you leave, especially if you are flying. There's nothing worse than buckling in for a long flight to Toronto and discovering that your Kindle is as dead as the dream of Toronto being run by a civilized mayor.
Pack your charging cables. Organize those cables by wrapping the cords with twist or cable ties and put them into plastic baggies.
It will both protect the cables and prevent a mess of spaghetti in your suitcase.
6) Find the travel-related apps you need and download them ahead of time to your phone and tablet: that way you can use the maps without the need for always being online. I downloaded maps of Germany to Google Maps on my Nexus 7 and Nokia's Here map on my phone. Both helped me find my way through the nonsensical street arrangements of central Berlin.
For Android and iPhone users, Google Now provides a quick snapshot of whatever location you land in, including places of interest, weather forecasts, currency exchange and translation help. For Windows 8 and phone users, the Bing translation app is excellent.
Download any videos, music or audiobooks you want to amuse yourself with at home before you leave.
The more you can shove at your children or spouse to keep them quiet on a flight or in the car the better.
7) Hotel Internet is universally awful, so learn to be patient with slow, intermittent connections. Mileage varies at cafes, although Starbucks is usually a reliable choice. But be cautious while travelling on wifi, including at the hotel. Don't do your banking at a wifi hotspot. Never connect to a wifi signal that has FREE! as part of its name. When in doubt about the safety of a wifi signal, disconnect, turn off your device and go outside and look at something interesting.
Barry Link is the editor of the Vancouver Courier
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