After reading countless forums online, with comments from much more experienced travellers than myself, the recurring message seemed to be the same:
“Take half the clothes you think you'll need, and twice the money. Oh, and double the undies too.”
When I'm on the road, I want to be travelling as light as possible. The only issue I had was that I obviously wanted to be able to document my travels, write about them and share them using my blog. I knew that if I took the wrong tech tools for the job, they would just end up weighing me down – physically and mentally.
I stumbled across Matt Kepnes' blog, Nomadic Matt, in late 2012. He has a amazing story to tell and has written many inspiring and informative posts about the travels he has done since quitting his job in 2004. For anyone planning their travels, the site is well worth checking out.
Matt's blog is hugely successful, and as a result he also faces issues with transporting gear around to ensure he can stay in touch with his audience. Much of what he said influenced what I chose to take overseas to maintain my presence online.
My iPad is my main tool for blogging and keeping in touch with people while I am travelling. It is lightweight, slimline and easy to pack. Combined with the awesome app
Blogsy, it makes blogging on the go a breeze. I was able to insure my iPad through my travel insurance company
WorldNomads which gives me peace of mind.
My iPhone is absolutely brilliant for accessible, on the go contact and web browsing using wifi. It obviously works well when paired with the iPad, as I can even use the WordPress app to make easy adjustments to my page.
My Nikon P510 was my biggest splurge this year, and I'm glad to say that it was totally worth it! I don't know much about photography (yet) but the camera has a range of features that suit me perfectly, including 40x optical zoom for awesome landscape shots. It is a compact SLR so it isn't too bulky, and is easily carried in my backpack.
My 6000mAH Portable Solar Charger cost me just over $40 on EBay, and I'm hoping it will prove to be a worthwhile investment. On one full charge it can charge an iPhone twice, an iPad to 70% or my camera three full times. If you are inking of purchasing one, check the charger's mAH against the device that you are planning on charging. Some cheaper imitations just won't cut it.
An International Power Adaptor is obviously a must when travelling across different countries. I bought this one from
DinoDirect for just under $10 and it works a beaut.
My iPad Camera Card Adaptor is an absolute must if I want to back up full resolution high quality images to my iPad and use them in my posts. The Apple one retails for around $30, I got this generic one on eBay for three bucks. I'll let you know how it goes.
My Garmin Edge 500 GPS Cycle Computer isn't an essential tech tool. But it will map the various hikes and trek I do using GOS to include elevation and distance data. It fits in my pocket, so I figured that would be pretty cool.
What technology could you not live without overseas? Share your comments below!
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Tedward. How are you finding the camera card adapter? I heard such thing existed recently and now must get one for my trip! (may need the ipad first but details details). Wasn’t sure about getting the apple one or a cheapo from eBay. Thoughts?
Hi Alex! I got a cheapo generic one from eBay and (fingers crossed) it is working fine. It is actually better than the Apple one because it combines the USB and card reader in one unit.
Hope that helps!