My main goal in packing is to avoid this wherever possible.
I’m heading to Telenav’s annual Waypoint conference next week. Since this is a fairly short trip, I’m looking to keep my baggage fairly light. I’d like to minimize my time lugging items around the airport, and with some careful planning, I think I can cut way back on my tendency to turn every trip into “my backpack is a mobile Radio Shack.” What’s on my packing list? Read on…
First and foremost is computing power. I went back and forth about what to bring, but decided that for simplicity all I really need is my iPad. Sure, I could toss a computer in the mix, but that means carrying a bag big enough to hold a computer, plus a bulky charger. The iPad can handle my in-flight entertainment plus act as a blogging machine for me at the conference.
With Blogsy and my external Bluetooth keyboard, I really don’t need a full computer, and not carrying one saves me weight and space in my bag, since I can use the same charger and external batteries for my iPad and iPhone. And on my very long flights each way, I can use my iPad to keep me entertained … I have season 5 of “Breaking Bad” to watch before the summer premier!
While I could just use my iPad for all forms of entertainment, I don’t travel anywhere without my Kindle. For one, nothing touches the battery life on an eInk device, which means I can top the battery off before I leave and not worry about it the whole trip. Second, the Kindle Paperwhite is simply the best reading experience I’ve ever had. I can read in low light, bright sunlight, and in the dark easily. Plus, after I spend all day looking at my iPad, I will need a break when I unwind!
I thought about lugging all this in my trusty LL Bean backpack, but if all I have is my iPad, Kindle, and Logitech keyboard, I think I can keep things even more streamlined. For my birthday Sarah bought me a Tom Bihn Medium Cafe Bag, and I absolutely adore it. It’s light and simple enough that I can use to just carry the basics like my wallet, keys, and a book, but through some sort of magic (or excellent design) it can also hold my iPad, Kindle, magazines, wallet, keys, iPhone, hotspot, and other random almost-everyday carry items without feeling overstuffed; it’s perfect for a quick trip like this one!
So that’s my quick inventory of how I hope to travel connected but light. What’s your go-to setup when you’re looking to keep a trip streamlined? Let us know in the comments!
Planning a short trip soon..Would love to be only one bag but I never will be since I need my CPAP…but I can be 2! Going to take the Synapse 25 for that one once it gets here. Basically an overnight and that’s it. WIll probably only take my EeePad Transformer, Galaxy Nexus, a USB charging battery, chargers, and all 3 of my handhelds since it’s Dayton Hamvention.
Have a great time! The Telenav folks are awesome and have been doing some great stuff lately.
Love the look of that bag, and more importantly it looks like it will be a more efficient way to pack your stuff to help keep organized.
So that is your tech stuff, and going light that way will definitely ease your travel – you might not have to remove anything from the bag going through security!
How about the rest of your stuff? Are you planning to check a bag or go carry-on only for the shorter trip? What strategies do you have for that?
I will be going carry-on! I have an LL Bean duffel that can squish easily into a carry on, and my plan is to wear my running/casual sneakers on the plane and pack one pair of nice shoes. Since I am only spending two full days in SF, I figure two pairs of pants and a few shirts should cover me clothes-wise. And it will keep my bag lighter as I wander the airport with all my crap. 🙂
I love my Tom bihn bag…it has been fantastic for everyday use, and I can’t wai to use it for this trip. —
Sent from my thumbs.
It is amazing what you learn about bags – and yourself – when using them for different types of trips. You will have to follow-up on how the bag worked for this trip!
My wife and I just returned from a trip by train to New York (with a quick side-trip to NJ, also by train, to visit my parents.) Because we were traveling by train, we wanted to pack as lightly as possible, so my messenger bag sounded a lot like yours – iPad, kindle, chargers for the iPad and my phone, and that was it. But, one of the reasons that I bought the iPad was for travel, and the iPad was more than good enough for the trip – it was better than my laptop, because the battery lasted all day and the LTE meant that I didn’t need to pay stupid money for hotel WiFi.
I was planning to leave the kindle at home, and just use the iPad to read, but my wife decided to try out a kindle for the first time, rather than carry a book or two. That was also a success.