Portable: Exercise

Resistance bands

Not long ago, my mother spent time at a rehab center. The physical and occupational therapists introduced her to resistance bands. During my mom's sessions, I'd sometimes do the resistance band exercises with her.

Hoo doggies! I loved how effective they were at flexing the muscles, how easily I could change the amount of resistance for a stronger or gentler workout, and, of course, how portable they are.

I bought my own set of bands. The different colors have different levels of stretch resistance, with green the strongest and red the gentlest.

Although I get a fair amount of exercise with dancing and walking, which gives my legs a workout, I've really neglected my arms. The resistance bands are perfect for building muscle strength for these sad appendages, and I've been using the bands every day since I bought them.

Being a nomadic sort of gal, they are perfect for my rootless lifestyle.

Toronto: The Little Thermos

Little Thermos. Source: Amazon.

Sandy's everyday carry for her Toronto oots-and-aboot includes a small backpack with a side pocket, in which she inserts a small Thermos.

She has a special ice cube tray that forms slender frozen rectangles. These fit elegantly into the Thermos.

The Thermos holds 12 ounces of cold liquid (including ice), and with the ice, the liquid remains cold for many hours.


Another feature I like is that it has a push-button lid opener to reveal the sturdy silicone straw. So with one hand, Sandy can retrieve the Thermos from the backpack pocket, pop open the lid, take a sip, snap the lid closed, and return the Thermos to its pocket.

Little Thermos. Source: Amazon.

Because the Thermos is short, it's a tad squat, which gives it stability on most surfaces. Also, because it's short, it's less likely to tilt out of the backpack's side pocket and fall onto the ground.

I had to have one.

Sandy and I searched several places for the same size and features, to no avail. Well to some avail, but for twice the price (albeit for twice the cold duration). However, Sandy's sister knew exactly where to find Sandy's Thermos and she hunted and gathered one for me.


Generally, I'm not into cute, and Olaf's relentlessly cheery self is a bit of an eye-roller. On the other hand, because it's a lowly little kid's Thermos, it doesn't attract covetous eyes. Nor does the cheap-ish, powder-blue backpack I use for my own EDC, in which I place Olaf.

Taking a Budget Road Trip, Part 6: Road Trip Technology

Louisiana Road 3083

My biases

1. Budget
This is a series about budget road trips. Therefore, the recommendations reflect same.


2. New not always better
A new technology might be better than the old. And it might not be. Its value depends on the user's wants and needs, in addition to the road trip route and a reasonable risk management plan.

A new technology can actually result in an unintended consequence of engendering a false sense of security, which - at worst - can result in a trip disaster.


3. Hidden costs
Every piece of equipment carries a cost in regard to:

• Safe-keeping from theft (think big-ass camera)
• Protection from damage (think sizzling summer heat inside a parked car while you go for a hike)
• Worry about forgetting it somewhere (motel room, hanging on restaurant chair, on a restroom counter) 
• Practical portage (how much gear do you want to carry on your shoulder, around your neck, or in your pockets?)
• Freedom to be spontaneous (Wow! A street festival! Let's stop! Wait. What about our stuff?) 

4. The joys of being out of touch
Some simple joys of a road trip are:

• Being in a place and no one knows where you are
• To get lost figuratively and literally
• To be alone with yourself or alone with your travel companion(s)

You deny yourself these pleasures if you tether yourself too closely to technology, including social media, texting, and phone calls.

Mule deer crossing, Bosque del Apache road, New Mexico.

Technical gear recommendations

Into this category, I place: 

• Cameras
• Phones (smart and dumb)
• Laptops, tablets
• Dedicated devices for listening or reading

Cameras

Do you have a big expensive camera? If yes, think carefully about the pros and cons of taking it with you on a road trip.

Decision variables include: 

1. What are the expected temperatures on your route - will it be too hot to leave the camera in your car for several hours while you do something without the camera?
2. How anxious do you get about theft - will you worry too much about leaving the camera in your car on occasion? 
3. How will the camera - if you have it on your person - affect your freedom of physical movement if you go on a hike, go dancing, walk through a museum, visit an amusement park, walk to the hot springs for a dip, attend a crowded festival? 
4. What do you generally do with your photos? Post them on social media? Scan through them and then toss the SD card in a drawer? Produce creative work for personal or professional satisfaction?
5. Do you feel confident about how to use your big, expensive camera? 
6. Is photography a major component of your road trip or is it a visual footnote of your trek? 
7. What are the photographic subjects you're likely to encounter on your road trip? Jaw-dropping scenery that you will stop to contemplate? Micro-beauty such as flowers or insects? Or mostly fun shots of people, places, and things you come across to document your trip?
8. Depending on the answers above, is your phone camera good enough for your needs? Do you have an inexpensive point-and-shoot that you could take with you?

Phones

Dumbphones
Do you still only have a dumbphone? No big deal.

If you want a mapping application, then you can buy a dedicated GPS device, although this is a financial investment that may not be worthwhile. Better to borrow a device, if possible. Or maybe you're bringing a tablet with you, and you can use that for your mapping.

But my experience is that a paper map works just fine. Plot out the trip's (or just a day's) route in advance and mark the route with a bright highlighter marker.

A mapping application is most useful when I'm looking for a particular address within a city, and when push comes to shove, I can call the destination point for directions.

Smart phones

• See Road Trip Apps below. 
• Consider taking a spare charging cord and keeping it in your trunk, in the event you leave one behind in a motel room.
• If you don't use a pass code to access your phone data at home, think about using one while you're on your road trip. When we're outside our familiar surroundings and routines, some of us get more alert, while others of us get fuzzier. If you fall in the latter camp, then you are more vulnerable to leaving your smart phone behind in your motel room or at a restaurant. 
• Consider enabling the emergency alert feature on your phone, if it isn't already. You never know. 
• Be a fanatic about charging your phone. If you've got the ability (see Power Recommendations below), think about keeping your phone plugged in while driving. 

Laptops, tablets
On a road trip, I do take my laptop. I've weighed the pros and cons and decided that having my laptop with me maximizes my enjoyment of a road trip.

But many folks are extremely comfortable conducting all of their online activities on their smart phones. They may have cameras with wifi capability that allows them to upload photos to their preferred internet destination.

As with the camera variables, think through if you really want to bring a laptop or tablet on your road trip. Remember that every piece of equipment you bring adds to your protection and portability "cost."


Dedicated devices for listening or reading
Currently, I diversify my gadgetry portfolio by having an mp3 player for my music and a basic Kindle for my electronic books. I bring both on road trips.

Dedicated device pros:

• I don't drain my smart phone's juice when I play music or read an e-book
• My mp3 player and Kindle have long battery lives
• Arguably, I enjoy better sound via my mp3 player
• It's easier to read ebooks on my Kindle than on my phone
• I just feel generally better when I diversify my limited resources across several devices

Cons: 

• The more gadgets I take on a road trip, the more I have to babysit
• If I've got limited charging capacity in my car, then I've got to be assiduous about charging the devices at night when I've got access to wired resources
• The assumption about better sound on my mp3 player is untested; it is possible the sound is just as good on my phone
• Although I don't want to read an ebook on my phone, I could choose an audio book instead and listen to that on my phone

 

Highway 54 train between Corona and Vaughn, New Mexico. 2013.

Power recommendations

Source: Cable Wholesale

Three-prong to two-prong plug converter
You never know when your overnight accommodations will lack accessible three-prong wall outlets. A converter costs less than a dollar, doesn't take up much space, and you can find one at any big box store.



Surge protector power strip
Whether you're staying in a motel, at a friend's house, an airbnb or a couchsurfing place - outlets can be scarce. If you've got a travel companion, this could double your demand for outlet access.  If you don't travel all that much, just bring a power strip from home. Throw it in your trunk and only bring it out if needed.

If you decide to buy a strip: 

• Check for roominess between the plug slots. It's annoying to have three or four plug slots on a strip, but the slots are so close together you can't actually fit two plugs right next to each other if one of the plugs is fat. 
• Consider cord length. My power strip is designed as travel-friendly (with universal plug slots), so its cord is only ~ 13". This is great for packing, but sometimes it presents minor challenges in a motel room where the only available outlet is hard to reach. This writer uses this travel-size power strip. It has no cord at all.  
• If you don't travel much, then a longer cord might be more practical for you. In that case, choose a power strip that you'll like using at home so you don't add to your special-occasion clutter load.

USB wall charger

USB wall charger. Credit: Philips

I've used this one for several years, and it's worked well for me. I like the blue light that glows while mine is in use because I'm less likely to forget it in a motel room. I also like the foldable plug. I can plug the charger directly into a wall outlet or into my power strip. In the latter, however, it falls into the category of a fat plug, so this sometimes affects my ability to plug in neighbors.

If I were to buy one today, I'd get one with two USB ports like this one.


Car lighter adapters
OK, yes, today's cars have handy USB ports and outlets stashed all over the place. If you have such amenities, then skip ahead.

My car is 20 years old, so I've got one power source for charging and playing music: My lighter.

I do have two lighter-based powering gadgets, but they are geezers.

Portable power inverter. Credit: ebay seller

One is a big, heavy, one-outlet power inverter that I bought back in 1990 maybe. I bought it for the road trip to Alaska I took with my daughter.

Upside: It still works. Downside: It's big, it's clunky; it has only one plug-in. I have to use my USB adapter to charge devices on it.  And while I'm charging something on it, I can't listen to my music player because I've only got the one lighter and the one port. 

FM transmitter device. Credit: ebay seller.

My other gadget is a Gigaware FM transmitter device to plug into my mp3 player. It's been a wonderful tool for me on road trips. In the past year, however, I have to place the player in just the right position to get the appropriate volume, so it's on its way out.

When I replace the above two devices, I'll get an FM transmitter that also has a USB port. This one, perhaps. Consequently, I'll be able to listen to my playlist and also charge my phone. Evidently, such a device would allow me to talk on the phone hands-free if I receive a call. Nice, if true.

Pearl Street Mall, Boulder, Colorado.

Road trip apps


I offer my recommendations below. Manage your expectations. It is a humble list.

Road trip planning and management
Evernote is a well-designed application that you and any road-trip companions can use like a file cabinet. Toss into Evernote screenshots, websites, photos, articles, lists, links - a repository of information that helps you plan and manage your trip. Here is a list of articles about how to use Evernote for a road trip. Set it up on your desktop, laptop or tablet, and sync it to your phone.

Directions
I use Google maps.

Gas price app
I'm trying out Gas Guru. It seems straightforward. Gas Buddy is more popular, but seems to have too much interaction.

Road attractions
Roadside America has an app that looks very cool. Alas, it is only for iphones or ipads.


Related links:

Updated: Taking a Budget Road Trip, Part 5: Loose Ends
Updated: Taking a Budget Road Trip, Part 4: Pack List
Updated: Taking a Budget Road Trip: Part 3: Food and Drink
Updated: Taking a Budget Road Trip: Part 2: Lodging 
Updated: Taking a Budget Road Trip: Part 1: The Basics

Or click on the Take a Road Trip tab at the top of this blog. Or click here.

Flashback to September 2010: Untethering from Desktop

Golly gee, I still have this laptop that I bought a little more than five years ago.  As I re-read the 2010 post, I am amazed that I actually paid a THOUSAND dollars for the desktop PC I had before the laptop. The extravagance! Of course, it did serve me for eight years, so a good investment, I think.  I handed it off to a brother, who continued to use it until a year or so ago. 

So, back to this laptop that I bought in 2010 and still use. Forty percent of the keyboard keys are naked, the original white letter identifications worn away. I have to use the keyboard without thinking because if I look down to think, I'll not be sure which key is for which letter.

I'm still using Windows 7. ....  Hehehehe, for that matter, I'm still using MS Office 2003.

That cool fingerprint swipe function is defunct. The optical disk drive is persnickety, especially with DVDs. The factory-installed battery has been replaced once, and is due again. The folding hinges need to be tightened up.

But other than these things, she's lookin' pretty good. I use the laptop every day.  I still value her light weight and her sleek metallic style.
 

The original post is here, and reposted below: 

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Untethering from desktop

I've never owned a laptop. My desktop is a Compaq Presario 6000z that I bought in 2002 for mas o menos $1000. Windows XP Home plus Microsoft Office 2003 Professional. It has served me well.

Until 2009, I operated on dial-up internet connection because I just couldn't bring myself to give one penny to the spawn of Satan Sprint, and his demon seed, Embarq. I finally succumbed when I could no longer stand the speed disparity between home and work. Not to mention I couldn't watch youtube. 

Back to my big untethering --> To go rootless, I needed to get a laptop. My criteria: 

• A screen between 14-15"
• Portable (thus 5.5 pounds or lighter)
• Long battery life (4+ real hours)
• $800 or less (ruling out Macs)
• At least three ports, preferably four
• Power and speed - but not what's needed for gaming
• All-around good performance (working with Microsoft Office products, photo work, email, movies)   

Here's where I looked:

1. Reviews on places such as cnet and pcworld. 
2. Once I got a bead on their recommendations, I went looking for customer-rich sites such as Amazon and Best Buy to get the customer ratings. 
3. I also put out a query to my family members for their experience. 

At first, the professional reviews lured me to a flashy Gateway (talk about old school), which I threw out for comments by family members. No one deigned to discuss the Gateway. Several family members expressed fondness for Toshibas, but when I did due diligence to check them out, I felt underwhelmed. There were a couple of cheers for HP. (There is the one wayward Mac user in the bunch, but that's just out of my price range, so no point in looking.)   

What made up my mind were the customer reviews on Best Buy. The seductive Gateway was all flash and sass for the professionals, but too many customers hated a specific set of features, and I knew they'd probably drive me nuts, too. I did a search of best ratings at Best Buy, and an HP came up with consistently good reviews, which I found the professionals backed up. 

So what I bought: An HP Pavilion dm4-1065dx. 

I'm happy with it. And once I transfer my stuff from the Compaq Presario to the laptop, I'll be untethered from that desk.

The Camera Sitch

The three rechargeable batteries I've been using for my two identical, used Canon Powershot SD600 cameras, are in the terminus of life. I've been relying on my Android phone camera, and that's OK, but it's not entirely satisfactory. I just received a replacement battery that goes by the name Canon, but frankly, I'm questioning its paternity and thus its efficacy, so things are up in the air til I see how it performs. At which point I'll decide if I want to invest in another battery and therefore keep the two used cameras (that I bought for about 55 bucks apiece) or do I rev up the research engine and buy a new camera?

While this story unfolds, I present for you an article I first published in June 2012.   

5 Secrets of Great Travel Photography

Rustavi, Georgia. Rotting watermelon on landing. 

1.       Take your camera with you at all times, even if you're only walking to the corner market from your base. If you've got a big-buck camera that you hesitate to carry with you everywhere you go, fine, but in that case, also bring along a point-and-shoot that fits into a pocket.

Lost Creek, Missouri.

2.       Have your camera easily accessible. In other words, not at the bottom of your bag, making you think twice about taking an impulse shot.

Rustavi, Georgia. This woman gave me this loaf of bread. Just because.

3.      Have duplicate batteries, chargers, and SD cards in case of theft, loss, or sad demise. Carry an extra battery with you, always. It’s damn frustrating to run out of juice just before some potentially great shots present themselves.

San Francisco, California. Hayes Valley.

4.       Like the big fish that got away, your fantastic travel photographs didn’t happen if you never uploaded them to an external source (i.e., laptop, tablet, Facebook) before your camera got ripped off, dropped into the pit toilet, or was stepped on by an elephant. Upload photos regularly, by which I mean at least every 2 or 3 days.

Nazret, Ethiopia. English Alive Academy. 

5.       Set the review time for your camera to “off.” You want to be able to take photos as quickly as possible, not wait for interminable seconds before you can catch the next shot.

Revisiting My Portable Gear

It's been a few years since I bought some of my portable gear.

I took a look at my gear in 2012, and it's time for me to do it again.  

Jewelry bag

I bought this zippered jewelry bag in 2010 and I use it every day. I still wish it were a brighter color so it would stand out more clearly in a suitcase or offer better contrast against a dark-colored motel bedspread, but other than that, it still gets five stars from me.

zippered jewelry bag

Mini flashlight

Photo from onebag.com

I still love my flashlight.



Yeah, I know everyone's gone over to the headband thing, and I am sometimes tempted, but being able to tuck my light into a pocket, in a small bag, or hang it around my neck - all excellent qualities. I've lit up an entire room when the power has gone out in Ethiopia, in Caucasus Georgia, and I don't even remember where else.












Laptop

I bought my laptop in 2010. It's showing some age: 

• The fingerprint scanner doesn't work anymore; 
• The optical drive is cranky and unreliable; and
• I'm on my second battery - an after-market brand, as the HP replacement battery was prohibitively expensive. 

I know I'll have to replace it in the next year or two. Assuming I'm still working online, I'll replace it with another laptop (versus a tablet). And I'll still want various ports, although I may give the optical drive a pass.

  
Electronics case

Still use the red Ethiopian Airlines "case" to keep my small electronic paraphernalia.

Ethiopian Airlines case for my electronic paraphernalia

Ethiopian Airlines case for my electronic paraphernalia

Rain poncho 

I've got the rain poncho I bought while on a break from Caucasus Georgia, and I've used it on a few occasions since I bought it, but my earlier conclusion still holds - an umbrella is handier and lighter. I especially crave an umbrella on brutally sunny, hot days. Some day, when my decrepit black umbrella bites the dust, I'll replace it with a lighter-colored new umbrella (to offset the sun's hot rays). 
 
There's a good bit on umbrella v. ponchos on onebag.com here.


Kindle

I went with the basic Kindle in 2012.

I think I'm glad I made the choice I did, though I feel a little sad I don't have the paperwhite version. The basic Kindle does what I want it to do, even though it's rather clunky to get from some points A to some points B.

I've downloaded quite a few library books to the Kindle. Nice. 

Also, my reasoning about not wanting to feel too much of a financial loss if it were lost or stolen remains valid.



 

Trekking poles

A great purchase in 2012! They collapse into a size that fits into my backpack. So lightweight. I love to have them on trails with uneven surfaces, just for the balance.

 








Portable speaker

Yup, I still use this! I attach it to my laptop for better sound. I hook it up to my mp3 player. To my Android phone. To my voice recorder for playback.





My "puppy"

I bought an Android in July, 2014. Glad I bought it. In addition to serving as a backup to my online work in the event to a wifi or laptop failure, I find it a quality-of-life enhancement. I have not introduced it to social media or games, and I don't intend to do so.

How Has My Portable Gear Stacked Up?

When I started my rootless life, a goal was to condense my material life into three pieces of luggage and some change. Toward that end, I bought various items to manage my portable environment.

How have those items stacked up in the past year or so?

Jewelry bag

My original post on this purchase here.

The bag does everything I need it to do. I like the two zippered pockets (one for necklaces and the other for earrings), the ring column, and the bracelet loops. Occasionally, earrings fall out of the holes in the fold-out earring band (see photo above), with the result that they sometimes lay loose in the fold-out area, but I haven't lost any earrings yet, athough the potential for such loss exists. I haven't noticed any signs of wear on the zipper, the fabric, or the vinyl. 

A good purchase and I still recommend it. Available here.

A good flashlight

There are a bajillion flashlights out there, and I did considerable research on which to get.

I also weighed the handheld v. headlamp question, decided on the handheld, thus didn't look at headlamps.

My original post on my flashlight is here.

I still love it. Here's why: 

• It's very sturdy. I've dropped it several times without harming it.
• It's small. 
• Takes only one AA battery. In a pinch, it will also work with a AAA battery. 
• Has multiple settings for different lighting needs. Where I tend to go, electric power gets lost at regular intervals. This flashlight illuminates an entire room. 

When I'm on the road, I have it with me always. Even when I think I'm only going to be away from my base for a couple of hours, back well before dark .... well, things happen and you often have a change in plans while out and about.

I'll say, though, that a mobile phone with a flashlight is a wondrous thing. The next time I buy a phone, it will have a built-in flashlight as a back-up. 

Laptop 

Everyone has a favorite model or brand, so I'm not going to waste anyone's time talking about my particular model.  (Though, for the record, it's an HP Pavilion dm4 1065dx, and I'm very pleased with it.)

For portability purposes, here are the things that were important to me: 

• Case dimensions
• Screen dimensions
• Weight
• Battery life
• Quantity and diversity of ports
• Optical drive (for CDs, DVDs)
• Keyboard size/look/feel

The 14" screen dimension is just right for me, both for portability (as it affects case dimension) and for readability of content. I dislike having to use horizontal scroll bars, and with a 14" screen, I almost never have to do so. It's surprising the difference just one inch makes: I knew the 13" was too small for my needs and the 15" too bulky for my portability desires. 

Dimension and weight-wise, at about 5 pounds, it's easy to heft with one hand when I need to. It doesn't take up much room in my backpack or weigh it down. (On the other hand, the power cord does take up a fair amount of space because it's long - an excellent feature otherwise - and is rather awkward in it's tangle-prone sprawl inside my bag.)

Battery life. When I bought my laptop in late 2010, a four-hour battery was good. And until my battery began its sad decline awhile back, the four-hour charge was more than sufficient for my needs. 

Earlier this year, I helped my sister buy a new laptop, which has an eight-hour battery. I was really surprised how much weight that added to her laptop.

Quantity and diversity of ports. The things I connect to my laptop: Flash drives, internet cables, mp3 player, voice recorder, Kindle, printer cables, SD cards (and if that port goes kaput, a camera cable), mini-speaker, remote mouse thingie, and earbuds. Not to mention my AC plug. I'm also set up to attach a projector. 

Because my laptop is my virtual life, I need all these bells and whistles on my little rig. 

Optical drive. With the ubiquity of flash drives, an optical drive for CD/DVDs is no longer necessary in most cases for data transfer. But there are still occasions when an optical drive is either essential or more effective. For example, if I'm installing a new device (i.e. printer) to my laptop, then I think it's much faster to do so with the manufacturer's CD installer than downloading the installer from the manufacturer's website (assuming I even have access to the internet when/where I need it). As an ESL teacher in Georgia, I received CDs that accompanied textbooks. These included audio files and the teacher's manuals. This information was not available online for download.

Bottom line: The portability criteria I used to select my laptop were useful. 

And insofar as the decision-making goes in regard to laptop v. notebook v. tablet - it's still the best choice for my needs to stick with a laptop. Note: HP calls my laptop a notebook, but come on, really. No, it isn't. It's too big and too heavy to be a notebook.

Little electronics case

I'm still using this Ethiopian Airlines comfort case I received from generous Yoseph. It keeps my tiny electronics paraphernalia secure and well-organized. Not everyone lucks out with just the right bag like I did. So if you're looking to buy one, here are the qualities I most appreciate about my case:

• Small size for maximum portability
• Two zippered pockets within the zippered outer case
• See-through pockets
• Red color to find it quickly in a bag
• Flexibility in expansion - I've since added spare AA and AAA batteries, a Kindle AC adapter, and a two-prong adapter for old-fashioned US outlets for my three-prong laptop cord

Rain poncho

I bought this when I returned to Georgia after my winter break in the U.S. I went with a poncho instead of an umbrella because I wanted:

• Good cover for my backpack or bag, which I always had with me
• More portability than an umbrella

Hmm. What I discovered is that unless it's a moderate-to-heavy rain or I'm out hiking somewhere, the poncho isn't as handy as an umbrella. 

It's a lot easier to manage a wet umbrella upon arrival at a destination than a wet poncho. An umbrella dries faster than a poncho, too, which means I can fold it up a lot sooner than a poncho. Because of these factors, I found myself reluctant to pull out my poncho from my bag during a light rain, whereas if I'd had an umbrella, I wouldn't have hesitated to pull it out and use it. 

So: I'm glad I have the poncho because it has its uses. But I'll be buying a compact umbrella. 

Kindle

I just bought my Kindle, so I haven't road-tested it yet.

Trekking poles

It's too soon to tell for sure, but so far I believe I made a good investment in money and space to buy these walking poles.

There's no better way to screw up a good time than a stupid slip that wreaks havoc on a bone, muscle, tendon, or cartilage. 

In Georgia, there's no snow or ice removal on the pavements. In many parts of the world, the vertical distance between steps are irregular or are higher than is comfortable for shorties like me. And, frequently no side rails. Unmaintained trails that are slick or precipitous from overuse or erosion. 

So I've found it helpful to tuck my compact, collapsible trekking poles into my backpack for day trips or when I'm venturing onto slippery pavement conditions. 

But over the long haul, the jury's still out on the trekking poles' value when weighed against the space they consume (which is very little) in my bags.

Round-up

If I were to summarize the universal variables for the best portable gear, they'd be: 

1. Size
2. Weight
3. Visibility for efficient identification and retrieval
4. Organization for efficient retrieval and security
5. Utility for my unique needs based on how and where I travel or live (for example, another rootless soul might save considerable space and weight with a tablet or notebook if she doesn't have the same data interests I do)