Washington, D.C.: Connectivity

Internet cafe, Vakhtangisi, Georgia (Caucasus). March 2012.

Upon arrival at the home of my D.C. hostess, Suzanne, I didn't expect to have a connectivity issue, but I did. For surprising reasons.

But first, some backstory

In Antigua, Guatemala, in April, I had some internet connectivity issues at the beginning of my stay, but they got ironed out after the first week.  My airbnb hostess had two internet hubs, one inside the main house and the other "out" on the guest-bedroom wing. The connection next to me was both weak and frustratingly intermittent. When I attempted to log in to the in-house wifi, I just couldn't get in.

My experience in troubleshooting technological problems is that, most of the time, the cause is something stupid. It's not that the user is stupid; it's that the cause of the problem is simple. 

The challenge in troubleshooting is that there are so many possible causes of a problem, and it can take patience, perseverance, creative thinking, and dumb luck to identify and fix the issue.

An example, also from Antigua: One day, my remote mouse stopped working. The mouse operated with two AA batteries in its body and a usb plugged in to my laptop. I did due diligence on likely causes. I changed the batteries, although the usual sign of impending battery death hadn't occurred, and it was sooner than usual for the batteries to need replenishment. Nope. I unplugged and replugged the usb into the same port. Unplugged and replugged the usb into different ports. Nope. Checked the installation of my mouse driver; uninstalled the driver and re-installed it. Checked the settings for the mouse and keypad. Researched possible causes on the internet. Tried solutions that had worked for others. Still no go. Dammit. And then I thought for a bit. Were there any changes to my laptop that occurred prior to my mouse's demise? Well, yes, but it made no sense there'd be a connection. But I'd tried everything else. The night before my mouse went into a coma, Cortana, the "helpful" Windows 10 "assistant," had got on my last nerve with her busybody self and I'd shut her down.

I turned Cortana back on and my mouse suddenly resurrected. Well, fuck me. Is that stupid or what?

So getting back to connectivity issues in my Antigua airbnb. I'd done all of the troubleshooting on my end that I could think of or find in my research, wanting to rule out my own laptop as the offender. All to no avail. My airbnb hostess kindly contacted her service provider and, lo and behold, the provider's technician discovered that the speed was lower than what she was paying for, and he ramped up the speed and maybe changed out the router. This was great, and solved some of the problem for me.

But it still wasn't quite fast enough or reliable enough to do my online work, so I tackled again my inability to access the wifi in my hostess' living room. I made sure I had written down the password correctly, as dictated to me by my hostess. Yes. After more troubleshooting that availed nothing, I asked if I could take a look at my hostess' router, which had on it the pass code she used. I wanted to confirm that the password I had was the same. Voilá! My hostess had inadvertently mistaken two digits of the pass code. Problem solved and I was able to conduct my online work in my hostess' living room.

Internet club, Kostava Street, Rustavi, Georgia (Caucasus). September 2011.

Back to D.C.

So. I arrived at Suzanne's place, assuming no issue with her internet connectivity. I'm in a big metropolis. In the US of A. In the nation's capital, for goodness sake!


Hohohoho!

Chapter 1: No wifi?

That's when I learned that Suzanne has no wifi at all. Well, maybe she did, but she had no idea how to tap into it with her modem. She did not have a stand-alone router, that's for sure.

And really, it made sense. For Suzanne. She's got a small space. She lives alone. She works long hours most days of the week, so she isn't even in her place for much time in the evenings. She doesn't use her laptop that often (more on this later), so she's just always wired her laptop directly into her modem.

When I understood the situation, I thought: "I can roll with this - no problem!"

Chapter 2: One port?

Got out my direct-wire cable to plug it into the second wired port on Suzanne's modem. Oh, hmmm. There's only the one port.

No problem! Suzanne rarely used her laptop, so I'll just use the sole port, right? Oh, hmmm. I need the password to Suzanne's connection to connect my laptop into her service.

Electronics bag.

Chapter 3: Password? What password?

No problem! Suzanne can give me her password. Oh, hmmm. Suzanne tried her damnedest to find that password, but to no avail.

Chapter 4: Granny Laptop

No problem! Suzanne graciously offered to let me use her laptop to do my online work (which requires the speed and application space for VOIP).  Oh, hmmmm. Suzanne's laptop is geriatric in its slowness, burdened with goodness-knows-what CPU-sucking bloatware, and using, if I'm remembering correctly, Windows Vista.

Chapter 5: Last resort: Customer service

Oof. Now it looked like I was going to have to take the dreaded step of calling the computer "help" desk of Suzanne's provider. Goal: Get Suzanne's password or get her wifi enabled so I could go back to those earlier plans. Well, damn. The experience wasn't as horrific as I had feared, based on past traumas, and in fact, eventually I discovered that Suzanne's modem was so old as to be considered stegosaurial. It was not wifi-enabled, for one. And it only had that one port, for another. And, if I remember correctly, it didn't support the current internet speeds available to Suzanne.

No problem! Suzanne could switch out her ancient modem for a spankin' new one at no cost to her! Wifi possible! More than one hard-wire port! Faster internet! Woohoo! Oh, hmm. We've got to go pick it up.



Chapter 6: The urban hinterland

No problem! Suzanne has a car and we'll just whip on over to the provider's nearest bricks-and-mortar store. We're in a bustling metropolis! There'll be one really close! Maybe I can just walk over there! Hahahahahaha!

No, no, no. The closest store is a pretty fur piece away, and it's Saturday morning, with everyone running their errands, and there is road construction. But eventually, mission accomplished and we've got the new modem/router. In a very fashionable bag with handles, no less.


Chapter 7: The cable

Problem solved! Errrr, wait. Suzanne's laptop. Didn't work with the new cable provided by the provider. We needed to go out into that congested snarl of Saturday shoppers to a Best Buy and find .... giggle, giggle to my pre-teen sense of so-called sexual humor .... a "backwards compliant" cable.

[Wait while I laugh some more at this new-to-me term. I even asked the sales guy: "What is it you're calling this again? Backwards what? And it means what again?" To myself, I'm thinking, no, it  has nothing to do with 50 Shades of Gray.]

And who knew that not all cables out on the market at the same time have the same capacity to funnel data through at the same speeds!

There was one more cable-related situation, subsequently fixed, but really, I have a life to lead.

Chapter 8: Happy ending

Suzanne now had wifi, which even if she doesn't give a whit, her future guests might. And she can connect her phone to same if she wants, as can her future guests. Suzanne has faster speeds - a little - that can push through the morass of her heavily-laden, elderly laptop's bloatware and old-fashioned operating system.

And I had a connection!


Chapter 9: The moral

Sweat, perseverance, creativity, and profanities will out.

Guatemala: Packing List

Packing for my one-month Guatemala trip was similar to my packing for Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico, back when I studied for my CELTA. I even took the same wheeled bag! The wheeled bag still squeaks by the carry-on police, but just barely. Back when I bought it, the bag was easily within the dimension limits, but the airlines have reduced their boundaries since then.

e-bag, wheeled, carry-on bag

For a month's trip, all of my stuff fit into the above bag and a lightweight backpack.

Clothing

Similarities in both trips included:

1. Warm weather throughout the stay, so no need to pack for wide variations in temperature; and
2. No moving around from place to place - I'd be in same accommodations for the full month, which meant I'd have a secure place to bring and store items (e.g. technology) that I might otherwise leave at home. 

A difference in this trip and the Playa trip is ... shoes. Shaking my head on this one. I've never been one to amass great quantities of shoes, but I packed kind of an embarrassing number of pairs on this trip. This is because my Guatemala plans include:

• Dancing! 
• Hiking
• Walking on uneven pavements (think Caucasus Georgia and Ethiopia)
• Hanging around the house 
• Maybe some evenings out that require a little bit of dressing up

So, five pairs of footwear. Sheesh. I plan to discard two pairs when I leave, as they've outlived their usefulness to me.

I'll also leave behind some of the clothing items when I go. They are in good repair, it's just that either I'm tired of them or they no longer fit well.

So in theory, my luggage on the return trip will accommodate a few gift items that I'll buy here.


Comfort items

• Aforementioned salt and instant coffee
• Generic Imodium for the inevitable bout of diarrhea
• Sunscreen
• A month-long supply of my current sugar-free, powdered drink mix favorite: peach mango green tea in single serve packets, which had added to my travel comforts in Ethiopia and Caucasus Georgia
• Gum

Technology

My online work requires that I use headsets for meetings, so I packed both a primary headset and a backup headset.

Also:

• AA batteries and AAA batteries because, again, better to have items on hand than to have to take time out to hunt them down in a local store, and because I've experienced store-supply fail.
• Power strip/surge protector
• Flash drives for photo storage (in addition to using a cloud backup)
• Mouse + pad
• Earbuds and the device I use to listen to podcasts every day
• Unlocked, international-friendly android phone + phone charger

Laptop

My beloved primary laptop, bought in 2010, is now an elderly lady. By today's standards, she's heavy. Her after-market battery is kaput, so I've got to tether her to an electrical outlet whenever she's on. All of my life is held in her mother-brain.

Take her to Guatemala? No. It was an unnecessary risk to her fragile body and to the electronic trail of my life.

What to do? I know I've got to buy a new primary laptop but I'm not ready for that research and decision yet.

Well, I needed a backup, anyway, to my online work practice, so I bought a toy laptop.

Oooh, sha, she is so airy-light! And so come-hithery in her sexy, red dress. And at the price (well under $200), if she gets stolen or something else dire, I will be sad, but will not have suffered a devastating loss.

I loaded into her brain only those documents that I believed essential for my needs in Guatemala. Two reasons: 

1. She doesn't have much storage space. 
2. She can't divulge intel that she doesn't have. 

Backpack

I have a handsome backpack that I use for my primary laptop, for weekend travels, for some flights. I took it to Playa del Carmen, to Ethiopia, to Caucasus Georgia, to Dubai, to Istanbul.

e-bag backpack that I left at home

It looks as youthful today as it did when I bought it years ago.

I didn't bring it to Guatemala, however. Nope, I decided to go lighter and cheaper. I'm guessing I'll do a lot of walking in and around Antigua, and I wanted to reduce the carry load. This decision is supported by my decision to bring my toy laptop, Little Red, which requires a bag with less space and durability than my primary laptop.

I also wanted an inexpensive bag, both in price and in looks, to reduce the number of envious looks from would-be thieves. Guatemala has a bit of an unsavory reputation, you understand.


Little bags and accessories

The possibility of dancing or evening-going-out required some thought about packing small bags. Being a solo traveler, I don't have a partner to watch my bag for me at a table while I step away for dancing or even going to the restroom. So I need to be creative in how I carry stuff with me to these kinds of venues.

Choosing clothing with pockets is a good first step.

I also have three utilitarian terry-cloth, zippered wrist bands in which I can stash a credit card, some bills, and a key. (I've got one each in navy, black, and red. I may buy a new one in light beige.)

Gogo terry-cloth wristband with zipper. Source: Amazon

And, yes, I did bring the ubiquitous, LBFP, that is a tourist staple. The Little Black Fanny Pack. Or, in my case, the belly pack. Got it at a second-hand store on the cheap about a year ago.

Result: For my EDC (everyday carry) to and from language school, I've got my LBFP in front of me, attached like an infant, with my camera + reading glasses inside. I've got my wristband with some cash for the day on my wrist.  In my nondescript, blue backpack, I've got a wallet and the keys to my lodging. Both of these are out of reach of easy pick-pocketing, but of course, if someone wants to get serious about things, they'll just take the whole thing from me.

I use the backpack to cart groceries back home after class.

I feel equipped.


The phone issue

I bought my android a couple of years ago, thinking I'd be moving to Oaxaca for a year, and wanting a work backup to my laptop. We got off to a rocky start, but the edges have been smoothed over.

Coming to Guatemala was going to let my android run free like the wind, performing magical tricks that one likes to see performed when one travels outside one's homeland.

Most specifically, I intended to buy a local sim card so I could make and receive local calls. Thus far, however, there seems to be no particular need for me to make or receive local calls. Relying on email for local communication suffices, and I have plenty of wifi access here, including at my lodgings.

As for calling folks back home, I've used my phone to call them via Viber (free), Skype (I bought a one-month subscription to call the USA from Guatemala), or in a pinch, Google Hangouts for real-time communication and email for non-live communication.

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.