A quick amazon or good search will tell you how many millions of pieces of electronic equipment for travellers there are out there. If you were to listen to them all, you could easily fill a second backpack. And most of it would eventually prove useless. (or at least, not useful enough to take up precious room in your bag).
- E-Reader:
I am a reader. I never EVER thought I would make a switch from paperback books to an e-reader. But when I weighed my bag the first long-term trip I took, and realized half of my backpacks weight were novels, I decided to make a change. The supreme sacrifice. I bought myself a kindle.
I didn’t think I would like it at first. But all of a sudden, when I could ‘throw’ a book into my bag, without worrying whether or not I would love it enough to justify the weight, it became A Good Thing.
When you can purchase/rent/borrow books from every country in the world that has a wifi connection. Definitely A Good Thing.
When you can read a book for hours in a hostel bedroom, on a train, in a dark station, without disturbing your neighbours, without a flashlight, in the middle of the night. A Good Thing.
When you can charge once, and read almost continuously for 3-5 weeks…guess what! A Good Thing.
When you can bookmark, highlight, copy/paste important information for quick reference.When you can look up new words and unfamiliar words and definitions. When you can read in as many languages as you are literate in. All Good Things.
So that is why my e-reader consistently makes the cut into my backpack. Whether you are an avid reader, an I-bought-three-guidebooks-only-for-this-trip-and-need-to-access-them-constantly type reader, or whether you just want a magazine or two for your beach days, I would definitely consider bringing one. Ultimately there are pros and cons to Every. Single. Option. out there. Since my first e-reader purchase, I’ve made the switch to a Kobo, rather than Kindle, simple because I liked the easy access to EPUB catalogues (essentially an online library). Find one that works for you. And enjoy it!
2. Portable Back-up Battery
I have come to depend on this almost so much that I sometimes use mine at home as well. Imagine being on a long train trip. You’re playing some games on your phone, reading a book or two, checking your email when you can nab a wifi signal. You arrive at your destination, and you realize that your phone has just died. Your maps to your hotel, your directions and phone numbers and reminders. Useless. Of course, this will be a late-evening arrival and the train station isn’t exactly a place you want to camp out for a bit to a) find an outlet and b) charge your phone. Now imagine that a small device, sometimes as small as a tube of lipstick, or larger ones no bigger and heavier than a deck of cards, could give you the power you need. All you need is a 10-20% power boost (though many of these can fully charge an iPhone 3-5 times!).
Sketchy situation averted! A Good Thing. Be Like Gypsy Jen. Be prepared, just in case.
3. Some Kind of Storage Solution.
Whether you choose to depend on the cloud on wifi, a laptop and backup hard drive, an internet-based photo uploading site, or the item I will tell you about in about 1 minute. You must have a way to backup all the precious memories you are capturing!
Until just this past January, I was a fan of the Mazzo Powerdrive Backup Battery and Storage Solution. Coming in sizes from 16gb to 128gb, there is little risk of running out of space. Not only was the transfer smooth and seamless (thanks to the app), but it was reasonably easy to transfer from the mazzo to your computer when you arrive back home. Unfortunately, with a system update to my phone, the mazzo I had was rendered useless, and it took me several months to get it updated. While it works now, and I would definitely consider using it again, I’ve found a new storage lover.
Kind reader of mine, meet the iLeef Bridge (Mobile Memory). 
That is all it is. You plug a weird curved USB stick into your phone’s charging plug. It connects to an app. And you can move selected photos/documents/videos, upload them all, or even see previously loaded material from the USB stick, on your phone (hello, hours of movies, songs, etc that no longer need to take up room on your phone!). To get the information off of the iLeef Bridge, you simply plug into your computer and transfer files as you would any USB stick.
The price is a bit of a deterrent (starting at about 50 USD for a 16gb addition, and going up to 250$ for 128gb. But if you were going to buy a phone with larger capacity, this is considerably less expensive, plus it will likely last for many phone changes!)
I have only had this a few months, but stay tuned for further updates! I am quite certain it has worked its way into my bag permanently.
4. Cell Phone!
While I was planning for my first long-term trip, I actually considered leaving my iPhone behind. The thought of 6+ months away from emails, technology, constant information…it was pretty tempting. At the last moment, I opted to bring it, mostly because my mother was getting quite concerned that I would have zero possibility of contacting her in an emergency (forget about not really having it useful as an actual phone….)
Within a week I was incredibly happy I’d taken it. I used it to keep a blog. I used it for almost-daily contact with family and friends. It was my ‘travel companion’ in museums, restaurants, lonely hostels. It was a HUGE language help.
While I speak English, and I am pretty fluent in French, having ‘Google Translate’ proved quite essential in Russia, where English was not widely spoken. Match-the-cyrillic-metro-symbols-to-the-map-directions is a much more fun activity when you have a hope of getting to your destination. For my top essential travel apps, check out my post on the subject!
I had brought a digital camera with me, but my phone was almost always in my pocket. Much handier to take quick photos than my buried camera. I ended up taking 14,000 photos, only 800 of which were taken on the camera.
5. Laptop (with portable hard-drive)
While I’ve tried blogging only from my phone, or from computers in hostels, this is not a long-term solution. I need a tactile keyboard. Currently I’m using an older Macbook Air, and while I’m happy to have all my devices ‘in sync’ through Apple, I am always considering other options.
If you can blog long-term without a laptop, kudos to you!
That’s it! Travel is about getting away from technology (unless of course, you are working to travel/travelling to work…) I am always careful to balance blogging and work with lots of exploration and adventures. After all, thats why you’re here!
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