I spent most of last week at the beach with my family enjoying some much needed time off. Because I’m a little bit of a gadget geek and enjoy playing with all sorts of electronic toys, I thought I would give you a quick glimpse of the technology that went on vacation with me. All the little gadgets were designed for pleasure, not work. Hey, I was on vacation after all.
– Dell laptop. My family likes to sleep late, which offers up some quite time for me to aimlessly search the internet, read, watch a movie, etc. Because hotel internet access can be a little finicky at times, I always carry my Verizon 5750 wireless card for my laptop. That way I never have to guess.
– Cell phone. I carry an LG Dare. I realize it’s not an iPhone, but that is a personal choice. Do you hear me Apple, I want the iPhone on the Verizon network. Anyway, I use the phone to connect to the internet, update and read Twitter and facebook (including some cool photos – see image at right) and for navigation. I used my Dare to find restaurants, a shoe store for my daughter, a car wash following a seagull incident and the place we rented our ATVs. It was absolutely invaluable.
– iPod Touch (8 GB) – The iPod Touch is an awesome entertainment center. I listened to music during those quiet times mentioned above, watched movies and played games. My playlist of choice for the trip was Easy Listening (Journey, Wham, Third Day, Queen, etc). This is quite a bit different from the playlist I listen to at work, which includes Metallica, AC/DC, Linkin Park, Audioslave, Alice In Chains, etc. Hey, music goes with the environment and sets the tone. My movie of choice for this trip was one of my favorites, Iron Man. Games on my “Touch” include such classics as Fieldrunners, Stickwars, and iShoot. The iPod Touch is a great device and I drained the battery several times on the trip.
– Canon 30D with 17-85mm f/4.5-5.6 lens. You can’t go on vacation without taking way too many pictures. I love my digital SLR and have several hundred gigabytes of photos to prove it. The bigger lens (EF 70-200mm f/2.8L) remained at home in its case this time. It’s a fantastic lens, but is often more than I need for casual photos. The camera performed well, even after the beating it took in the “dunes” while I photographed my daughters and wife riding ATVs.
That’s it. Besides some shorts and a bag full of T-shirts, that’s all I needed for a week at the beach. As compact as this set of tools is, I hope to whittle it before our next vacation. When Verizon and Apple finally decide to make me happy, I will replace the Dare and the iPod Touch with an iPhone. I also have plans to replace my bulky laptop with a small netbook just as soon as they become available with Pixel Qi’s new LCD screen. I realize I could use the iPhone for everything, but I really enjoy reading on a larger screen. The camera stays, pictures are just too important to skimp on.
One final word of advice, keep the cell phones off the beach. That beach sand is a bugger to get out of the phone. You’re just going to have to trust me on that.
Leave a Reply