Once upon a time, long ago, the well-rounded traveler could explore the world with just a suitcase or two, and perhaps a notebook and pen to record their adventures. Of course, he could still travel the world with nothing more than a backpack and a notebook and pen to record memories of him, but these days the notebook and pen will more often be of the electronic variety.
The modern well-rounded traveler doesn’t feel complete unless they have a global roaming-enabled mobile phone (preferably with built-in GPS), a WiFi-enabled laptop, a digital video camera, and a digital SLR (with at least a couple of extra lenses). ), and much more.
When I traveled in 2008, I had all of the above (except my phone didn’t have a GPS feature) and all the associated paraphernalia that goes with it: separate battery chargers for both cameras and the phone (including spare batteries for the cameras); a power pack for the laptop; a collection of power outlet converters that allowed me to plug various chargers and my laptop into the mains of England, America and Greece, where each country required its own specific converters of course!
Then there were the associated cables needed to connect all of this technology. Cables for transferring images from the digital camera to the computer; separate cables for transferring movies from the digital video cassettes to the laptop; a recovery disk in case my computer ‘crashed’ while I was away somewhere; a couple of memory cards; and God knows what else!
I had so much gear with me that I had to carry it in a separate shoulder bag. At least it was small enough to serve as my carry-on bag when I flew.
Fortunately, the day is fast approaching when some of these items will come together in one small, lightweight, and compact unit. That unit will even have a catchy name to help you sell it, something like: iPhone! Oh yes, they already have them.
Unfortunately, I don’t have it, but I’m working on it.
Mind you, by the time you’re ready or able to buy one, the technology will have moved into another, even more compact, full-featured device that does even more than an iPhone can, and will do it faster, cheaper, and better.