What gadgets should you bring on vacation?
— -- It's always a lovely idea to think that your next vacation will be away from technology. You plan on leaving the laptop home, not checking your e-mail for a few days, and taking advantage of being effectively off grid for a little while. But when you start packing, you inevitably start second-guessing yourself. Maybe you should slip the iPad into that bag there. It won't take up much room, and you won't really use it much anyway, right?
Things can only escalate from there.
Let's look at those things you'll be tempted to take and ways to make them travel-friendly. The answer isn't always to leave it at home!
What about your laptop?
Once you've worked out that your iPad will fit, your laptop is probably next on the list — but should it really be there? If you have a netbook or an ultra-portable model, then perhaps the answer is still yes. It will take up just a fraction of your suitcase, won't add much weight, and will still be able to do everything you need — checking those urgent emails, updating your Facebook status to tell everyone what a good time you're having, or gloating about your holiday on Twitter.
If you'd prefer to buy a portable machine with a little more oomph and a smaller case, an excellent option for work with occasional or frequent travel is the 13-inch MacBook Pro. The MacBook Pro is small and lightweight enough that it comes along with this writer on most vacations. An unexpected travel-friendly benefit of its 13-inch size is that it fits quite nicely on the fold-down tables on airplanes, so I can write or play games even when I'm in the air. Anything larger won't open fully on the tray table and bears the risk of causing you to elbow your neighbor as you type.
If your laptop is much bigger than 13", you may have to prioritize. How much e-mailing do you really want to do? How many status updates are necessary? Shouldn't you be off working on your tan? If you'll only want to log on once or twice, it might be worth hunting down a local internet cafe or using the business center in your hotel to write and send your e-mails.
Thanks for the memories
Whichever sort of digital camera you choose to take, something to snap photos with is fairly necessary these days. Going digital means you can check out your photos and videos as soon as you take them, saving all that wasted time spent back in the day waiting for film to be developed.
But you still have other matters to consider. Think about what you want to capture. For some events, still images may not be enough; you may need to venture into video. Will your standard camera be good enough, or do you need to pack a dedicated video camera?
Even simple camera needs may vary depending on the type of vacation you're taking. A trip to the snow might require a waterproof, shockproof camera, while a road trip through the desert calls for a no-glare screen.
Unless you're going somewhere specifically to take photos, chances are you won't need your hardcore digital SLR camera, collection of lenses, assortment of filters, and variety of tripods. Most of your bases will be covered by a decent point-and-shoot. If you realize later that you'd like a little stability, cheap tripods are available at most camera stores (even at your destination).
A music player
