My travel bag used to be pretty simple. Laptop, charger. Done. If I was going overseas, I needed a wall adapter. Lately, the list has started growing. What’s interesting is how much of the technology is duplicated – laptops and phones have cameras and GPS units, for example. This current trip has added a number of things out of boredom, but if you’re going to travel on business, boredom is a good possibility.
Now, we have:
Technology
- iPhone
- Wall adapter and USB cable
- iPad
- Wall adapter and USB cable
- Macbook Air
- Power cord
- Work Dell laptop (actually, in its own bag)
- Power cord
Photography (mainly because my backpack is also my camera bag)
- Nikon D5300 camera
- Fisheye lens
- 50mm fixed lens (added this trip)
- 18-140mm zoom lens
- 55-300mm zoom lens
Medical Equipment
- USB charger for Garmin vivosmart3 (“Fitbit”)
- CPAP (actually in suitcase)
- Glucose Meter
- Lancets
- Blood Testing Strips
- Alcohol wipes
Navigation
- Garmin Etrex 10 GPS
- Bushnell Backtrack GPS
- Bad Elf GPS adapter for iPad
Miscellaneous
- Power strip (for CPAP or other needs)
- Amazon Fire Stick (added this trip)
- USB cord and wall adapter
- Bracketron Window Mount (for iPhone camera & GPS use) (added this trip)
I really need an additional USB cable to leave in the car. Next trip.
What have I learned from this?
- My back hurts. I may know why.
- Don’t get a GPS from the car rental company when you can use a Bracketron and your own phone, especially if you have a long USB cable for charging. Plus, when you buy the mount, you get the opportunity to sign up as a Uber driver!
- You can never have too many GPS units.
- You can never have too many lenses.
- You can never have too many USB cables.
- A Fire Stick, Chromecast or Roku is pretty useful now because almost all hotel TVs have HDMI adapters, even the hotels (<cough>Quality Inn<cough>) with crappy cable packages.
- Best Buy is a bad place to be when you’re bored.