Packing lighter

I took a pretty big bag with me on this trip, but I've realized that under the right combination of circumstances-- which in fact happen on most of my business trips-- I could get away with carrying far less stuff.

For one thing, I brought half a dozen shirts, thinking that I'd have the hotel in Budapest wash the dirty ones before I left. However, my favorite travel shirt-- a version of the Tactical 5.11 made from CoolMax nylon-- washes and dries very quickly. If I got two more of those, so long as I didn't need to really dress up, I could just travel with those, and wash them ask I travelled.

This'll work if I'm not working with the same group for longer than a few days, but also not moving hotels every night. If I'm based somewhere for a couple nights, but doing different things, it'll work. Pack two shirts and one t-shirt (to wear at night in the hotel when I'm washing stuff out), and be done. I also found some good travel detergent at Boots-- that's essential for making this scheme work. I bought several packs.

I'm not sure this would work in the wintertime, when clothes tend to be heavier and require more time to try. And whenever I needed to carry a suit, I'd have to rethink. But maybe I could make it work.

I'm also starting to think that I could replace the Mac with something like a Nokia N810. It would require putting more of my working documents on Google Docs, and seeing if the offline editing option for Gdocs works on the mobile flavor of Linux that the N810 runs, but I really don't need the Mac, and it would cut my travel load by several pounds. It might cut down seriously on my photoblogging, through; I'd need to check how well it works with Flickr, and whether there are any special tools for uploading pictures and blogging.

To store all the pictures I take, I might need a new iPod. That's a distinct possibility. But of course I already carry one of those, so it would be a substitution play. And one that would make me just a little bit poorer.

Of course, if the iPod touch supported Flash and had Bluetooth (so I could use a keyboard with it), then all my problems would be solved. I could run Gdocs on it, and there'll probably be other word processing applications available in short order. The touch screen would also let me do incredibly cool things with ZuiPrezi.

Or are there other devices that I should consider? I thought the Sony MyLo was close to being good, but not quite there. The AlphaSmart doesn't quite do enough, I think: I really need good browser access and connectivity when I'm on the road. None of the Windows CE devices strike me as really great. And while my N95 has wifi and Bluetooth, and so hypothetically I could use a keyboard with it, the screen is too small to work with very easily: it's not robust enough to replace the online functionality of a laptop.

airport, England, Heathrow, Travel, Travel

Comments

[Heather]

What about the thing Nancy and Dad have?
http://www.amazon.com/Asus-Screen-Celeron-Processor-Preloaded/dp/B00114T9WY/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1DYKTIFE0AMMU&colid=1ONFH0JGPM1UT

[Gustav]

Like Heather, I've also looked at the Asus eee line with interest. There's a model with a 9" screen as well.

What are Apple doing, by the way? They don't have a model in this subnotebook category, they went from 12" to 13" as the smallest model, instead of the other way.