Every year, my packing list for gadgets seems to get a little longer (thankfully, gadgets are getting smaller). What electronics do you have to have by your side, and what purpose do you use them for? Do you use ebooks or paper guidebooks?
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I travel with an iPhone & iPad, tho’ I can do everything I need just on my iPhone. I use them for business of course, but related to travel I use them for maps, information I download in advance, emergency details if required and podcasts such as museum guides and more. I do still use some paper guidebooks, too. I have not completely walked away from paper guides…many are still wonderful…like yours!!!
We took a netbook, mp3 player, phones last time and will take a Nook tablet on our next trip in place of the netbook.
I took my iPad on it’s maiden voyage to Europe this year. I will never travel without it again! It beats going to internet cafes. We were able to skype our kids at home right from our hotel rooms. Could look up things on the internet as needed and post updates with our trip pictures on Facebook on the fly. Also nice for playing games on the flight.
I still carry your book in hard copy because I am more comfortable using the actual book. I also took an iPod for music (don’t have all my music yet on the iPad) and we took our cell phone for emergencies only.
Absolutely none – I am retired and when I am on vacation I do not need to take any electronics with me when I go thru Europe every summer.
– Xoom tablet for me, used for email, internet, maps, Kindle guidebooks, recreational reading, PDFs of guidebook pages I tear out of the books
– Netbook for uploading pictures, blogging, journaling (and so two of us can be online at the same time)
– iPods (2)
– Digital point-and-shoot cameras (2)
– Kindle (for hubby)
– Cellphone
We still manage to pack light!
Last couple of years it was a netbook PC, very small but under powered. But it worked for net surfing (checking those train schedules), email and send photos back home.
This year it will replaced by a small tablet, an Amazon Kindle Fire. It will handle the web stuff, email, reading books (including Rick’s and novels for those long train rides), and listening to music, or watching podcasts.
Of course my camera, an iPod for music and audio walking tours (Rick’s are great) and an unlocked GSM cell phone for making last minute hotel reservations, checking on travel plans and calling home to ask for more money to keep on traveling!
My husband and I follow your ‘living light’ rules, with just our Rick Steves carry-on bags and my cross body purse for several weeks of travel. In those bags are one compact digital camera each, one notebook computer ( because I’m a writer and tend to be working on a book while we travel). On beach vacations: one e-book (likely 2 in future). I also take my iPhone. We used the iPhone for in phone maps of metros and city attractions, plus the handy compass while in France last year. As well I have in-phone dictionary in case I needed to translate anything (my French is good, and I didn’t, though I did use these dictionaries in Italy and Mexico). I used language learning apps to acquire 3000 words/phrases of Italian before we went there. I tried to use your walking tour of the Louvre app, but unfortunately, I couldn’t hear anything over the noisy tourists! (Plainly I need to invest in better headphones). We do not use data on our phone at all, and haven’t used it to access WIFI out of country yet, so there is no expense for internet access involved. We use the notebook computer for email and photo uploads from our hotels. I would use an electronic guide book (I had everything you had on France in the iPhone) but hubby generally carries the paper version. Now he has a Kobo, that may change.
For next Spring’s trip to Cinque Terre and Umbria, traveling by train, I’ll go light.
iPad3 (if it’s out then, if not, iPad1) This is for email, travel documents and looking at photos. I’m going to look in to including some “Rick Steves’ Italy” in eBook form. Up to now I have always used real books, but those books are heavy.
Canon S100 digital camera
iPod for music, podcasts, and books on CD.
I don’t take a phone.
I’ve used my ipod touch the last few times I’ve gone. Wifi gets me in contact through e-mail and internet gets me directions and info. I’ve recently bought a new version which is much faster and has a camera that lets me send pictures and update my social network site. I’m also looking forward to using the Facetime feature to keep in touch with home when we are in London this year. Best of all it fits in my pocket!
We’re just returning from 10 days in London and Ireland. We used wi-fi on our iPhone (wi-fi was readily available in most places, even in smaller town hotels). This was useful for checking weather forecasts or restaurant options and reservations. We tried to avoid using wi-fi to check out e-mails from work(!)
We also relied on a Garmin GPS device when we rented a car in Ireland to see the countryside. Although paper maps are great, for the Ireland countryside, the GPS with the detailed road map was a lifesaver. Dublin was great, but getting out into the country is a necessity (we did a round trip from Dublin to Athlone to Ennis to Cork to Dublin.)
Regarding Rick’s paper guide-books… I LOVE THEM!! I read them before I go on my trip. It helps me plan, and helps get me excited for the journey. Once we are in the destination, I use them sparingly for reference purposes (“where was that restaurant again?”)
Gadgets…good question. For me, its my Blackberry, an iPod touch, a netbook, and either a point-and-shoot camera or my digital SLR. When I am using your books, I carry a hard-copy – though I would appreciate digital versions so that I could read the book at night, and use the digital version during the day for reference. Means walking around XYZ is traveling lighter! The netbook may get replaced by a tablet, but I’m not sold on them yet – though I have friends that swear by them.
We’re taking our first trip to Europe in April, and we’ll have an iPod, a camera, an unlocked phone and probably the kindle with guidebooks. I’d love to consolidate into fewer devices, but we want the separate camera for higher resolution pictures; the kindle, and not an ipad or netbook because of long battery life and lighter weight. Ipod for your audioguides, listening to music on the planes and light internet wifi use. The unlocked phone to buy a cheap sim card when we get to europe, then to update our Google Voice number to forward calls to the European cell number so we can stay in contact with family, plus receive calls from airlines and hotels that have our Google Voice number.
Oh, and we’re bringing our GPS along too since we’ll be renting a car and already have Europe maps on the device. The camera, ipod, and gps could probably be consolidated into one device, a smartphone, but waiting for them to come down in price.
My electronics that I travel to Europe with are my netbook, digital camera, & cell phone.
A smart phone, camera, ipod & ipod nano. When on business, I also have a laptop but leave it home on vacation.
I travel with two cameras, both automatic, one with a 24x zoom lens for daytime, and a miniature one with a 5x zoom lens that easily fits in my pocket for evenings. I like taking photos of the dishes I am served for dinner, especially the works of art I manage to order in France. I also carry a hair blower (not electronic) and have recently added a cell phone to the mix. I don’t carry anything else and don’t want to, but I suppose a small device to access the internet may be in my future. Beginning in 2006, I have booked all of my accommodations before I leave home for my annual trips to Europe but, with my permanent vacation beginning in September (some call this retirement), I’ll be able to stay for longer periods of time making booking while I travel more important. But I will still continue to book ahead from home as much as I can because I don’t want to spend my travel time booking accommodations, I want to spend it traveling.
I have found a smartphone very useful, even without voice or data plans. It allows checking the internet via wi-fi to check admission times or locations. More importantly, it functions as a GPS, and there are several free apps that offer free offline map data, so it can work without voice/data access and without wifi. This worked great for my wife and me on a one-day drive through Tuscany a few years ago.
The free map data comes from OpenStreetMap, which originated in Europe and has amazing data quality in some European countries, but may be spotty in others.
Early model used smartphones appear to be readily available now for under $100, so this is something to consider even for budget travelers.
iPad, iPod, iPhone were all great tools in Italy this summer. However, I must have my hard copy books in the backpack; Rick Steve’s Italy, Tuscany, and Phrase books.
I just took my 79 yr. old husband to Italy for 17 days, to sight see and to visit his cousins, their kids and grandchildren. I did weeks of homework before going, and photocopied the relevant pages out of several guide books. I made reservations to see The Last Supper in Milan, the Ufizzi Gallery in Florence, entry to St. Mark’s Basilica and a few other spots BEFORE going. We never stood in a line–just to buy gelato! I took no electronic devices as my cell phone doesn’t work outside the U.S. I used a borrowed Italian cell phone that my husband’s cousin loaned me, but it wasn’t really necessary. Front desk people at my hotels gave recommendations and directions. I asked questions at Tourist Information offices (not always too helpful!). I used the hotel computer in Florence to check on e-mails and send e-mails. It was so wonderful to be without a phone or a computer–so that we could soak up Italy, not keep checking on things at home. I also sent a few e-mails from our cousin’s computer. You just don’t know if electronics are going to work in foreign countries. My family had telephone numbers of our hotels, in case they needed to reach us. We just used the electrical converters, and watched Italian TV, and had a ball!
Forgot to mention, of course, I had a digital camera, which was constantly in use. I used maps brought from home or bought on location. We traveled by local buses to a few places in Florence, and by trains between cities. Our cousin who works in Milan had the bad idea of driving us to see sights; or just driving to the Metro. Forget using a car–he himself could not find any place to park. I feel that usually a car is a true liability in most European cities. It’s nice to drive into the country to small towns, but I wouldn’t want to drive around in a city. It’s madness!
I’m also finding that my list of gadgets seems to increase every year. At first the list was fairly simple with only a GSM Cellphone, Palm PDA, GPS unit and a P&S Camera, but that list has expanded and evolved considerably over time.
I feel that each device I travel with is “essential” or I wouldn’t bother taking it, and try to ensure that each is useful for more than one function. The gadgets that I plan on packing along on my trip this year and their typical usage, will probably include the following:
> Cellphone – I’ve just upgraded from an iPod Touch to an iPhone (unlocked version), so will have to be concerned with data roaming for the first time. I’ll likely use a micro-SIM and calling plan from one of the “travel phone” firms (Roam Simple) as I have for the last two years. I haven’t decided yet whether I’ll include data with that as it would increase my costs considerably. I typically use text / SMS for the most part with occasional voice calls (mostly “in country”), and may stay with that format and leave the data roaming switched off. The iPhone will be used for phone, texting to keep in touch with family at home, internet access (possibly just via Wi-Fi), E-mail, music during air or train trips, storage of travel files (using Docs-To-Go), credit card information (encrypted using E-Wallet), your Audio tours and Audio Europe App, and a few Guidebooks in Kindle format. I currently have one full Rick Steves Guidebook and two Snapshot Guides loaded on the iPhone.
On the topic of Guidebooks, the E-book versions are VERY convenient, but I don’t find them as easy to use as the paper copies. Using the maps on a 4-inch screen is a bit awkward, although I’m getting better with practice (I’m also getting better at navigating around the electronic versions to find the information I want). I’ll probably still pack along at least one and perhaps two “hard copy” versions, supplemented by the E-book versions. If I need a Guidebook when I’m day touring around cities, I’m more comfortable using a hard copy as there’s less risk of theft (iPhones are popular with thieves).
> Netbook – I’ve only travelled with a Netbook for the last two years, but I’m finding that it’s a fantastic multi-purpose travel accessory. The compact size, light weight and long battery life are perfect for travel. There are some “compromises” in terms of keyboard and screen size, but I can adjust to those. Wi-Fi has been readily available in most of the Hotels I’ve used lately, in many cases for no charge. The Netbook is used for E-mail, Blogging, Diarizing the trip, photo backup, Net access (check trains, etc.) and also for E-books (the same books as in the iPhone, again in Kindle format – the Reader was FREE). It would have been nice to also be able to use PhotoShop to do some “light” photo processing, but unfortunately the Netbook is a bit limited in terms of “horsepower” (the processors are designed for battery life more than processing power). I’ve been told that PhotoShop will work, but I’m still looking into that.
Many people have suggested that I use an iPad rather than a Netbook, however that doesn’t work as well in my particular situation for a couple of reasons: (a) One of my primary uses for a Netbook / Tablet is photo storage and backup, and 64 GB of solid-state memory just won’t work for me (I probably have that much in memory cards). Having a 250 GB Hard Drive is much more useful! (b) I’m more comfortable using a conventional keyboard for “touch typing”, and not comfortable with virtual keyboards which I find awkward. I’m aware that accessory keyboards are available for iPads, but that’s one more thing to pack along.
Finally, while it’s certainly possible to use the iPhone for many of the same functions as the Netbook, I don’t feel that’s practical for me. The small screen and keyboard are fine for “light duty use”, but there’s NO WAY I’d want to use that method for an entire trip!
> GPS – I’ve been packing along a Garmin Nüvi for several years (both Euro and North American maps), and this has been valuable on those occasions where I’ve decided to rent a car. I’ve also used it for walking around unfamiliar cities, so don’t have to worry about getting “lost”. I’ve updated the maps a couple of times, so even though the basic unit is a few years old, it still works well. However, I’ve found that it’s not a good idea to “trust” the GPS implicitly, as it DOES make mistakes. I usually have a Map for “backup” when driving.
> Palm PDA – this has been an absolutely essential travel accessory for many years, although I suspect it will eventually be replaced by the iPhone. I’m currently in the process of transferring App’s from the Palm to the iPhone. I use it to store phone numbers, addresses, flight and other travel information, travel files (using Docs-To-Go), credit card numbers (again encrypted using E-Wallet) and MOST importantly keeping track of travel expenses using Quicken. When I return home, it’s a simple matter to place the PDA in the cradle and with one button, synchronize my files to the Desktop version. Unfortunately, Quicken isn’t available yet as an iPhone App (AFAIK).
> Cameras – back in “the old days” I packed film and then both film and digital P&S Cameras. The digital version quickly became the favourite and the film Camera was relegated to a storage bin. Several years ago I began packing along a DSLR Camera with one or two extra Lenses and a Flash unit, in addition to the compact P&S Camera. As photography is a very important part of my travels, the DSLR kit and compact P&S have been the standard that I pack along every year. My photography gear has been fairly well “fine tuned” over the years, so I don’t expect I’ll be making many more changes with this. I’ve also packed along a compact and light Travel Tripod for the past two years, and this has been very useful especially for night photos.
Of course, when travelling with gadgets one has to be concerned with charging them all. The method that I’m now using is to pack a multi-device charger in my checked luggage (a ChargePod with specific Plug Connectors for each gadget, which can charge six devices at once). This is a great product for charging several devices at the same time, using only one outlet in the room. I also pack a few USB and other Chargers in my Camera bag as “backup”. These are extremely compact and light, and no problem to carry. I also pack two Plug Adapters in my Camera bag, and a more extensive kit of Plug Adapters in my checked luggage. If my checked Bag should ever be misplaced by the airline, I could function quite nicely with the backup units. The Canon Chargers for both my DSLR and P&S Camera are “proprietary” so I have to pack those along as well but they’re very small and light, and designed for travel with folding pins on the Plugs so it’s no problem at all to take them.
I doubt that I’ll be making any significant changes in this list, as it’s been fairly well fine tuned over the years.
In the past my husband and I have only taken our cell phone. We only use it to contact family when we arrive at our destination, and in emergencies. So far the charge is rarely over $1 per minute, and with the small amount we use it we never have a very big bill at all. Of course we always take our small digital camera, which can also take videos. Recently I got an IPod Touch and the next time we travel would probably take that to use to access the internet via Wi-Fi, and to e-mail home. Up until then we have always found internet cafes and used them to e-mail home and confirm travel plans.
SLR and lenses, plus small video cam for my husband whose hobby is photography. Point and shoot digital for me.
Netbook for email contact, internet to check on opening times, addresses of specific shops, blogging and most importantly, photo storage. Although we are technically savvy, we have not found it necessary to have a smart phone/data plan for use while in Europe. I like having my netbook so I do not have to be “decent” to go and use hotel computer. And despite having many SD cards, I like having photos backed up on my netbook’s big SD card.
Garmin Nuvi if we are driving. Invaluable, never even opened maps on last trip.
Unlocked flip phone and rechargeable SIM card from Telestial, both purchased many years ago. We are in our 60’s, carry the phone in case our children need to contact us for an emergency, or to let them know we are still alive every few days! Also, good if one needs to confirm reservations. It’s economic and we don’t use it to just chat. My husband has to carry a Blackberry for work 24/7, and enjoys the peace and quiet of leaving it behind. We prefer to enjoy Europe and not be in constant contact with home.
iPod with music for me– for plane and train rides. Kindle for my husband, who prefers to read. We are not big museum goers (did that years ago!) and do not use your audio tours.
We prefer the paper edition of your books. I still like to tear out sections and carry only that portion with me when we are out and about in a city or town, then dispose of it along the way. Using ebook on Kindle would mean having to take the Kindle with us during the day.
We travel with an Ipad 2. We get internet, skpe to visual conversations, read books, watch movies, do office work. It is our go everywhere electronic device and it comes with an adapter for EU plugs.
Laptop, Kindle, Ipod, my US cell phone for domestic use, cheap foreign cell phone, digital camera, digital watch, Garmin GPS, pacemaker, hearing aids, electric toothbrush, hair dryer, coil drink heater, nose hair trimmer, alarm clock, and electric shaver,
None. Between internet cafes and hotels that provide computer use, I easily keep in touch with family and business. When needed, I buy a phone card to make calls. I travel light, light, light!!!
Retired and still in the 20th century! We take 2 digital cameras with charger and a good paper back Rick Steves Guidebook. No Kindles for us; we can’t rip the pages out of it for easy and safe carrying. We use the hotel or internet cafe occasional e-mail.
We take a netbook for email, internet, photo storage, and skype. We also take an ipod for each traveler. I refuse to listen to my hubby’s or my 11 year old son’s music!!! : ) We also take a nook (now a NOOK tablet) for reading material. My son takes his Nintendo DS. We also take an SLR camera and a smaller point and shoot for city visits when we just don’t want to lug the camera bag. Hubby packs his Droid for calls from airports in the US but we use skype for all phone calls over seas. My must have device is a sharper image travel sound machine. It works great for some of those loud hotel rooms.
I carry nothing but a cheap, unlocked, quad band, GSM, cell phone for a prepaid sim card which I purchase upon arrival.
My wife carries only a cheap digital camera and a few memory cards.
I travel with an iPhone4, iPod Nano and a Nook Color e-reader. I carry the nano since it is small and I want to keep the phone charged for other or emergency uses. The Nook Color is a great e-reader and a good size for air and train travel.
I travel with my iphone (loaded with Rick Steves audio tours, my kindle books, etc). That’s it! That little phone does it all. I delete all unnecessary info and load it with trip-related info. I don’t know if you count cameras as electronics. If so, then I bring that as well.
Netbook to monitor e-mails from work and friends, to research local information such as bus schedules and to web check-in for my flight home.
Cell phone to make and confirm reservations, and to call friends. I find it useful to have a local number for countries I visit often, as locals seem more inclined to call a same-country cell number (compared to calling a US cell number).
Wow, can’t believe how much people bring with them…the pickpockets in Europe must be thrilled! For me it is iPod and Kindle only, partially to avoid being robbed/losing things, but also to keep things light, tech stuff gets heavy fast! The Kindle, however it not for my RS book, that I will always prefer in a real hard copy format for me to write notes, look at maps flip back and forth, etc., etc.
I travel with my ipad, iphone and nook. I have also started to buy all my guidebooks electronically that has made life really simple in trying to find places and things. The map function on the iphone is awesome.
I travel with a netbook, iPod, DSLR camera (which also takes video) and smartphone for emergency use only.
When our family was in Europe the summer of 2009, neither of my teens brought any electronics. However, when traveling between locations, they laid claim to my ipod, each using one earbud and having to compromise on what music they listened to!
I still like having the guide books along, although last trip I did rip them into only the sections I needed to lighten the load. If I had a tablet, I might be tempted not to bring along any hard-copy material, although I always worry that the electronic device may malfunction and then I would be stuck without the information I needed.
iPad, iPod, Blackberry
No electronics whatsoever. Don’t want to be tethered.
Almost none. A friend brings a GPS if we am renting a car. I bring a digital camera and a cell phone which I rarely use.
Poor us.
The only electronic device is a digital pocket camera. We leave an itinerary with a few family members, including our two grown daughters, and tell them they won’t hear from us for three weeks. If we need to confirm a reservation, we ask our current hotel to call ahead, or we find an available computer to email.
Otherwise, our hotel and transportation reservations are all made in advance.
We tear apart Rick’s books and pack a few critical maps (we both LOVE maps). I even print out airport floor plans ahead of time, so we know where the ATM is located, and where the bus or subway is in to town.
It’s all very liberating.
Bill
Oh it is so tempting to load up on the electronic gear. We spent a year traveling in 2006-07 in Europe and the heaviest thing we took were our Rick Steves Guide books–5 of them. We traveled with a lap top for photo editing and storage too. We have a new I-Pad and it will save us money instead of buying all the English books while we are in Europe. So it will be the I-pad, two digital SLR cameras and no cell phone. Don’t know what we are going to do about photo storage. Our I-Pad won’t hold all the pictures we take.
About those guidebooks. I don’t like the ebooks because the ereaders don’t work wellsome except for linear, front to back reading. Much too hard to find stuff in the middle of the book. Don’t know if this is the fault of the reader or the book. Also, e-book maps very bad, and I don’t want to pay for data roaming. I much prefer paper guidebooks I can tear up.
I travel with iPad, iPhone, macbook and camera when I’m in the U.S. The iPad i can have my music, books and video in gadget. Macbook because I like to spend down time learning Photoshop. When I travel to other countries I take my iPad, iTouch, cheap international phone and camera. The iTouch is good when I save my files as pdf for itinerary and electronic travel guide.
I travel with a Kindle, a smart phone, an i-pod, and Bose noise cancelling head-phones.
Our family of 4 (two teens) traveled with 4 cell phones, 2 small digital cameras, 3 iPods and 1 iPad. Only one cell phone was an iPhone, the others were just used for texting each other to keep in contact when we went separate ways. We found two of us could easily share 1 camera. IPods were needed for music (teens cannot be without their music). The iPad was used for contacting folks at home (email, facebook messaging), for photo downloading, making/confirming reservations and to link to websites to help choose the next day’s activities. I had a list of activity options as a Word Doc with links to help us in planning and choosing. Seeing photos on websites helped with decision-making. It was great to download photos from our cameras to the iPad every night. This helped us review activities of the day and discuss what we liked best – great reinforcement and continued the fun. My daughter would pick one favorite photo per day that we would email to family members keeping them informed of our fun activities.
I found that the iPod Touch did everything I needed, with web browsing, email, music and books. Put the words “teeny tiny” in front of all those things, of course. The device fit in a pocket and I even managed to compose a few WordPress blog posts on it. I also brought a small digital camera.
I wish that bringin a cell phone didn’t seem like writing a blank check or upending my bank account. Some detailed instruction on how to get a good deal on one to used in Europe would be great.
I’m with a few others here. Thin, flat, expensive digital camera. Inexpensive wristwatch with a loud alarm.
We pack as light as we can. We use the internet cafes, hit the RS helpline/graffiti wall with questions, skype home and check e-mail. Electronics are things we are trying to get away from on holiday. Who wants to lug all that stuff?