Ramblings of a Geek

For me camping is an odd experience. I’ve always liked it, but never went all that much. When I was little I used to go every year with my aunt and uncle and it was always a blast. I have great memories from that time.

Now it’s a little different. With kids and my total technology addiction it’s a whole new ballgame. The main criteria for whether or not a specific gadget comes with is; Is it useful or does it have a function in camping or entertainment? The second is that it can’t be tv or a movie. I’d love to leave the cell phone behind, but it’s too handy as a just in case emergency device and a good weather checker. I’m also using my phone to write this blog post.

This trip I brought our digital camera, my LED flashlight, our family of Gameboys, my travel laptop (in case I wanted to write something more substantial), my Windows Mobile phone, my Ipod, my portable Ipod speakers and of course, my power inverter to charge the various devices. This would be reduced quite a bit if we couldn’t back the car right up to the campsite.

So far I’ve only used the camera, my flashlight, my phone and Gameboy. I’ve used my phone a bit much both making phone calls for consulting and remote controlling a server or two. I should have let it wait, but it’s tough to resist. I did turn the ringer down to nearly silent, and even though the weekend is a slow spot for email it’s still tough to ignore its siren song. I did do some web surfing too, but that should be left behind unless I really need information – like weather reports.

Other gadgets I’d like to bring for camping are a solar power recharging device, a bluetooth keyboard if I want to write longer posts and a GPS device. I really want to do more ‘wilderness’ camping where I have to pack in and pack out which would make it tough to bring everything. If I had to hike in I would just bring my Windows Mobile phone, my LED light, my Ipod, camera, GPS and the solar charger.

I’m sure there are other gadgets that would be cool to take too, but since this is the first trip in over 10 years we’ll have to wade in slowly…

It is sure nice to be away from civilization for a couple of days.