Is This How to Carry Your Gadgets?

mightypie writes "What's the best way of carrying a Visor Prism, mobile phone, cybertool, digital camera, wallet & keys? I just don't like the vest solution Somebody here must have the solution" That is the most disturbing ad I've seen. Someday my phone/camera/pda/mp3 player will be one tiny happy box. As it stands my solution is baggy pants w/ big pockets.

Comments

It's about quality, not quantity

[ciurana]

Greetings!

During my last trip to Europe I resolved that I wouldn't take my Compaq notebook (it's a light machine but it requires carrying an extra bag). As an experiment, I tried taking with me only the following:

• Standard Palm V
• Palm V folding keyboard (same footpring as Palm V)
• The Palm V universal recharger (110 - 220 VAC)
• The Palm V analog modem
• A set of wall adapters for Russian, German, and French wall and telephone outlets
• Special software? A copy of Top Gun SSH for the Palm
• Anything I was bound to need while meeting with customers (presentations, product samples, etc.) was pre-copied to a secure HTTP site in our network so I could download it upon my arrival using my customer's equipment.

This was a 2-week trip. During this time, I scheduled things so that I didn't have to look at e-mail every single day. Added a vacation e-mail auto-reply just in case. Any notes that I might've needed for the duration of the trip were downloaded to the Palm as Memo documents (no extraneous formatting).

I carried all these things in the external zippered pockets of my traveling leather jacket:

• Palm V and passport: Left breast pocket
• Keyboard: Right breast pocket
• Modem: Left hip pocket
• AC recharger and adapters: Right hip pocket

I had excellent results. During the trip I had the option of connecting with the Palm and sending quick replies, or heading to an Internet café, install a copy of SSH, check my e-mail and optionally review documents on my server(s), etc. Not carrying a lot of stuff, and having a device with only limited capabilities allowed me to be more productive about what I was doing during the trip. I only had my carry-on bag with 2 weeks worth of clothes, so I was in-and-out of every airport I visited (SFO, DeGaulle, Frankfort, Sheremetyevo, Cheboksari, and Toronto [I can't remember its name]) in less than 20 minutes, including customs.

I've been traveling for business for 12 years doing consulting and installing the software we produce worldwide. This trip taught me that it's not the quantity of what you carry but the quality and the planning what count. It was the first trip without my laptop/notebook since 1992.

The hardest part was synchronizing all the materials I produced while I was gone with the rest of the work at the company. It took a lot of cutting and pasting and a couple of revisions.

This experiment was an extension to my habit of not carrying a mobile phone. I own one but I don't even know the number, and I only carry it when I think I may have to call someone that I couldn't reach at any other time. I used to carry my phone at all times and spend lots of time using it. I realized then that my time is very precious and so is my customers's. No phone calls at all times means no interruptions while I'm taking care of business, dining out with my friends, at the movies or theatre, etc. I've never lost a deal because I couldn't take a call right that minute. If I'm expecting something critical, then I stay at my office where the phone and all other resources (including people in my staff) are available to take care of business.

Cheers!

E

Re:Speaking as a tailor...

[JabberWokky]

So, if you really want clothes that let you carry a bunch of small electronic items in style, learn to sew.

Damn right. I'm no tailor, however, I am big into costuming (Rocky Horror, the SCA, Cosplay, etc). My "trenchcoat of holding" is legendary - an Adolpho trench modified to carry even very heavy objects with loops, buttons, huge internal pockets, etc. At Anime Festival Orlando, in addition to the usual con equipment - first aid kit, toolkit, Palm, journal, two sandwiches, several Three Musketeers bars etc, I carried a large bottle of Skyy Vodka, a decent sized bottle of Tullimore Dew, Cuervo Gold, and a canister containing the five Thinkgeek shot glasses. Nobody guessed I had anything in the trench as I walked around the con. I walked around with no weight or "sag" problem, thanks to a nice over the shoulder, around the neck webbing system that displaces weight.

I want to add a laptop, but the "flat and wide" dimensions creates a problem with making it hideable under the fabric - and the Picturebook, etc, seem to lack enough usefulness to justify buying one. When HMDs become decent (I have a Glasstron right now), I will probably use it, but attached to a laptop in my trench - I want a usable keyboard, dammit.

--
Evan