Any excuse to travel…

Both Wanda and I love to travel so whenever we see a blog or internet marketing related conference anywhere in the world, we are invariably on the phone to each other deciding on whether we should attend or not. For us, it is more about the travel than the conference…the event is just the excuse to go.

We have attended conferences both here in Australia and in Asia and the US. One of our favorite places is Las Vegas. The last time both of us were there we spent about three weeks flying into and out of it whenever we saw a good package deal to another city. It’s actually a great place to base yourself if you visit the US as accommodation can be dirt cheap at times and airfares deals into and out of the city are some of the best in the country.

So since we have traveled quite extensively we have learnt a thing or two about not only ensuring our blog posts go up regularly but also what equipment we need to travel with to continue to blog successfully.

Before You Leave…

The firt thing you need to consider before you leave is to decide on one of the following:

• Whether you want to stop blogging completely while you are away – This is the easiest option but probably not the best for your blog. If  you are going away for a week you could probably get away without posting anything but any more than that and you really need to consider the impact it could have on your blog.
• Whether you want to schedule blog posts to go up automatically while you are away – If you are using WordPress you can easily schedule posts to go up when you want them simply by changing the post date. This method requires you to calculate the numbe for posts you would normally post during the time you will be away and writing them before you leave. It can mean a lot of work before you go but leaves you time to completely relax while you are away.
• Whether you want to continue to blog while you are away – This has the advantage that you can blog about current events but means you will have to drag along the right equipment with you.

We tend to do a combination of the three depending on how long we are away. In most cases, we will generally schedule a number of posts but will still blog while we are away. It’s not practical for us to schedule months worth of posts and when it comes down to it, this isn’t really work to us so we are happy to keep blogging while we are away.

Guest Bloggers

Another way to keep your blog running smoothly while you are away is to find bloggers who are willing to write for you. This can be one blogger or multiple bloggers. If you have a regular readership you can ask one or more of your readers if they would like to contribute. Most would be willing to do so for the extra exposure and it is easy to give them their own access to your blog so that they can upload their own posts.

If you don’t want to go to the extreme of giving them access, then you could always put out a call for guest bloggers prior to leaving and schedule the posts to go up before you go.

What Do You Need to Take With You?

We’ve used all sorts of different computers on our trips…some have been good, others haven’t. Here is a list and our thoughts for each of them:

Pocket PC’s

A few years ago, we each purchased an O2 XDAII while we were in Hong Kong…a brilliant Pocket PC device that I still have to this day, although Wanda has moved on to a HTC Touch phone. She only uses her O2 XDA now to play a game called Dots. If you ever see her sitting in a doctors office or an airport waiting for a plane to take off, she will invariably have her O2 in her hand playing Dots….just don’t tell her I wrote this.

The Pocket PC phone would have to be one of the best things ever invented. It’s pretty much a computer that sits in the palm of your hand. It may not have all the bells and whistles of a desktop computer but it does the job intended. Depending on the device, you can add blog posts, log on to Twitter and Facebook and pretty much access everything on the net that you could on your desktop PC.

The only drawback with a Pocket PC is that the screen is quite small and so is the keyboard and that assumes that the particular Pocket PC you purchase has a keyboard at all. Some have a slide out keyboard whilst others only have a keyboard on the screen itself.

So writing long blog posts can be a bit of a chore with this sort of equipment. Okay for short trips but not if you are going to be away for more than a week or so.

Laptop Computers

For our last trip to the US we decided we would take a laptop computer with us as we were going to be away for a couple of months. We thought that one laptop would be enough between the two of us and purchased one in Hawaii as we had a 3 day stopover there on our way to Los Angeles. 

The laptop was an Acer and did a great job however it was just too heavy to carry around. When you already have your own luggage and then a laptop bag full of cables and cords plus the laptop itself, it really starts to weigh you down when traveling from city to city.

Plus, we really should have purchased  a laptop for each of us. Considering this is our business and we need to be on the net to run it effectively, sharing a computer was not the ideal.

Mini Laptops

A mini laptop is probably what we will be traveling with on our next trip. These really are the ideal – they are small and lightweight enough to carry around and they have a standard keyboard and large enough screen to ensure that it is easy to type up blog posts and work on the net effectively.

Plus, they are more likely to fit into those small hotel safes.

iPhone – iPod Touch

Both Wanda and I recently purchased an iPod Touch.  It’s my latest toy and I love it.  It makes working on the net simple and easy while you are away from home plus it has the ability to zoom in on screens so the text can be made larger or smaller. It’s so much better than my Pocket PC to work with,  however it does have some limitations. Firstly, the iPod Touch is wifi only which means you need to be near a wifi connection to be able to content to the Internet. The iPhone on the other hand works anywhere that you can get a cell phone connection.

Also, both the iPhone and iPod Touch have a small screen and keyboard area compared to a regular or mini laptop. Keying a blog post will take longer so you will need a bit of patience.

Other things to consider

• Just remember that with electronic equipment comes the cables and cords to keep it charged and these can take up a bit of room and add extra weight.
• A USB thumbdrive always comes in handy so throw one into your laptop bag.
• If you have purchased a new laptop for your trip, then think about what types of programs you will need to install onto it – we generally load up Frontpage, Filezilla, Affiliate Organizer, Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop.
• Think about whether you want to take an external mouse with you if using a laptop.
• Let your readers know that you will be away.

Just Enjoy Yourself…

The most important thing to remember when you are traveling, even if it is for business purposes, is to enjoy yourself. So don’t get too stressed out if you miss writing up a blog post. The world isn’t going to end and your readers will understand. Just relax and enjoy!