10 reasons to take your laptop on vacation
Away from home, your computer can entertain and inform
Updated: June 10, 2005
Along with a toothbrush, PJs, and a good book, don’t forget to add your laptop to your packing list for your next
vacation. It’s great to have a portable computer on vacation—if you know how to do it right. Here are 10 ways to make your laptop
work for you when you’re away from home.
Back up pictures from your digital camera
If you travel with your laptop, you can store a backup copy of photos or video taken with your digital camera or digital video camera. That way, in the unfortunate event that you lose your camera or it gets stolen, you’ll still have all those irreplaceable pictures. As an added bonus, you can use your laptop to store pictures when your memory card is full. Just be sure to pack a memory card reader or the proper cable to connect your camera to your computer.
Keep an electronic journal of your vacation
Recording the details of your vacation helps you remember exactly what you did, which restaurants were your favorites, and what the weather was like every day of your trip. Using electronic journal software, you can add your digital pictures and video directly to your journal entries. Search for the keyword “journal” in the Windows Marketplace to see what journal software is available.
Tip: Get a backpack specifically designed to carry a laptop to free up your hands for carrying your luggage.
Check on your pets
If you set up a webcam with motion detection capabilities, you can take snapshots of your pets at their food bowls, and you can view the webcam pictures using your laptop and your hotel room’s Internet connection. This is a great way to make sure your pet’s automatic feeder is working and your animal is healthy. Many hotel rooms feature Internet connections; if yours doesn’t you can access wireless hotspots by adding a wireless network card to your laptop.
Keep emergency phone numbers and travel information
Use offline Web pages to store copies of Web pages that contain important information about your vacation destination. With offline Web pages, you can view Web sites even if you’re not connected to the Internet, and once you’re back online, you can quickly and easily update all the pages.
Vacation information Web pages that you may want to have with you include:
| • | Phone numbers for local police, hospitals, and taxis |
| • | Airline info, if you’re flying, or highway construction, info if you’re driving |
| • | Tourist activities that you’re interested in |
| • | Local weather, restaurants, and movie listings—you never know when it might rain! Tip: To save a Web page to view offline, go to the site in Internet Explorer and click Favorites, then click Add to Favorites. When the Add Favorite window appears, select the Make Available Offline check box. |
Watch a movie
Most new laptops can play DVDs. Add one or two sets of headphones and you have all you need for a mobile cinema. Make sure your laptop battery is fully charged and bring along an extra battery if the trip is going to be a long one.
Watch your favorite TV shows
If you have a Windows XP Media Center Edition computer, you can copy recorded TV shows and watch them on your laptop—even if your laptop doesn’t have Media Center Edition installed. Just make sure you have Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows Media Player 10 installed on your laptop.
Listen to music
If you don’t have a portable audio player, you can use Windows Media Player to listen to music on your laptop. Just rip your CDs onto your computer before you leave home and you’ll have a jukebox to go.
Tip: If you’re traveling on an airplane, noise-canceling headphones come in handy when you want to block out the engine noise.
Take interactive maps along with you
You’ll never be lost with map software which lets you view street maps of almost any place in the world without being connected to the Internet. Try searching for the keyword “map” in the Windows Marketplace to see the many options available. If you’re traveling outside of your home country make sure the map software you choose covers the country you are traveling to.
Play a game
There might be a moment on vacation when you find yourself getting bored—maybe it’s raining, you feel sick, or you’re waiting for your flight. Playing a game on your laptop will make the time fly. You can enjoy the games built into Windows XP, such as Solitaire, Minesweeper, and Pinball or you can buy a game that will help to kill some time (and maybe some aliens too). Just make sure you have something appropriate for everyone on your trip because sooner or later someone else is going to want to play.
Check the news at home
Perhaps you use the Internet to read the news about national and international events when you’re at home. Consider the reverse: reading news about your home locale while you’re on vacation. This can prove very useful if, for example, during your winter vacation in sunny Florida, you need to check weather conditions back home in the bitter-cold northeast. Go to your favorite news sites to check weather conditions and potential flight delays. Then, reschedule your return trip through your airline’s Web site. You can also log onto your home e-mail account to stay on top of things at home or update friends or family on travel changes. You can even share some of your vacation memories by e-mail while your still there.
 | Tony Northrup is a writer, an Internet engineer, and a digital photography enthusiast. Tony has a decade of experience making networks and servers connected to the Internet run smoothly. He has authored and co-authored eight books about using Windows and written dozens of articles about Internet technologies. When he’s not on his deck writing, he toys with home automation technologies and takes pictures for display in a Web photo album. He lives in the Boston area with his wife, Erica, and cat, Sammy. You can learn more about Tony by visiting his Web site at http://www.northrup.org.
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