So, if you know me, you know that I love my tech gadgets. I mean, I’m a serious engineering dork. This little guide is not just for future racers, but also for avid long-term travelers or campers. (For my fellow public transportation commuters, you might just catch a few nuggets as well.)
First, let me start with the stuff I brought along and then I’ll share what my recommendation would be if I were to do it all over again. I’ll be pretty general with the make and models, but if you have any specific questions, I’ll be happy to answer them. (Please also note that some of my reasons for all these electronics include that I was the finance coordinator, a big fan of e-book reading – more later, had lots of Star Trek episodes to catch up on & other movies/TV/music, sometimes wanted a local SIM card with data in some countries where wifi was not easily accessible, wanted to create and edit videos, etc.) Also, most of this stuff I’ve had for years and did not spend any extra money, so work with what you got.
- Mac Laptop and charger
- Unlocked iPhone
- Android tablet
- iPod nano
- Solar Charger
- 2TB External Hard Drive – MAKE SURE you format it for Mac and PCs usage
- OEM wires for the iPhone and iPod, generic for the tablet
- 5-in-1 USB cord (for the multiuse charge)
- Universal plug adapter
- 4 sets of headphones (I eventually lost one, broke one, gave one to a teammate, and had one left)
- Rechargeable AA & AAA batteries with USB charger (what? I had an electric toothbrush and I like a high lumen headlamp)
- Walkie Talkie watches (ok, I dropped these early on, but it was fun!)
Needless to say, I love my stuff and my team had a love/hate relationship with them since I shared a lot but also used a lot of bandwidth.
For the laptop vs. tablet debate, I personally would choose the tablet since it’s lighter and still versatile but if you want to do more higher end performance stuff, go for the laptop.
Now, if I were to do it all over (with the money saved up for it), this is what I would have brought. This is also for the minimalist in me in size and weight with still a TON to do (note reasons earlier), go for:
- Unlocked Android phone/tablet hybrid with cable
- OTG cord
- External hard drive
- Extra charger for emergency juice, preferably solar (you never know when you’re in the middle of the desert with no electricity…)
- Travel plug adapter
- Extra headphones
If you’re a nice person, (which you probably should be if you’re a Christian, if not, I’ll let God bop of you on the head), you can also get a multi-outlet charger for all your squad mates to charge their stuff together at the same time, like this one. And there are plenty of times that ya’ll want to watch the same movie or listen to the same music together so a headphone splitter is awesome, like this one.
If you’re going to Africa, note that your universal plug adapter is probably not so universal.
One more thing for the frugal AVID e-BOOK READER — instead of spending money on kindle/iBook/nook/Google play book, here are some extra awesome free options:
- www.eChristianresources.com have a list of downloadable books you can get for free!
- Sign up for Overdrive and add your local library to it to borrow e-books and read from any device
- Often on other websites, you can get free e-books as well
Ok, well, that was a ton of information, but I hope it was helpful… as always I’m around to answer any questions. Ciao!
