10 Things you can do with a sarong

1. Wear it as a skirt or dress.
2. Use it as a colorful table cloth.
3. Dry yourself off. They are amazingly absorbant!
4. Decorate the room. Throw it over a chair or tack it to the wall.
5. Use it for privacy when changing clothes in public places.
6. Spread it on the ground as a picnic blanket.
7. Bundle your stuff. Tie the corners together for a laundry bag.
8. Storage. Tie the ends up like a hammock to keep your stuff off the floor.
9. Cradle your baby. Tie the ends around your neck & waist.
10. Keep warm. You'd be surprised the difference they make. 

10 Things to give a traveler

During the holidays, we like to remember our friends & family with cards & gifts. But what do you do when there is a traveler in your life? They might not stay in one place long enough to receive anything you could send through the mail. It might seem hopeless to include them on your holiday card mailing list.

But there is still a way - the internet is a wonderful thing. There are so many digital gifts & e-cards out there. Besides, your traveler probably doesn't need any more stuff. Here are ten things you can give a traveler without weighing down their luggage.

1. Credit at Amazon.com for Kindle e-books, digital music & more
2. Virtual language lessons - a couple of my favorites: ChinesePod, Lo Más TV
3. Online exercise classes - MyYogaOnline.com
4. Netflix membership - the streaming only option
5. A membership at Hostelling International
6. A donation to their favorite charity - I like Kiva.org 
7. Your unused frequent flyer miles
8. A tour in or around their current location
9. A visit - meet them somewhere!
10. A phone call - Skype.com

Wishing you a happy holiday season & a new year filled with adventure.

The New Kindle Fire!

It was only a matter of time.

Kindle announced today their new Kindle Fire, Amazon’s answer to the iPad. I can’t tell you how excited I am! I’ve only just seen the announcement, & have not actually held one in my hands, but I can see that this new device is going to be awesome.

Of course, the best thing is that it has the same touch technology that an iPad or iPhone has. It runs on Google’s Android software, making Android-compatible apps & games available for download on the Kindle Fire. Also, it’s smaller & cheaper than the iPad. Its 7” display makes it much lighter & more portable than the iPad, & at $199 it’s so much more affordable.

Still, reading on a backlit screen is not ideal. One of the reasons I love my Kindle is because I can read on it for hours without getting tired. Kindle thought of that, though, & along with the Kindle Fire, they also have announced the new Kindle Touch, which has touch-screen technology combined with the very readable e-ink, but it’s available only in black & white.

Although the Kindle Touch is available with 3G technology, the Kindle Fire does not have it yet. So you can use it to play games, watch movies & listen to music, but you can’t browse the web without a wi-fi connection. It also doesn’t come with a camera or a microphone, so you can’t call anyone or take any photos.

Even though it’s not the iPad’s equal – yet – I’m really excited to see this new alternative. It’s not perfect, but it’s a great start. I can’t wait to see the second and third generations of the Kindle Fire. Oh! The possibilities!

E-Reading

I read a lot. Books are like food for my brain. I especially enjoy reading in bed before I fall asleep. There's something about curling up with a good book that comforts my soul. I love the feel of a book, the smell of a book - new ones, old ones, musty ones, crisp photographic ones. I love them all.

I love browsing through stacks of books at the secondhand shop - stumbling upon titles I never knew existed, shelling out 25 cents each & carting them all home. I love passing them on to friends once I've read them & talking about what we liked & didn't like about the story, the plot, the characters. I love everything about a book.

But a couple of years ago, I decided to change my lifestyle - to minimize my possessions so that I could move toward a vagabond life. I reluctantly got rid of three tall shelves of books, saving only a handful to take with me when I left the US.

My first stop was Vietnam, where I was naively surprised to find that reading material in English was a rare luxury. It wasn't long before I began to feel desperate. Friends & family started sending me care packages of books to help feed my need to read. I coveted a neat little e-reader stocked with thousands of titles at a single click.

When I moved to Shanghai, my reading horizons happily expanded. There are a several cheap sources for books in English here, including Shanghai Secondhand, expat cafes and the copy book carts that appear in the foreigner neighborhoods after the sun goes down. I had an endless supply of read-feed again.

Even so, I still thought from time to time about getting an e-reader because it fits well with my long-term goals of reducing my material possessions. Besides, books are heavy & difficult to lug around as I move from place to place. Having them all in a neat little digital package would be a load off. 

So when I got a Kindle as a birthday gift earlier this year, I was delighted & excited to start exploring the world of e-books. Since then - in just a few month's time - my reading life has completely & irreversibly transformed into an almost exclusively e-reading life.

Before the Kindle, I used to spend hours browsing the shelves in a bookstore. Now I browse Amazon, where I've created an ever-growing wish list. I used to buy five or six books every time I saw a copy book cart. Now I don't even stop to see what's on offer. I've gotten rid of almost all of my physical books & downloaded the e-books that replace them, plus hundreds - not kidding - hundreds more, cheap or free (one of the perks of living in China).

I never thought the change would be so quick, so complete. As I said, I love the feel & smell of books, turning the physical pages, perusing the spines on my shelf, the beauty of a well-rounded home library.

You don't get any of that with a Kindle, it's true. But what you get instead is infinitely better. I carry a full library in my pocket everywhere I go. When I hear of a book I'd like to read, I can download it instantly. If the book I decide to read on a long flight doesn't grab my interest, I can simply forget it & switch to the next title on my list. It's like the doors of Pergamum have been flung wide & I can take anything I want any time I want. It's a traveling reader's godsend.

(Full disclosure: I do not work for Amazon, nor do I sell Kindles. I *do* get a few pennies in commission if you click on one of the books in the little box in the left-hand sidebar. Over the past year, that commission has amassed to the lofty sum of 35 cents.)

Mini Laptop Review

For the last several years, I've been trying to pare down my possesions to make myself that much more mobile. In the beginning, I exchanged my desktop computer for a laptop, disconnecting myself from one dedicated location. That was essential to being a traveler.

However, the laptop that I bought weighs seven or eight pounds, which adds a lot of weight to my luggage. Not only is it cumbersome to carry, but it sometimes affects what I can & can't travel with because of space or weight restrictions.

Because of that, I had been looking for a smaller, lighter alternative. My parents helped solve this problem when they got me a netbook for Christmas, which I was able to take with me on my trip home, as I went from Harbin to Los Angeles to Tennessee to Phoenix back to Shanghai. I found that it was so much better than traveling with my larger laptop. It takes up much less space & is light-weight & comfortable enough to carry in a backpack.

The only downside is that the screen is fairly small. That's not a problem for routine email checks or quick Google searches, but it's a bit of a challenge for longer work sessions, although it's not impossible. It's something to consider, though, since my ultimate goal is to be able to work remotely while wandering the globe. I'll need a device that will let me do that easily.

I'll be curious to see what the iPad2 is like - & there are rumors that they're even working on an iPad3. My techie insider friend Michael says that the iPad isn't good enough to replace a normal computer just yet - it's more like an iPhone but bigger. If that's the case, then I'm not ready to invest in one just yet.

Luckily technology is improving by the second, so there may soon be something that's the best of all worlds: small, light weight, with a decent sized screen at a reasonable price that will do everything a normal computer will do. For now though, this netbook is the best alternative that I've seen for traveling.

What do you think? What is the one best electronic device to bring along for long-term travel?

Laptop vs. Mini

I left my Dell Inspiron 1525 (no longer available) with a friend while traveling around Vietnam in December. At over seven pounds, it would have been a burden to carry with me in my backpack while I trapsed all over the country. Besides, I was afraid it might get stolen on the road if I left it in a hotel room or on a bus luggage rack.

I traveled for a month without it, using internet cafes at each stop instead. I definitely missed the convenience of having my own computer with my own internet bookmarks & settings, all of my documents & photos. Because I was traveling for so long (& being the shutterbug that I am), I had to buy a second memory card for my camera because I quickly ran out of room on the first one. If I had had my laptop with me, I could have downloaded photos daily, it would have been easier to update my blog, & I would have been able to keep better contact with friends & family on Skype.

A mini laptop would be much better for long-term travel. At just over two pounds, it would be much lighter & easier to carry, & the smaller size would make it less noticeable to potential thieves. Many of the minis offer 160GB or larger hard drives, integrated webcams, & wireless capabilities.

The downside:
1. The keyboard is smaller than a standard keyboard, so for daily typing tasks, it might be hard to deal with.
2. It doesn't have a built-in DVD drive, though you can buy an extrenal drive if you want it.

By the time I'm ready to buy my next computer, maybe they'll have it all worked out.

Backpack vs. Suitcase

On my trip to Bangkok last week, I took a small suitcase with wheels, the kind that you might see a flight attendant use. I thought it would be compact & easy to handle. Plus, I didn't want to look any more like a tourist than I already do. I thought I could blend in better without that huge backpack on my back that screams "Take advantage of me!"

Wrong. Traveling requires lots of walking; climbing in & out of boats, taxis & busses; & going up & down all kinds of steps & staircases. A backpack is a much better travel partner. Besides, I look like a tourist no matter what I do.

Take the backpack.

10 Things I'm Glad I Brought With Me to Vietnam

1. Laptop
2. Camera
3. Headlamp (great for reading in bed!)
4. Backpack
5. Vietnamese dictionary
6. Chinese language study materials
7. Leisure books in English
8. Amor Mío DVDs
9. Emergen-C
10.Tampons (can't find them here)

Kindle

What a great idea! But at $360 it's a little cost-prohibitive.

I would love to have something like this for my trip to Vietnam. I won't be able to take many books with me, & I'm not sure how easy it will be to get books in English while I'm there. Plus, it fits right into my 100 Thing Challenge because I would be able to carry thousands of books on one device. They've improved on the first version by making the image more like reading an actual page; it's not back-lit like a computer screen but "inked" like a real book. Plus you can type notes right into the file - & I love to mark up my books.

But the Kindle has so much more potential. I prefer to wait for the features that I'm sure must be coming: a color screen for books with color images; touch-screen capability to be able to scroll & "turn" the pages with your finger tip; being able to write on the screen with a stylus so that you can scribble notes on the page or do the NY Times crossword puzzle right on the device. & most importantly, I'm waiting for the price to fall under $100.

Dividend Dreams

I got my REI dividend in the mail last week, & have been trying to decide what I'm going to spend those six dollars on. Should I get some climbing chalk? Another Nalgeen bottle? Some socks? With the current 20% off sale, I might be able to get TWO pairs of socks. Oh, the possibilities!

Seriously, though. I realize that I'll need more than $6, but in the interest of my upcoming travels, what else might I need as I make my way around the world?

Mini or Maxi?

Last week I was having computer problems. The hard drive didn't crash, but my friend Michael thinks that it was a warning sign. I want to get a laptop for my travels anyway, so now might be the time to go ahead & buy one.

I've been looking at the Dell Inspiron 1525, which seems reasonably priced, has a pretty big hard drive, & comes in lots of different colors.

But then one of my students came in with a cute little mini laptop. It has a 9" screen, is available with a 120 GB hard drive, & comes in lots of different colors.

I like the mini laptop because it's small, easy to carry, & easy to hide. It's cheaper, with seemingly the same functionality of a regular laptop. But the full-sized laptop might be better for watching DVD's. The smaller screen might get annoying after a while, even with just general internet use.

Does anyone have an opinion?