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How to Pack for a Vacation

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By: Bill Armstrong (Contributing Editor)

I’m back! As some of you may have heard, I was recently married and took about two weeks off for a fantastic honeymoon. For our first grand vacation together my lovely bride and I hopped on a cruise ship headed for Glacier Bay, Alaska! It was a wonderful opportunity to spend time together, and spend time away from work and regular life. It was, however, time spent away from my tech. A frightening prospect to say the least, because, let’s face it, I am a tech junkie.

My entire world revolves around tech and gadgets. I work as an IT Manager for a tech company, I write for the coolest tech website, and most of my hobbies involve some sort of gadgetry. Even reading a good book is now done on my handy dandy . Now don’t get me wrong. I didn’t go completely naked into the great white wilderness. I had a small selection of devices with me to help record and document my trip. Because as any good Facebooker knows, no Pics, didn’t happen!

So what do I take on my honeymoon? This vacation consisted of a day and a half drive, two days on a horse ranch in Washington, a 7 day Alaskan Cruise, and a day and a half drive back home. What do I sacrifice for the sake of space? We took with us two suitcases full of clothes and one bag dedicated to gadgets! Here is what I took. Sony was kind enough to send me a mind-blowing HD to record our trip, the XR350V! Look for the full review on this in the next few days! I had my phone, a Google Nexus One, two point and shoot digital cameras, a Cool Pix S220 and a . I brought one laptop, a HP DV6000 for photo and video management. I brought my iPad, which was necessary in case I needed to remote into my work computer. Then there was my Wife’s iPad and her phone, a Samsung Impression.

So that was it. Our idea of roughing it included two phones, two cameras, two ipads, a laptop, and a camcorder. Granted, in this case we were roughing it on a luxury cruise ship! Despite the shoddy internet this was possibly the greatest trip I have ever taken, and with this small supply of gadgets I was able to capture some great memories that we will relive forever.  So tell me, what are your necessary gadgets? What kind of tech would you take on a grand vacation? Share your thoughts and maybe we can talk Jenna into another give away! Also be sure to check back for my review on the Sony camcorder where I will share some of our adventure with you!


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  • Anonymous

    Congratulations once again for your wedding to such an awesome woman :) This is a great little article, and I can’t wait for you to show us your review of the cool Sony Cam. Giveaway? Hmmm…let me simmer on that. Welcome back Bill!

  • http://www.thenerdynurse.com TheNerdyNurse

    Thats as rough as I’d ever like to get, then again I’m very much a nerd as well. I’m so impressed that they have any form internet on the cruise ship.
    Pretty much at any given point and time I have my iPhone, canon sd1200 (I seriously need a better point and shoot!), and a flash dirve. The iPhone has actually eliminated several of the gadgets that I once had as a standard. If the trips requires an overnight stay the laptop of course comes along. Of course when you’re in the car GPS is a standard as well. I’m fortunate enough to have an Eclipse AVN2210p which features a PND tom tom, and even though I can get navigation capabilities on on iPhone, nothing quite beats the look, feel, and function of in-dash navigation. Two more checks to the iPad pro list – good vacation companion, remote computer access.
    Congrats on the marriage! Looking forward to hearing about the new Sony cam.

  • Dreamin2win

    Congratulations on your recent marriage. I was tweeting best wishes to you the whole time you were gone. I guess it was my virtual way of wishing you both a cherished ceremony and safe travel!
    I look forward to your review on the Sony Cam.

  • http://nsnelson.wordpress.com/ Nathan McDuck

    Add me to the list of people for whom “getting away” does not mean leaving your gadgets behind. They just add too much to my life. I always take my iPhone, my laptop or iPad (or both), my camera, and a whole bag of connectors and plugs. I even pack along an extension cord to make sure we have juice for everything.

    Welcome back, Bill, and congratulations!!