So the overthinking continues. Day 378 or something close to it. This time I am overthinking my technology. Of course. I ALWAYS overthink the technology and it has, to date, ALWAYS paid off. When I went to Vienna/Budapest, and the subsequent unplanned Paris trip a few months later, I took my “big” camera and I brought along a MacBook Air. Every evening I downloaded* my photos from my camera to my MacBook, edited and then posted to Facebook.

(* downloading, for those of you born post 1980, is system of file transfer using a cable that connects two devices, one of which may not be wifi enabled. Thus requiring a transfer.)

I also had a Kindle for reading. No phone. (WHAT?) I know right? But come on. I don’t work for a giant hotel company that offers free global phone and health coverage anymore. Times are tight.

AND times have changed my friends, times have changed. For one thing, that damn MacBook Air thingy was so damn small I couldn’t see a thing. I sold to my friend Suzanne who is SO old she wasn’t even afraid to put her reading glasses on at her own wedding so she could read her prepared speech. (SO old) (I know) (But I love you so take me out for dinner and we’ll call a truce ok Mrs. Barber?)

We have been advised not to take along the “big” camera which will undoubtedly get sand inside it and ruin it. I’m sure I could do it. Pack the extra weight, don plastic bags, and feel that familiar and comforting heft around my neck each day, just waiting for the perfect shot and artful snap. But hey, I’d rather not have the weight or the worry, so I purchased a waterproof Olympus TG-4. It’s compact and offers point and shoot for those panic moments, but also has full manual modes so I can put my mad photog skills into action. And wifi. And cool filters. And I’m sure it would make coffee if I asked nicely.

Now, I’m also taking an iPad. The maxi pad, not the mini pad. (Really Apple – get women into your product naming groups. PLEASE) I have a keyboard for it which is really nice and very effective for blogging, note taking, searching and just general working on it – faster and more accurate. Worth the weight. (Pun unavoidable.)

So – reading and surfing on the iPad, check. Photos uploaded via the iPad/hotspot/wireless camera feature, check. Time and alarm clock on iPad, check. Do I NEED to take along my phone? Let’s think about this. No. Not really. I am going to enjoy the sites and sounds, not Facebook. I am not expecting any calls. Nor do I need to email anyone. I can do that in the evening. I have a camera so no need for that. And the iPad alarm is fine. I AM going into an ancient civilization that is so like Game of Thrones that Game of Thrones was actually filmed in one of our destination cities. What would Arya do? Fight, obviously. But I digress.

On the other hand, GPS. Compass. Offline route planning. So many handy apps. SO many apps. Really. It’s a tool. (I used my iPhone level in Japan to see if the Shinkansen tilted when we whizzed around corners.) (No btw.)

It’s a travel companion. It’s a back up camera. It’s, it’s, it’s indispensable. So I’m taking it. I’m taking my phone. If nothing else, at least I can text to the Professor & Maryann or the treehuggers to alert them of my need for airport pick up. There’s that. AND we can get SIM cards at the airport in Casablanca and coverage for a month for $20 about. (Because only in Canada do people pay $101.65 a month for coverage.) (F**c off Rogers. I hate you) (WHOA – settle down happy traveller. Leave your sorrows behind.)

So there – technology covered. iPad with keyboard. iPhone. Camera. Battery pack. Cables and plugs. All packed. All ready to go.

Are we there yet?