… a techless techie and list-maker.

Miss me? (Just nod along, since I know you did.)

So ever since my 3-year-old netbook decided it was going to start picking and choosing when it would take a charge about 3 months ago, I’ve been toying with the idea of upgrading my technological life. Currently, I own and use the following:

• Asus EEE PC, bought summer 2009, finicky adapter port
• Motorola something-or-other. It’s a flip phone. And an old one, at that. No camera, no frills. Been passed around my family for about a decade whenever someone breaks or loses a phone.
• iPod Touch, first generation, bought for $15 this summer
• Kindle 2 e-reader, received Christmas 2009, has free 3G (even from a cruise ship in the middle of the Atlantic!)
• Canon 12.1MP Powershot SD1300 digital camera, bought several years ago.

…….. I’m not very technologically with it.  Now that’s not to say I’m not at least slightly tech-savvy; I can operate the newer devices just fine and I try to keep semi-updated on the newest releases. However, I simply can’t justify the money spent on a new timewaster in my life when I already have so many, and especially when I’m trying to get myself out of debt to go traveling again!  It’s not like I need constant access to Google anyway; if I ever have a question, it’s almost guaranteed that someone around me will have a smartphone and be able to look it up.

But I digress. The point is, since it’s about time for me to look at getting a new computing device, I thought maybe it’s time to upgrade just a little instead of going for another cheap netbook.

One of the most important things to me is portability, which is why I’m looking at getting a tablet. If I could afford an iPad, it might be a no-brainer, but I simply refuse to pay $500 for one, no matter how user friendly it is. 

I’m only beginning in my research of Android tablets, as it seems a bit overwhelming. The number of different tablets out there, combined with the rapidly changing market, makes me wonder if I’ll ever feel as if I’ve made the right choice.

Here are a few that I’m looking at:

• Kindle Fire HD, either the 7″ ($199) or 8.9″ ($299) – I do like Kindle and the friendliness of Amazon. I don’t like being confined to Amazon, however, and I wonder if this will be too much e-reader and too little computer, so to speak.
• Google Nexus 7 ($199) – This one seems like a great choice so far. One of the hangups I have with it is that there’s no rear-facing camera, only a front one. Not so ideal for wanting to snap a picture of the statues at Sala Kaew Koo, the sculpture park outside of Nong Khai, Thailand. It also is only 7″, which seems small to me but may be all I need.
• Motorola Xoom ($449) – I haven’t done much research into this one, but a friend got it on Woot for a great deal and really enjoys it. Obviously, I wouldn’t pay the retail cost of a new one, but it might be worth looking into if deals or slightly older models are out there.
• Samsung Galaxy Tab (good lord there’s a lot) – Yet another that I haven’t researched very much; I’m not even sure what models are out there. I’ve heard it’s a good brand, and it looks like the 2 gets good reviews and runs for $199 new.

Clearly, I have no idea which to be focusing on. I’m not even completely sure which features are most important to me.

• I worry that a 7″ will be too small, because I like the 9.7″ iPads that I’ve interacted with. But then, I’m not sure why I would need the extra size, especially for a couple hundred dollars.
• I have certain apps that I’ll be looking for, but most of them seem to be available under Google Play as well as the iTunes store.
• I’d like to have the ability to do at least some video editing on the tablet while traveling, in addition to basic photo editing, writing, internet, a few games, and preferably a decent amount Netflix-watching.
• I do need USB ports, which is one of the big things that rules out the iPad.
• I will certainly be traveling internationally, so wi-fi will be the major connector, as opposed to 4G. 

Ideally, Dan and I will later have both a netbook and a tablet, which we can both use and sync together easily. The new netbook search will come later, I think, since my current one hasn’t completely abandoned me yet.

Whew, I feel like I just wrote myself in a circle, saying I’m not a technophobe (honest!) but then that I have no idea where to start with these tablets besides just reading review after review.

Any advice? What do you have, and what do you use it for? 

… an archaeology nerd!

Hey fellow ancient civ geeks! MSNBC is reporting that the National Research Council may have discovered the location where Julius Caesar was stabbed!

I’m extremely skeptical of this as the “official spot”- it very well could be, but I’m interested to read more about what makes archaeologists think that the structure found was a memorial at all. Additionally, it’s very difficult for us to know at all where he was actually stabbed; just like politicians today, ancient politicians (especially Augustus) heavily spun the facts. Thus, the place where he may have erected a memorial might have no correlation to the reality of where the murder took place.

Regardless, the last sentence sums up quite nicely why I adore Rome with such passion. I’m swept away by the interweavings of the present and the past- not just ancient Rome, but virtually every “era” since. Rome has such continual, unbroken history… when I walk around Rome (which is essentially all that I do when I go there), I can feel it in my bones. It’s humbling.

 

… a bewildered facebook addict.

Welcome to…

Things-I-Don’t-Get Thursday!

Today’s head-scratcher: using hashtags outside of twitter.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the whole point of hashtags was to mark something for the twitter feed, so that posts with common topics could be browsed together. …….. That doesn’t work on facebook. You look like a douche.

Also, I think I’m addicted to facebook. Just getting that out there.

… a poor traveler (aka volunteer).

In travel news, I am incredibly excited to have discovered two new sites that might help Dan and me manage our upcoming travels. I am always a big fan of finding “alternate” travel opportunities, particularly in the form of volunteering in exchange for room and board. Work permits are difficult (nigh impossible) to obtain in most countries and employment, even under the table, not always possible in the short term. Volunteering allows a traveler to contribute and feel useful during their travels, and some programs provide compensation for the work done, usually in the legal forms of room and/or board.

Now, I’ve read many an argument (like this one) that importing foreign “voluntourists” for projects can be detrimental to the societies and communities that are the intended beneficiaries. Some volunteer programs take job opportunities away from locals, instead bringing in unskilled, untrained people from around the world for a few weeks at a time. I’ve read reports of shoddy volunteer work needing to be redone, children in orphanages with abandonment issues after a string of holiday-helpers, and a cold shoulder turned to training local teachers. (Give a man a fish or teach him, that whole thing.) Arguments are being made that voluntourism has become yet another industry out for exploitation, both of the voluntourist and of local communities.

And I agree, to an extent. Often these idealistic crusades we Westerners engage in are purely for show (and to make ourselves feel better), and there are countless organizations out there who are ready to capitalize on them.

However, I firmly believe that the idea of international volunteering should not be dismissed. The concept opens up hundreds of opportunities for the traveler to experience things they would never otherwise have the chance to. If done mindfully, these experiences can achieve their intended purpose and benefit all parties.

Of course, I might be biased. It was the book Volunteer Vacations that initially sparked my wanderlust, and as an extreme budget traveler, volunteer opportunities have allowed me to spend time that I never otherwise would have been able to. I have personally volunteered in Thailand, Ireland, and France, and I have close friends with volunteer experiences in dozens of other countries. Without naming names, some of the programs I have interacted with and heard about were effective and well-intentioned, and some felt more like an attempt to get cheap labor (though their contribution or detriment to society could well be debated). Do your research, accept that your best intentions may not have the ideal effect, and try to change the world (or at least a little corner of it) anyway.

But I digress. I found new websites! Of course, I’ve been a frequenter of the WWOOF websites, organizing World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. Each country (or region) has an individual site, listing opportunities to volunteer on farms in exchange for a homestay. To me, this is an ideal opportunity to engage in overseas volunteerism, as it is more of a personal cultural exchange and (typically) does not put a dent in the economy.

However, it looks like there are OTHER sites facilitating small-scale volunteer exchanges! Similar to WWOOFing, these don’t necessarily incorporating farming tasks, which might be nice for an indoorsy girl like me. Do any of you have experience with Help Exchange or Workaway? How about WWOOFing? What are your thoughts on “volunteer vacations”?

… a n00b blogger.

First of all, please shoot me for using the non-word “n00b.” What have I become?!

Second, my blogosphere friend Jen at WanderOneDay, who is doing a much better job than I of filling her new blog with useful posts, wrote the following spot-on insomniac parody. It made me giggle.

She hits the nail on the head:

Oh no, there it goes, my fast asleep foot,
Should I move, get a drink? Nah, I’ll just stay put.
What if someone comments? I have to write back,
I swear seeing new “likes” is akin to crack!

Read the rest of her brilliantly crafted poem here:  ‘Twas My First Week of Blogging…. It’s nice to be following along with another new blogger!

In travel news, I am incredibly excited to have discovered two new sites facilitating small-scale volunteer exchange. Read more about them in a new post that will go up later today!

… a tired (and easily amused) young lady.

I’ve had a ridiculously busy week, preparing for and performing in a show for Orlando’s Come Out With Pride festival, not to mention getting ready for a busy October work-wise! So, until I’m back on track with writing some quality posts, here’s a funny picture!!

… a traumatized Florida resident.

In the wee hours this morning, I got up to go to the bathroom. After standing up to flush, I noticed a cockroach in between the toilet bowl and the seat. In the frontmost part, also known as right between my legs moments earlier.

A live cockroach.

Add it to my list of horrific cockroach encounters from the 8 years I’ve lived here.

… a rebel? Or just a girl who does What She Wants?

Ever since I first heard it, I’ve thought this song captures quite well the struggles that many of us twenty-(and, I’m sure, many thirty-, forty-, fifty-, and even sixty-)somethings are going through, as we try to figure out what we’re allowed to do and who we have to listen to now that we’re adults. We spend so much of our lives doing what we’re told to do, whether it’s by our parents or peers or society in general. And for some of us, our existential quarter-life crisis brings along these questions- who SAYS we can’t do that?

Who says I can’t pack up, take a solo transatlantic cruise, and spend 3.5 months traveling around Europe on a whim? Nobody worth listening to does, and that’s why I did it.

Who says you can’t spend your long Memorial Day weekend holed up in your room, watching episodes of “True Blood” while the rest of the world basks in the sunshine and watches fireworks?

Who says John “can’t get stoned and plan a trip to Japan alone?” (It doesn’t matter if he even goes!)

One of the best revelations I embraced while traipsing around Europe solo was that I don’t have to answer to ANYBODY. If I wanted to spend the day in the park, people watching and writing in my journal, instead of going to yet another museum or tourist attraction, I had nobody to judge me! (And that happened frequently- I’m not a huge fan of museums.) If I wanted to extend my three-day stay in Rome to a week, simply because I liked the campground pool, the only person who might have said I couldn’t was the campground desk clerk!

Who says we can’t do what makes us happy? Okay, maybe not all the time– but then again, why not? Who says we can’t redefine our world around our own joys, providing we don’t hurt anyone else? Who says??

And while we’re on this topic, who says you have to be who you’ve always been? One of the exhilarating things about travel or moving to a new place is the ability to simply start over. Of course, it’s easier said than done to change who you are, but it’s about little things- getting rid of the old things that held you back simply by being there. A reputation, a stupid thing you did six years ago, a group of friends that know “everything” about you.

But you don’t have to move across the state, the country, or the world to start over. It’s more difficult, sure, but why not choose, wherever you are, to change the things that you don’t like about yourself and your life? If you don’t like the choices that you make when you’re out at the bars with your friends every weekend, try to stop going, at least one day a week. If you wish you had more of a social life, confess your feelings to a “social butterfly” friend or coworker and ask them to bring you along… anywhere. If you hate that you yell at your friends and family when they get on your nerves, find a free counselor to talk to about your anger issues. If you wish you were more interesting, find a topic that excites you (even if it’s “True Blood”) and talk about it! (Careful not to go overboard there- “interesting” can turn into “crazy fanatic” real quickly.)

It doesn’t matter what it is that you want to change. My point is, nobody’s stopping you from making small steps towards that change. And if they are, maybe you should rethink their presence in your life.

“Who says I can’t be free, from all of the things that I used to be? Rewrite my history… who says I can’t be free?”

Who says we can’t make changes to better our lives- right now? What are you waiting for?

… a mostly responsible young lady.

Sometimes, especially while traveling, the less responsible choices make the best memories.

Mind you, I say sometimes, and I’m not endorsing stupid choices, like wandering down a dark alley alone at night. Though I’ve probably done that before. Oops.

What I am endorsing is going with your gut, doing what feels right, and (sometimes) ignoring what that annoying little voice in the back of your head says that you “should” do.

Ah, my favorite holiday.

Last spring, I reunited with an old friend in Cork, where we had lived in 2006, for St. Patrick’s Day. We had an amazing long weekend, filled with several bad life choices, reminiscing, and laughter. Though our planned CouchSurfing hostess had to go out of town at the last minute, she graciously passed us on to her sister Eibhlis, who ended up being the best hostess we could have imagined. And despite all of the ridiculousness of March 17th (and well into the 18th), one of my favorite memories of the trip is still my very last night with our beautiful hostess.

It was so simple. I had an early early early morning flight to Amsterdam (where I was spending a whirlwind 24 hour layover, for which I did not plan to enjoy the comforts of a hostel), so after a tearful goodbye with my old friend in the city, I took the bus back to our pseudo-home with every intention of getting a decent amount of sleep before my taxi arrived. Instead, I ended up staying up all night with Eiblhis smoking and watching “Weeds.” Yeah, that’s definitely something I couldn’t have done back home in the States. And, of course, it also meant that I was completely miserable for my first six hours in Amsterdam, having been unable to sleep on my two-hour budget airline flight. (What, two square feet of space isn’t enough? Greedy.)

But as mundane as it was, and as miserable as it made me later, the bonding with Eibhlis was priceless, and sometimes while traveling you need a lazy, TV-watching night that’s exactly like one that you would have had back home. It’s familiar and helps release the perpetual tension of being on the road.

When my taxi finally arrived, it was an unmarked car driven by a nice Irish fella. Too tired to think, I got in without hesitation, because who else could possibly be driving down this residential road at four in the morning? It wasn’t until halfway to the airport (I hoped, as I didn’t know the way) that I realized this could have been a random guy set to rape and murder me out in the Irish countryside. (Perhaps that thought is what set the stage for my Night of Paranoia in Amsterdam…) Luckily, it wasn’t, but see “stupid choices” above.

What irresponsible choices have you made lately? How’d those turn out for you?

… a stylish traveler?

How I feel going through airport security.

Thanks for the photo, TripInsurance.com!!