Travel Tips, Part 2

James A. Martin

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Last week, I offered tips on how to plan the vacations you'll be taking this summer with your gadgets. This week, I've got tips on packing your gear. So without further delay, let's get right to it.

Think It Through

I spend a fair amount of time thinking about a trip before I start packing. Take clothes, for instance. First, I imagine what I'll be doing each day of the trip. Then I think about what I'd wear for each activity, with the goal of wearing each garment (shirts, shoes, pants, and jackets) at least twice. I pack my clothes several days before I leave, to give myself the opportunity to further edit my clothing choices.

And then, at the last minute, I throw in a bunch of stuff that I end up not wearing.

Okay, so I'm not perfect. However, if you apply all but that last packing strategy to your electronics, you'll most likely avoid overpacking.

As with clothes, give some thought to what you'll likely be doing each day.

Will you be spending a lot of time by the pool, a mojito in one hand and a pulpy novel in the other? Great--leave the notebook (and probably the camcorder) at home.

Will you be on the go in an unfamiliar city, touring museums and historical sites and enjoying good restaurants? Maybe you'll want to take the notebook after all to research those museums and restaurants online, as well as the camcorder.

Pack Your Gear in Your Carry-On

When traveling by plane, never pack electronics in your checked baggage. The risk of theft or breakage is simply too high. In fact, I don't even pack Apple iPod accessories in my checked bags any longer. On two separate occasions, I've had USB cables, AC adapters, and other accessories mysteriously disappear from my checked baggage.

Get Organized

For long flights, organize your carry-ons carefully. Let's say you're flying cross-country or overseas: You've got a notebook, a digital camera, and a MP3 player, plus a change of clothes, reading material, a bottle of water, some snack bars, a sleep mask and ear plugs, and who knows what else. How do you organize all this stuff, so you're not constantly fumbling through the bag beneath the seat or another one in the overhead compartment?

The answer: It's all about bags within bags, baby. When I'm faced with a long flight, I pack two carry-ons and one checked bag. The checked bag contains all my clothes, toiletries, and items not needed in flight.

One carry-on is a backpack; the other is a wheeled notebook case. The backpack has a strap that slips over the wheeled bag's telescoping handle, so I don't have to carry the backpack on my back.

In the backpack, I pack things I won't need during the flight but don't want to put in my checked bag. Those items include my cell phone, a change of casual clothes (in case my checked bag gets lost), and my iPod's AC adapter. Any other electronic device I won't need in flight, such as my camcorder, also goes in the backpack.

Reading materials, snack bars, breath mints, and the like go into a large, drawstring-tie shoe bag. I pack the shoe bag into my backpack. When I get to my seat on the plane, I remove the shoe bag and place it in the seatback compartment, for easy access. Then I stow the backpack in the overhead bin.

My wheeled notebook bag goes under the seat in front of me. In addition to my notebook, the bag contains DVDs I'll want to watch, headphones, a USB thumb drive (to back up any files I've worked on during the flight), and my iPod.

I also keep my notebook's AC adapter in the wheeled bag. That way, it's handy if I'm in an airport lounge and need a quick recharge, or if the flight I'm on has power ports in the armrests.

The backpack I use is Briggs & Riley's Transcend ($124), which has two outside pockets for water bottles and lots of interior pockets. My wheeled notebook bag is Tumi's Wheel-A-Way Boarding Tote ($395). Both companies make a variety of excellent, durable bags with great warranties. Read "Gear Bags" for my reviews of both bags. For more tips on packing your gear, read "Traveling Light."

Have a bulletproof packing strategy for your gadgets? Drop me a note.

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Suggestion Box

Is there a particularly cool mobile computing product or service I've missed? Got a spare story idea in your back pocket? Tell me about it. However, I regret that I'm unable to respond to tech-support questions, due to the volume of e-mail I receive.