I am planning a short overnight trip over to a nearby town. While I am struggling with concocting something cultural to do, gear selection is something I will have a much easier time with. So the kit will be as follows:
MacBook – this will be largely a photography trip, provided the weather holds and it is not so cold that my lens will get frost-bit. The MB is an excellent platform for "developing" photos. You see, despite that everything is now all fancy-dancy digital, I do not feel like I am done taking photos just from looking on the camera's LCD. I need to see the photos blow up on a screen, even if it is just the MacBooks 13.3 incher.
PSP – it's going to be chilly, so I intend to find a few activities to do during the day, and a decent place to eat chow, then I'll hole up in a room with my PSP; some SOCOM and Tekken action will be in order
iPod Touch – ok, this is actually going to be my iPhone; I'll place it in airplane mode and use it as a video player. I have some episodes of Reno 911! To get caught up on.
SkullCandy Headphones – no plane trip means not having to worry about anyone thinking I am a devil worshiper when I am in my own hotel room jamming to my Metallica branded headphones, complete with skull on the earcups. Seriously, I only bought them because they sound good.
Sony a350 dSLR with Lenses (100-200mm and 75-300mm lens) – I am a little concerned about only kitting myself out with my two most powerful zooms. When I was similarly equipped for my trip out to San Diego, I came upon a few things (like cruise ships and aircraft carriers) that were so big that I could not get them in frame without going to the opposite side of the street, which was not always feasible. Consider my photographer's challenge for this trip. I'll have to select my activities appropriately.
iPod – this may be overkill. Eventualy I am going to have to start thinking about my equipment overlap on some trips. For an airport trek, I would not mind schlepping both my iPod and my iPhone, since neither's battery would last an entire cross-country flight by themselves. However for a single overnight, I may need to consider carrying one or the other. For that matter, I ought to seriously consider just watching video on my PSP.
Tilt – my primary cell phone will be the Tilt; hmmmm…on-the-go Twittering experiment perhaps?
CompuDayPak – this will be the third trip with the CDP, which was my tripwire for authorizing consideration of the purchase of a booq Python pack or Python Pro, also combination laptop/digital SLR camera bags.
As I wrap this list up, I realize that my standard loadout plan has always been scaled a one-weeker, with enough gear to then keep me busy if I get extended. I may wind up looking at this list again and crimping it, as I suspect that my ability to be at home enough to take short 3-day trips of my own choosing may become more prevalent. I could probably afford to drop the iPod and the Tilt, and just use my iPhone for both tunes and phone calls. That means I will need to be able to frequently recharge.
The list spawns some new ideas. I have considered what it would mean for me to go laptop only in the 'WERKZ. It may also be worth taking a look at an alternate configuration of workstations around here as far as gear goes; more on that later as I flesh that out.
Most nicest thing about this gear list is that, with the new, cavernous, hard drive that I've installed in the MacBook, I will not have to worry one bit about taking tons of photos. Of course, I'll post the obligatory trip report when I get back. Laters.
- Vr/Z..>>