Travelling to the West from Asia and back certainly can be draining.

But it also can be time very well spent.

Have you ever noticed how much of a good book you get done? Or how many magazines you tear through? Or even how much of the – forget day’s – but week’s work you can get done in a 16-hour mandatory shift?

Of course, it helps if your computer is working.

Although modern air travel has connected the world marvelously, in flight, we are apt to feel almost as isolated as a fetus without an umbilical cord. There’s just no way to plug in.

As such, I’d like to share a few electronic options that I’ve found to be helpful in my years of striving to make flying halfway around the world as productive as possible.

It’s simple really, but options include:

• When buying a new computer, put battery life at the top of the list. Some people want the latest and greatest, but even an old hog – as old as a 1998 HP Jornada notebook – can do the trick considering the amount of battery life that has been available for years (and yet is often overlooked by manufacturers in new products).
• Buy extra battery add-ons. I made my already bulky-but-reliable HP Compaq 6710b laptop much bulkier with an ultra capacity battery add-on. It was probably a couple of hundred dollars extra, but with 7 hours of additional battery life, I’m getting in almost an extra day’s work in transcontinental flight. In fact, I was so impressed that I bought two of these monsters, just so I can have one ready and charged at all times.
• I also picked up an Energizer Duo, which claims to give an extra two hours of battery life when plugged into your computer. I bought this at an airport once because I forgot to charge the ultra capacity battery I had on hand before a flight. I didn’t need the Duo after all, so it has stayed in its case. But it looks cool (the package has a silhouette of someone jumping around in an iPod copycat pose). I guess I’ll use it sometime.
• Pack & Plug. When you pack for your flight the night before, don’t forget to plug your electronics in to charge.
• & Download. Don’t forget that while your laptop juice may be charged to the max, seat 41A still hasn’t been introduced to the Internet. Download all relevant Adobe files, email attachments, and other research material in advance of your flight. Boingo may help if you forget at the airport in the moments before your flight, but don’t leave this up to chance.

    Channel: Local Wisdom     |