u/Beautiful_Sky_2594

Hey folks! I need some advice on travel “technique.” I recently did a 4 ‘ground day’ SCUBA trip to Cozumel. I brought an Osprey 45L backpack because I thought I would give it a try in this situation. I brought more stuff than I needed — mostly because this was a new destination and activity for me and I didn’t know what I needed — packing lessons learned.

Turns out I really ended up finally liking the osprey straight jacket system. I know how to travel to Cozumel time. But it gave me some topics to seek advice on from the community. There aren’t questions about what to bring.

- Because I had to get from an airport to a bus to a ferry to a hostel more than a mile from the dock - I ended up wishing I had wheels. They wouldn’t even need to be high end wheels. Just any wheels. I flew direct, but If I had a connection in one of the world’s biggest airports, I would have wanted wheels even more.
>!(And yes, I would bring less tech and clothing next time, but I would substitute some of that for the running shoes and sports gear I left behind this time. This really isn’t a weight thing. This is a ”lugging this on my back for a mile or more gets old” thing. A backpack is great for getting on and off a bus or ferry, but for the long hauls, it gets old.)!<
I don’t want the lugging to discourage me from anything ever. Should I try something like the Sojourn Shuttle? A wheeled black hole? Do I just suck it up? Is there a dolly that folds up into the size of those micro tripods that fit in a water bottle holder that I would just take along?

- I bought my “turns inside out into a pocket“ thin backpack for my day activity bag. I need a new one, not because mine is “bad” but because mine is falling apart. Should I just get another packable, structureless backpack, or do you guys have better ideas? I bought and returned the packable Eddy Bower backpacks (didn’t like the extra padding or the pocket designs). This thin backpack has become one of my travel secret weapons. So versatile.

- We’ve all discussed chargers before. I think I want a retracting charger to help combat charger spaghetti. But most online reviews say they break pretty quickly. What are your findings?

- I usually won’t travel with less than two sets of sports (running) clothing because I get I can get it pretty gross pretty quickly. Is that too much? For me that is 2-inch shorts, sports bra, long sleeve shirt.

- what do you guys do about fragile things. Like if I had to travel with circuit boards for work. In bulkier lugged I use a hard case for it, but what do you guys do for tighter packing?

I just did a five-night scuba trip to Mexico. I packed in a 46-litre Osprey and, despite making fun of the bag for the stupid compression system thing, not having real organization, and the silly shaped zipper opening, I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was at just being a big bag to put everything in. Of course, it turns out I brought way more than I needed, but this was a new place and I hadn’t done a scuba trip, so that is permissible.

I bought a laptop and did not touch it once. Actually, I bought a laptop, a 5g-cellular tablet, one phone, and one backup phone. The laptop is 3 lbs, and the tablet is 1 3/4 lbs with a keyboard.

I usually operate on the idea that if I actually needed to do something productive, or heck, even need to rebook a flight, the modern s10 series Samsung tablet I have is so pathetic I would need a laptop anyway. I mean there isn’t a single working web browser for android that will reliably render all web pages. A small precentatage of the time, I can’t get the united web page to work on any android phone or tablet with any web browser. the Frontier web page if full of bugs…. you know. I don’t want to be stuck without a computer. My last company would late until the last possible moment to send me patents to review and give back to the attorneys. So you never know.

So I just bought an 11 inch iPad Pro (M2, 1Tb, 16Gb ram, 5g-cellular) and I’m now so disappointed … at how junky and pathetic the android tablets are. I met a German backpacker who was functioning for weeks including photo editing with just an iPad mini.

I have a Logitech keyboard case for it, and with the keyboard case it is 2lbs, 5oz. It is way bulkier and noticeably heavier than my Samsung tablet.

I am so incredibly f-ing impressed at how much better the ipad is. Every web browser works on it. It renders google Maps faster than android running on a new pixel. It is so much better.

Give me some tips for reducing the bulkiness and getting me to iPad only travel. Including software tips. Yes, I know I can now run virtual machines on it and somehow enable JIT for decent performance — even run windows or Linux if I’m in a pinch. I have Sidestore and live containers loaded. I have ad-free YouTube in a live container. I wish the sideloading situation didn’t suck. But I think I’m close to getting what I need to replace my Samsung tablet and function a lot of the time without a laptop.

My phone is a Pixel 9. I’m likely not switching to an iphone.

p.s. And because this was a scuba trip in the Caribbean, I just ended up wearing the same clothes every day. Ok. Lessons learned.

P.p.s One interesting thing I forgot to mention is that the Samsung s10 series tablets are waterproof. Crazy and cool. But the iPad is not. Not a big deal, but it was super nice to never worry about getting the samsung wet or using it in a pool or whatever.