March 19th, 2004

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Travel
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A Digital Travel Diary in Africa

When I travel, I usually write a travel diary. I’ve had varying degrees of success with actually doing the writing, but up to now I’ve always taken a journal and a pen.

Sidebar: The travel diary I’ve used over most of the past decade (I’m not very prolific on trips) has this nifty felt cover than my sister Lynsey made for me.

I’m going to South Africa for three weeks in May. Because I won’t be doing much after dark (avoiding trouble from both animals and humans), I’ll have more time to write. As such, I’d like to have the content in a digital format that I can later (when I return to Canada) do something with–save to my PC, upload to a Web site, whatever. To do this, I need a digital device that can store some text. Here are my criteria:

  • It has to be cheap. It may get stolen, lost or eaten by a hippo.
  • It doesn’t have to be fancy. I just want to be able to write, edit and store text. It doesn’t have to translate into Afrikaans or play ‘No Woman, No Cry’ when I’ve got appointments or store my photos.
  • I don’t want to access the Web with it.
  • Size is a factor. The smaller and lighter, the better. I realize that smaller and lighter means more expensive, so I’m willing to compromise.
  • I’m not crazy about stylus input. I’d prefer a keyboard model.

So, what do you suggest? An old, monochrome PalmPilot with a collapsible keyboard? Some other ol’ skool device?

Comments: 11 Responses so far

Jen
March 19th, 2004
6:01 pm

If you’re looking for small & light (not sure if it’ll work in the environment you’re looking for) I got this ad in my latest avantGo newsletter: http://www.mobileplanet.com/private/avantgo/product.asp?pdept_id=&cat_id=101&cat_name=Pocket+PC&dept_id=3715&pf_id=MP250277&listing=1&dp_id=MP250277

And for a nicely functional PDA – I suggest a low end Sony Clie. For the same price (about $250), they’ve got a lot more functionality than the low-end palms, and twice the memory.

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Tass
March 19th, 2004
10:11 pm

Came across your blog from a “blog snob” ad on my blog. Share some common interests with you – i am a software programmer with a flair for technical writing. Have written articles on Open Source technologies for Devshed.com, ASPFree.com etc. So, it was interesting to read up on some one with similar interests.

As far as a device is concerned, I second the opinion of Jen, above. None of the other devices on the shelf meet your criteria – a laptop may be too heavy, a tablet PC has yet to mature (and is probably too expensive), a mobile phone (the Nokia communicator has a keyboard and runs applications such as MS Word etc. if I am not mistaken) may be too cumbersome to type with – which leaves the good old PDA. Here, you may have to worry about memory size and battery life, compatibility with your existing desktop system (not much of a problem these days) and yes – cost. The Palm Tungsten E may be a reasonable option – http://www.palmone.com/us/products/handhelds/tungsten-e/

Hope this helps.

Tass.

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geet
March 20th, 2004
8:37 am

If you want an older inexpensive Palm, Canada Computers has great prices on them.

http://www.canadacomputers.com/handheld.html

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Mia
March 20th, 2004
11:07 am

Hi Darren,

I worked for a writer/director who used an Olympus DSS digital voice recorder rather than write things down. Each day I would upload his audio musings to my Mac laptop via USB and transcribe the relevant bits using the handy transcription software. They’re very unobtrusive- compact and lightweight – handy for interviews, travel diaries, capturing the sound of your cries as wild animals chase you over the savannah, etc.

Anyways, just a thought. Check it out at:
http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_product_lobbypage.asp?l=1&p=25&bc=11&product=1081&fl=

Can’t wait to hear about your trip.

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Norlinda
March 20th, 2004
2:31 pm

Looking forward to seeing some pics. Been hearing about the beauty of Capetown from friends.

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Darren
March 20th, 2004
4:22 pm

Mia: Interesting suggestion on the recorder. That, combined with a transcriber when I get back, might be a good option.

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mike reidy
March 22nd, 2004
8:17 am

Would you not be better off seeing South Africa after dark rather than spending the evening writing about what you saw during the day?

You would then have more to write about when your back.Surely when your back you will remember most have what you experienced in the previous few weeks

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Darren
March 22nd, 2004
8:40 am

Mike: South Africa is a dangerous place. South Africa after dark is a very dangerous place. To give you an example, my step-grandmother lives in a gated compound near Johannesburg. She also has a gate on her front door. Finally, she uses a third gate to lock herself into her bedroom every night.

So, while I may go out after dark while on safari, I’m pretty much staying indoors otherwise.

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Sue
March 22nd, 2004
9:25 am

I know someone who does virtual transcription (you send her voice recordings on pretty much any media, she emails you back the text). If you get a voice recorder but don’t want the agony of typing it all up later, let me know.

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Imo
March 22nd, 2004
12:22 pm

Pretoria -DB -Granny is in Pretoria -which is a lot safer than Jo-burg and she still has to have all that stuff. And ya after 6pm don’t go out. Unless our cousins take you -they have guns ;)

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Darren
March 22nd, 2004
12:27 pm

Imo: Indeed, Gran does live in Pretoria, but it’s only 50 km from Johannesburg, so I figured ‘near Johannesburg’ was close enough.

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