The Inevitable Pre-Trip Shopping

There's always a few things you don't have that you need before a trip (in my case, more than a few - downside of being a minimalist). 

I wanted to get a new camera for adding video and pictures to this blog and for memories, so I went and searched for the Flip style cameras that we used in my recent Advanced Educational Technologies Class because of its ease of use and compact simple button design.  I have a very nice digital camera that has a lot more bells and whistles, but I felt like it would be too cumbersome to work with, and fiddling with it for minutes on end to set up a shot might make me the target of the nefarious pick-pockets you hear so much about preying on us touristy types.  Also, I admit, I lost the cord that connects that really nice camera to my computer almost immediately and it has not been seen in some time, probably it will not be seen ever again.  I did find the Flip I wanted at Amazon (which I love) for a pretty good price, so that is what I will be bringing photos and video to y'all with!  It's battery operated too, so that's one less thing I had to worry about plugging in.  This required, of course, the purchase of multiple packs of AA batteries which I got at cost (YAY) because I work at a place that sells them and they love me.

Electricity is a fascinating topic, if you care about that sort of thing.  I never did, but then I had to pick a place to travel to which has different outlets (apparently it is the thing for all countries in Europe to have different outlets - who knew?) and different voltage (more of a problem really than the outlet shape if you can believe it).  I spent some hours online reading and researching about what I needed to do to get the things I need to plug in not to blow up or cause a power outage while I am over in jolly old England.  Turns out, all the electronic devices I am planning on bringing (Macbook Laptop, PSP, iPod, etc) are all what's called "dual voltage" - that means in layman's terms that they won't fry on England's current, even though England has way more than we get over here in their outlets.  Yay for that.  Didn't help me with the plug size issue though!

To find out if your items are dual voltage you need to look at their converter (the black box in the middle of the cord for those like myself who aren't real up on these things) if it has one.  I can tell you that all the Macbooks are dual voltage for sure because I called the MacSpecialists near me in a panic about mine and they assured me it has been that way for years and will continue on forever to be the case.  You will, however, need a different plug shape.  I recommend just biting the bullet and buying the Apple MB974ZM/A World Travel Adapter Kit because it comes with the very specific Mac charger designed plug attatchment that goes into what already charges your laptop and comes with another USB plug in cord to charge your iPod if you happen to have one of those as well.  Also, to my mind, my laptop was a big investment and it is the top priority to keep it safe and healthy so I can use it on my trip and in school forever.  Feel free to call up your local Mac place to get it, but the price is the same either way.

I also grabbed up a few other electronic solutions, which I will report on the effectiveness of when I get a chance to test them out overseas. 

Additionally, I bought two hoodies which I am calling my "anti-theft hoodies" because they have a bazillion and one interior pockets to stash my valuables in.  If I can't even find them all, it should be at least a challenge for those pesky pick-pockets.  I got them at Think Geek and if they are as useful as I hope they will be you will be hearing more about them later.  In any event, they are comfortable and warm so that's a good start!  Add to that two new pairs of jeans (my old ones were getting a little raggy), a book for the plane to soothe me (Dragonsinger (The Harper Hall Triology) if you are interested - I could read this book end to end from now till my eyes fell out, though I would say it is probably more empowering for girls than it would be for boys, it is just one of those 'woobie' books for me), and some other odds and ends. 

All told, I would say about $250-$300 went into the 'preparation' buying, but I think I am done (or about done, we'll see) plus the plane ticket of course!  Virgin Atlantic Economy class, which if I am lucky will let me pretend that I am on a bus the whole trip sitting in the middle and not looking at the windows!  Busses may be cramped sometimes, but they do not - to my knowledge anyway - fall out of the sky.