3.04.2008

Techno Junkie

To those who know me, calling myself a techno junkie isn't exactly breaking news. As a college senior I can already lay claim to my early adopter status, and I'm fully aware of my dependency on those things that contain circuitry and wires. (I have an HD-DVD player that's a year and a half old, and already obsolete -- curse you Blu-Ray!). So when I decided to travel to Lafayette, LA for an alternative spring break trip, it's surprising that I never once considered the tech use ramifications. Now that the trip is less then a week away, I find myself in quite the dilemma -- which tech stays, and which goes?

I came across this post over at Lifehacker that talks about trying to travel to foreign countries (Thailand) with tech. It doesn't sound encouraging, and while Lafayette isn't close to Thailand, I'd face a lot of similar issues -- security chief among them. As much as I'd like to have my laptop with me for checking e-mail, playing games, and watching movies, I think it's gotta stay home. It's times like these I wish I had an ipod touch/iphone -- maybe when I'm not so poor.

Moving down the list, my ipod comes with, if only because a 30 hour van ride with 8 people I don't know well would be excruciating without some melodic distraction (and no, sing-a-longs don't count). A GPS and my cell phone also make the cut. If I could afford the $130 price tag, I'd get myself a Nintendo DS as well.

So the trip isn't a complete tech-less experience. It's more like an internet-less experience, in itself a scary thought. It's one I haven't experienced since the early internet days, back when dial-up was the norm, and I was only allowed a half hour of internet time a day. It's going to be an interesting experience. It'll be good to get some time off and take a break from my tech addict ways.

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