Small Fish, Big Pond

Inspired by the unbagging post at Engaget and seeing the massive amount of junk some people carry, I thought I should show people how it’s done.

-Bag was $45 when I was in Japan
-EEE PC 1005HA
-Cannon Wordtank G55
-USB cable
-500GB Passport
-Hand Towel
-HTC Fuze (Touch Pro)
-Cheap headphones
-Micro SD card reader
-8GB Thumbdrive (Linux Backtrack)
-16GB Thumbdrive
-4GB SuperTalent Pico Thumbdrive *on keyring*
-4GB SD card
-Pen

I got the bag out of necessity while in Japan, it expands to hold about 2 Chemistry textbooks in the main pocket and has two external pockets for small items. The bag holds everything with expansion room for impulse CD or book purchases. I can also easily fit the 1005HA’s power adapter, my digital camera, and a bottle of water if I’m going to be out longer than usual.

EEE PC+USB Cable+HTC Fuze= Broadband speed internet anywhere I go. I can actually use bluetooth instead but this way the phone’s battery doesn’t die in 2 hours of 3G. In Las Vegas I streamed a full episode of MST3K over Orb via 3G because the hotel WiFi was so lethargic.

The Wordtank is for impromptu studies. And replaces the 3 paper dictionaries I carried around before.

The towel was a gift while in Japan and is a must have during the summer. As the HHG2G says, “a towel is about the most massively useful thing you can have”. Think “hot, humid, summer day” while crossing Tokyo on foot; having something to mop your brow keeps you from looking like you just ran a marathon. Also good for cleaning sweaty fingerprints off the phone and laptop and a multitude of other things.

The headphones are just emergency use for the laptop. If I’m listening to music on the phone I pack Bluetooth adapter and a nice set of Sennheiser earbuds.

I like to pack light but still have a lot of options open. I’ve learned if your laptop+gear is too bulky to deal with you’ll just leave it at home rather than use it. I you have a small notebook sized computer that can couple with your phone for 6-8 hours of internet you’ll be a lot more likely to pick it up on your way out the door anytime.