Staying Connected On-The-Fly
By: Laptop Hobo
Having a desire to run-off to Bangkok (some computer supplies were needed, which are unavailable in Southern Thailand where my rented house is), I found that the process of getting there—while still taking care of business—was a fine example of how to communicate over the web during various environmental changes. I thought I would share the experience with our NuNo viewers.
Two days before departing for Bangkok I made my train reservation (overnight sleeper berth) by phoning one of the booking agencies I know about across from the train station in the town called Trang, which is on the main land next to Koh Lanta island where I’m staying. [Tool used: Sony/Ericson T610 mobile phone] I would have used my land line telephone to call “Ta” at the booking office, but the night I got the urge to get off of the island for the big city of Bangkok (BKK) I was at a friend’s restaurant/bar having too much fun and had only then realized that I needed to make that reservation before it was too late.
Anyway, with my reservation now secured, I spent the following day preparing for my two-week escape: finish-up client website work; pack my Travel Gear into my backpack; pack my Mobile Office, and retrieve my money-belt which I have well hidden in my home. Finally, I backed-up and then synchronized all my data files [tools used: SyncBack backup program, Toshiba Type II PC Card 5GB HDD] from my at-home “desktop replacement” laptop [tool used: HP Pavilion zx5000] to my “ultra-portable” laptop/notebook that I take on excursions [tool used: Fujitsu Lifebook P7120]. Why two computers? I use the Fujitsu, which is ultra light and extraordinarily small as a backup computer and for traipsing around the country. The HP Pavilion, which is very powerful and an ideal desktop workhorse, is too heavy and bulky to travel with on-the-fly.
On June 2nd I left my island bungalow for the train station. Having to get up very early to get on the mini-bus transport off the island, I had no time to check my emails before departing home. [Tools used: standard telephone land line, along with a pre-paid dial-up account widely available in this part of the world.] However, once inside the mini-bus which took me to the train station (via two auto ferries) I then checked my emails. [Tools used: Fujitsu Lifebook computer, my Sony/Ericson T610 mobile phone with Bluetooth capability, a pre-paid Internet dial-up access “scratcher” card which I got at my local store.] One email was from a prospective literary agent (who found my manuscript “Neat, but not something we’re in the market for”) and one from a client who had several sizable changes to his website. Since the later one included an attachment of over 3MB, I elected to follow-up on that item when I have access to high-speed service in BKK. So, I elected to read the few emails from the day before, the ones I had downloaded but had little time to read because I was packing my stuff. For the next 30 minutes on the mini-bus I made my replies, off-line. But since I get a little motion sickness when mini-bus drivers zigzag between cars (mostly driving atop of the broken yellow line), I decided to set aside further correspondence until I was in the train—and not so frightened.
After a suitable amount of time was spent gazing-out from my train car’s steel encasement, were coconut trees stood watch over green meadows, water buffalos fertilizing the grounds behind rice paddies, tropical fruit trees haphazardly scattered about, teakwood homes and unimaginative concrete dwellings open for business—the usual, I decided to do only a little more work from my laptop (using the same process as in the mini-bus to connect to the Web) before ordering a beer from the stewards walking up-and-down the aisles.
The following morning while still on the train, I checked emails again. (My clients must have a sixth-sense about my holiday time since several of them had decided to send me work on their way out of the Friday evening office door.) Since I saw that several of these assignments also contained large attachments (too large to download on a mobile phone’s 9.6kbs/second connection), I followed-up on the easy emails and set-aside the big ones for later that day when a high-speed connection would become available.
Once in BKK I visited one of the numerous cyber cafés and after transferring their LAN cable from their desktop computer to my laptop, I downloaded all of those large files that my clients had sent me overnight. I spent the next three hours updating client accounts, and the next four hours after that having dinner and wine with friends I haven’t seen in months. (This is a typical work-while travel experience for me.)
I got quite a lot of work accomplished in Bangkok. If I wasn’t working from the table at my guest house (Asian budget hotel room), I worked from the desk at the cyber café or atop of my lap at the vegetarian restaurant I frequent. I was soon reminded, however, that shuffling around the big city with my laptop and mobile phone did not compare to the stability of the working environment I have created at home on the island. So within a couple of days I reversed the process of getting to BKK and found myself back in familiar surroundings, where my office view of the Andaman sea is only one more reminder of why I enjoy working the Nu Nomad way.
Should you have any questions about work-while-traveling, please feel free to contact me.
