We’ve just returned from an early summer break. Having written a fair amount for the next issue of PC Advisor relating to mobile roaming costs, the practicalities of web access while abroad and the need to keep your precious gadgets safe from light-fingered strangers, I thought I was fairly well prepared for our holiday.
Data roaming was duly deactivated, a neighbour drafted in to feed the cat and keep an eye on the garden, and a plethora of gadgets lined up next to the suitcase and abandoned at the last minute given the parsimonious luggage allowance of our low cost airline.
Naturally, packing light still managed to catch us out: we had everything we needed for a comfortable five-night sojourn save the necessary UK-to-European adapter and the wherewithal to sort out our currency in advance – an expensive mistake given the harsh exchange rate against the Euro.
We decided to leave the laptops and iPad at home and take simply the bare technology essentials. This included admirable apps such as Word Lens on the iPhone – an instant menu translator that several times saved us ordering items we’d have found unpalatable. Advance warning that stuffed sweet peppers – a vegetarian tapas staple back in Blighty – would come packed with cod made it instantly worth the cost of the £5.99 Spanish to English edition.
Smartphone versions of Lonely Planet guides saved us lugging about travel books, but the hardware itself came up short when it came to locating the recommended venues. Why the iPhone browser has no in-built cache I will never know. It’s not for lack of onboard memory. Having tracked down a half-remembered restaurant and logged its name and approximate location while in Wi-Fi range in our apartment, my planning went to pot when we came close to actually navigating there. Pressing ‘Back’ on a smartphone merely brings up a ‘no internet connection’ message. We’d racked up a £15 bill days earlier in similar circumstances and weren’t keen to be stung again.
Luckily, our holiday friends had a cheap data package that meant we could get online and that saved the day.
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