Do you like travel? Tips From a World Traveler

Leave the laptop at home, copy and paste blog posts, don't rely on your cell phone, and more tips.

You think a three- or four-day business trip is challenging? How about a four-month journey to eight countries--using 14 different plane tickets?

Randy Ross, a former PC World executive editor, recently took that journey. From August 30 until December 20, 2007, Ross ventured solo to Venezuela, Greece, South Africa, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Australia, and New Zealand.

While many don't have the opportunity to travel so extensively, I figured we could all learn something from Ross's travels. So I asked for his tips on making the best use of technology when far away from home for an extended period.
Keep a Travel Agent's Number Handy

Some Web sites make it easier to plan an international, multicountry itinerary and get estimates of ticket fares. But you'll still need a travel agent to get exact costs for your travel, Ross says.

The sites Ross used for research, along with his comments, include:

* Airtreks.com is a slick site that provides a price range and offers bundled specials. Unfortunately, its estimates can be vague and itineraries often include lesser-known airlines.
* Oneworld provides drag-and-drop ease for itinerary planning on major airlines. The site is marred by sluggish performance, however.
* Air Brokers International doesn't offer customized itineraries but has lots of packaged specials.

Scan and Store Your Documents on a USB Drive

To prepare for the trip, Ross scanned essential documents--including his passport, prescriptions, immunization records, and driver's license--and stored the digital files on a USB flash-memory drive. That way, if he lost the paper documents, he still had digital copies. The USB drive was password-protected and included EditPad Lite, a free text editor.

"Every Web cafe I visited had a PC that used a USB drive," Ross says.

In addition, Ross uploaded the documents to a password-protected, free Yahoo Groups account as an additional backup. Though he didn't need the digital documents, they might have come in handy: Somewhere in South Africa, Ross lost his USB thumb drive.

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