Planning the summer trip

We're planning our summer trip back east to visit family, see some sights and enjoy the beach on Cape Cod. Travelling with three small children cross country is no easy feat, nor is keeping things fresh, fun, and reasonably stress free. Here's what I'm up to this year to smooth things out a bit.

• Expedia - I cashed in some flight miles for the plane tickets but I used Expedia to find a reasonably priced hotel in NYC right near the American Museum of Natural History, one of our big stops. You get some good pictures of the hotel there, they buy the rooms so they have some decent deals, you can search and sort by amenities (Wifi!), and you canm get some sightseeing vouchers. It saves time, saves money, and saves hassle.
• I signed up for Budget's RapidRez program, which means your name shows up on the board and you just go to your car - major hassle saver with kids. Unlike the Hertz program, the Budget program is free (not exactly :))
• Local.live.com - you know, the Microsoft site with the maps. :) They have this feature called "Collections" where you can group a bunch of locations and pushpins to save for later or send to someone else (or make public, for whatever reason). It's a pretty cool way to plan out some places to visit, calculate driving times and general "optimize" your wanderings. If your kids are into maps it's a fun thing to play with, especially the "bird's eye view". However, it doesn't work on a Mac - doh! You can get your maps on your phone through this free app although it does not yet support collections (I need to talk to that developer!).
• Portable Media Center(s) - I say plural because I have three kids. One way to solve this with one PMC is with a Boostaroo, but I have some prototypes I can use for a bit as well. The new Toshiba is out, and it rocks, although the old iRiver is my tried and true - good size screen and battery life. Load up on some pbskids and a Harry Potter flick for my seven year old for some peace and quiet on the airplane.
• We'll be toting the Nikon L-1 and the Sony Handycam with a handful of SD cards. I'll have my Thinkpad (no work email!) just for uploading and general photo fiddling during the trip.
• I'll also be bringing along a very pocketable Pharos GPS525. This is actually a PocketPC with a built-in GPS and a some nifty navigation software. It's usually velcroed to my dashboard but we can use it in the rental (mini-van) as we drive from New York up to Cape Cod. At a minimum it will be entertaining for someone in the back seat. That thing saved my butt a few weeks back when I was in Maryland - but I'll save that for a different post.
• Of course we'll have a bunch of power cords, adapters, batteries, memory cards....but we'll have fun!

Comments

[Ashley Watts]

Don’t be silly, you need a Revolution in your pocket.

As we all know, wanting and needing something
Are two different things. Right now, on my budget,
I’m definitely into the need category for anything that
I buy.

So, do I need a Revolution?

Maybe, maybe not.

I can use it to save the battery on my iPod. How?
Because with Revolution, I can play the volume much,
Much lower on the iPod – which means my battery lasts
Longer between charges. And that’s handy. Plus, replacing
An iPod battery is mucho expensive, (like, over $100 and it means
I have to send it in to do that, so I’m iPodless for a couple of weeks.
Who needs that? So, anything I can do to put off that dreaded
day is a good thing.

Second, if I use it with my FM Transmitter in my car, I don’t get
The dreaded “static drift” because the added power helps it to lock
On to my station as I’m driving. Another good thing.

And, using it makes my music sound better than ever. Richer, fuller
Like I’m right on stage with the band. So, that’s a very good thing.

And when I go home I can use it with my docking station or
mini-computer speakers and get full stereo surrounds sound.
Now I can dig that.

Or, go to silent mode and just use it with my headphones. I get
Home theatre sound out of this little iPod and my Revolution.
A very good thing.

And later, when I feel like playing video games, I can use it to hook
Into my Xbox with my boyfriend and we don’t keep everyone awake
While we game, yet we can both share kick azz surround sound effects.

And I can use it on my PS2 or portable DVD player for a movie worth listening to
When I travel. It even has the power to drive my Noise Canceling Headphones.

My boyfriend Jake and I can use it on his motorcycle, as the two splitters allow
Us to share and the 4x power gives us what we need to hear over road noise.

Of course, if I add it as part of my disaster plan, (because I would definitely
Want music if I had to live for ten days with no electricity, heat, or water,)
then it just jumped into the “need category”. Since the Revolution is battery
Powered – all I have to do is pick up and extra batteries and I can listen to
My music and news while the rest of the world gets its act together.

Yep, no doubt about it. I need a Revolution in my pocket.
So does my boyfriend.