Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Where to go when

So I'm planning more.  You know, I've only got a year to do this.  Let's buckle down and cut the chit chat. Here's what I wanted to do at first:



But then, I started thinking about when I would be where: (months in tiny green letters)


Which presented a bit of a problem:



I think this is not only a "Dan's a wimp" problem.  I think it's logistical too.  I mean, we're talking about hard-to-spell Stan countries there.  You can't just hop on the interstate and expect to keep on trucking.  So I thought, well, what if I did it backwards?


Surprisingly, that helped a bit.  But maybe not enough:



So how about take three:



Perhaps I am on to something here!  Alas, this one has problems too:



But these seem comparatively minor. This is of course pending some serious investigation (for all I know, maybe the Pamirs are lovely in the dead of winter), but it's a start.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Computing?

I'm planning on taking a computer on this trip.  (This could change.)  There are three upsides: I can work when I get bored, I can do something useful on the trip in terms of developing skills, and there's the possibility of the "Ukrainian National Parks" opportunity, in which I make Android apps about something sorta useful to a sorta under-served market, and thereby do something that nobody else is doing.

There is one main downside: I will lose focus on traveling and retreat to my computer.  This seems less of an issue, as I'm not going to be camping in jungles or something anyway.  I'm not looking for an escape, but rather a way to continue my life, just in different places.  (as @garybernhardt, among others, is doing right now.)  My life, at least my ideal life, tends to involve computers.

Anyway, given that I'm going to have a computer, the question is, which one?  I came across a recommendation for a Lenovo Thinkpad X201, and in order to save it for later when I'm actually making decisions about these things, I will link to it here.  If you have recommendations about travelley computers, I'd like to hear them.