On Travel and Writing

/ Rob

I just returned from a month-long trip to Europe. Before I left, I had decided to leave my iPad at home and only bring my iPhone for computing tasks. As I recently started blogging and writing again, I wanted to make sure I was able to keep at it while on this trip. To help, I bought a travel keyboard so that I could use my iPhone as my writing machine. It seemed like a great plan.

The Best Laid Plans…

I knew before I left that this was going to be a busy trip. We planned to visit 11 cities in 5 countries during our 29 days, which seemed like a lot, but doable. I wrote previously about the two types of trips I usually take: visits and exploring, and this was definitely in the exploring category.

When planning the trip and thinking about keeping up with my writing, I figured I’d have some downtime to spend reading, writing, and relaxing. After all, in my non-travel life I make time for those things, and on previous similar trips, I’ve managed to eke out a little downtime. Unfortunately, that rarely happened during this trip. I was pretty busy from morning until bedtime almost every day. That left very little time for writing, and, as you probably know, I did not publish a single post while I was gone. I’m disappointed with that.

Setting Expectations

I clearly did not set expectations correctly for myself. Or, rather, maybe it’s more accurate to say that I didn’t do a good job planning the trip. While it was a wonderful trip, I packed too much in for a single trip. My wife and I both were tired and ready to come home days before the end of the trip. We were traveling with another couple, which made it harder to just pull back on our plans. We’ve done similar trips in the past, but maybe as we get older, we need to change our approach. I think more time in fewer places will make for a better trip. And, it would allow more time for reading, writing, and relaxing.

Some Writing

On the positive side, I was able to do some writing during the trip. I wrote in my personal journal every day and even managed several entries in a travel journal that I started to keep more specifics about the places I visited.

My personal journal is something that’s important to me. It helps me process what’s going on in my life, and what’s going on in my head. During the time around COVID-19 I fell into a period of general malaise and stopped writing, journaling, and reading. Late last year, I focused on getting myself going again, starting with my journal. I’m pleased to say that I’ve written every day since then (minus a few days after a tragic death in my family).

So, while I’m disappointed that I didn’t blog while I was away, I am happy that I was able to keep up with my journal. I guess in the scheme of things, that was the best writing to make time for.

I also wrote down some ideas for future posts that were inspired by some of the places I visited. There is so much history to learn about on trips like this, and much of it, while ancient, seems very relevant to today’s world. I hope I’ll be able to express some of what I learned and felt.

The Tech Verdict

I almost forgot to mention how my tech choices worked out. Leaving my iPad behind was a good choice, and I am glad I did it. I really didn’t miss it at all, and it was nice to not worry about leaving it behind in the hotel, or having another thing to carry. My phone worked well for everything I needed to do. That said, had I ended up writing blog posts, maybe I’d feel differently. The iPhone is a bit constrained for tasks like that. I guess I’ll have to try again to really know.

The travel keyboard also worked well, though I didn’t use it nearly as much as I thought I would. That comes down to me not writing as much as I thought I would. I was usually pressed for time, so I often wrote using the on-screen keyboard on my iPhone. That said, the times I did use the keyboard, I was happy with it. I plan to take it along on future trips, and as noted above, I’ll plan better so I have more opportunities to use it.

More To Come

I’m glad to be home after such a long trip, and I’m looking forward to getting back to writing, as well as re-connecting on Mastodon and the blogs I follow, which are other things I didn’t keep up with.

I plan to write a bit about some of the places I visited, things I learned, and of course, publish more tech-focused articles. Stay tuned.

6 thoughts on “On Travel and Writing”

  1. Great to have you back Rob. Sounds like you had a very packed trip.

    My wife and I share the same struggles when we travel. We either don’t plan enough and are bored or feel like we “wasted” our time off or we plan too much and it hardly feels like a vacation!

    Regardless, I look forward to reading what you share in the future about your travels.

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  2. Glad you had a safe trip and all made it back well.
    You were truly mobile the whole time, so it makes sense you only used your phone, no iPad. And it’s great you journaled on the trip and have been building the good habit all this time. Journaling is something I don’t want to live without.

    Hope you get some rest, recuperate, and ease back into the day to day. Look forward to hearing more details and perspective from your travels.

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  3. I love this topic! While I don’t get out much I still enjoy thinking about the most minimal computing set-up. That said, I could never just go with an iPhone. I have one and use it everyday when walking so that I’ve got music, podcasts and a camera, but I’ve never been comfortable with such a small screen. For writing or browsing I need at least an iPad Mini sized screen which is what I’m using now. I’d really like to get more comfortable with the iPad Mini as my primary, daily computer.

    I hope that at some point in the not too distant future Apple allows for external monitor support for all iOS and iPadOS devices similar to Dex but perhaps just with the current Stage Manager implementation.

    I’m curious about your journaling practice. Have you written more about that? While I’ve been fairly consistent at blogging I’ve not made it a habit to journal. On again, off again.

    I like what I’m reading about the Journal app but I’m doubtful I’ll get much use out of it until they make it available for the iPad.

    Looking forward to reading more on your experiments in mobile computing! You didn’t mention in this post if you’re using Notes or some other app? Oh, and do you do much with dictation?

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    • Thanks, Denny.

      You make a good point about screen size. For journaling, where I’m generally just typing out thoughts, the iPhone worked reasonably well. I did miss the iPad screen, but it was doable.

      Blogging, on the other hand, usually means looking at my notes, a mind map, the web, etc. That will probably not be a great experience on just an iPhone. Granted, I didn’t actually try it on my trip, so I can’t be definitive. But before I left I did write one blog post using my phone and I struggled a bit with switching apps, inserting photos, and such. I’ll definitely write more as I try this out.

      I have not written about my journaling habit, but that’s a good idea. I was using Apple Notes and recently switched to using Bear. That, along with how I approach journaling, might make a good post! Thanks for the idea, and for the comment. Oh, and I haven’t really used dictation much. I should probably give that a try!

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