How to pack light, some tips

On Tue, 21 Aug 2007, Doesn't Frequently Mop wrote:

there are less and less phone boots around, specially the coin operated
ones.

BTW, you meant "booth".

Oh yes, sure, but you know, our ear is accustomed to H as mute.

I don't have much confidence in anything coin operated in Italy,
except for a well used coffee machine!

Old coin (actually originally token) operated phones used to work
decently, if not vandalized, which is quite a recent thing. You could in
general claim back unused tokens pushing a button (and sometimes also
unused tokens forgotten by the former customer :-)). Even in case of
malfunction you'd lose just 200 lire, the equivalent of 10 euro cents.

I'd tend to mistrust banknote operated vending machines, or anyhow
vending machines which give change, because here in Italy they tend not
to work, not to accept slightly worn out notes, or to run out of change.

I'd also mistrust card operated vending machines of most types. One
reason is mechanical (the possibility the machine swallows my card ... I
usually also for bank ATMs I go there during bank opening times). I'd
have no objection if one just has to pass the magnetic band of the card
through an open reader (it's the slots which fully ingest the card which
make my nervous). I used a card once in Toronto to get a trolley at the
airport since the release mechanism did not work with coins. I then got
back a 1 dollar coin when I surrendered the trolley, and I was charged
on my account several months later. I wondered how a credit card
transaction may be convenient for such a silly amount.

Another reason is that vending machines can have clumsy unflexible user
interfaces, which are error prones and do not inform you about all
possibilities (I prefer for instance to buy train tickets at the counter
to be informed of eventual "offers" and choose my route).

Finally, I'd mistrust vending machines for spending large amounts (even
if they are online, they may be out of thermal paper for the receipt).
I'd never renew my public transport yearly pass (300 eur) at a machine,
but rather go the counter.

--
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"Spehro Pefhany" kirjoitti
om...
On Tue, 21 Aug 2007 21:00:31 +0100, the renowned

There are people without cell phones, without internet access and even
without clean water. Most survive, perhaps some even enjoy it.

I know that some hardcore tourists will survive without a phone during a
holiday trip. Lack of clean water isn't so tragic as long as there is beer
around.

"Spehro Pefhany" wrote in message
...

There are people without cell phones, without internet access and even
without clean water. Most survive, perhaps some even enjoy it.

Nobody enjoys living without clean water.

Learning that you can't drink the stuff that comes out of the taps is hard
work.

Not being able to brush your teeth with it is a bloody nuisance.

Not being able to run a cut hand under a tap is a sight more than that.

--
William Black


I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland
I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate
All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach
Time for tea.

"Magda" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 21 Aug 2007 08:13:52 -0400, in rec.travel.europe, "Rog'"
arranged some electrons, so they looked like
this:

... "William Black" wrote:
... "sharx35" wrote:
... Those guys who are saddled with "high maintenance" wives,
... take note.
... Define 'high maintenance' in this case please.
...
... Try lugging a 50lb. pullman up three flights of narrow stairs in
... a B&B in Bath, and you might have an idea of what it means,
... in this case. The phrase "heavy luggage" wife doesn't sound
... as classy. As much as I hate to admit it, Magda's comment
... about potential hernias hit close to home. :-/

Hernias must hurt much less than admitting that one is married to a brat.

Yes, "brat" is one word that could be used to describe a high-maintenance
wife...someone who is demanding, thinks that SHE is the Queen of Sheba etc
etc. Other words would be, e.g. b***h, c**t. You get the idea.

"J. Clarke" wrote in message
...
sharx35 wrote:
"J. Clarke" wrote in message
...
Markku Grönroos wrote:
"Chris Blunt" kirjoitti
om...
On Mon, 20 Aug 2007 15:58:18 +0300, Markku Grönroos
wrote:


"Spehro Pefhany" kirjoitti
om...

I carry a small bottle of shampoo, because I don't like the
free
stuff. Maybe 200ml, which could last for several weeks. Not
having
a mobile phone seems silly.

Why? When travelling on holiday, you need a phone. I don't need
one.

I find a phone to keep in touch with people even more useful when
I'm
traveling than it is at home. It also serves as a camera, an
alarm
clock, a GPS, and a way to check my emails. Something so compact
that
does all that and only weighs around 100g easily justifies being
taken along on any trips I make.

Fortunately I don't have to be available for other people at work
by
phone. Actually I seldom carry a phone when I am out of home. When
I
am back I just check the calls. If wandering in wilderness, a
phone
may be a good piece in security terms, but on the other hand I
have
never went deep in to wild vistas all my own.

If you're going "deep in to wild vistas" the cell phone usually
won't
work anyway. Taking a day hike in Connecticut it's nice to have
in
case you slip and break your leg, but coverage when you're away
from
areas of high population density starts to get spotty.

And what are the odds about breaking your leg on a hike in
Connecticut and someone NOT coming along with seconds?

If it happens on a Monday you may lie there for a week.

I've hiked
all over the Canadian Rockies WITHOUT breaking my leg and WITHOUT a
cell phone OR a GPS unit. Never got lost. Never got injured. You
pansies are a bunch of nervous Nellies who can't get off the
electronic teat.

Anybody who thinks "it can't happen to me because it hasn't happened
to me" doesn't have a firm grasp on reality.

And the fact that you call people who make choices different from
yours "pansies" and "nervous Nellies" tells me that you are insecure
in your own choices and find it necessary to bolster your own pitiful
ego by demeaning others.

Ah, but it is YOU who is doing the demeaning, telling us that it is YOU who
is insecure, having to defend YOUR choices.



--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

"Chris Blunt" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 21 Aug 2007 12:19:35 GMT, "sharx35"
wrote:


"William Black" wrote in message
...

"Markku Grönroos" wrote in message
ti.fi...


I have arranged my travels so that there is little need to be instantly
available. When I want to be in touch to outside world I lease a
computer
for a moment to send and receive mail. Sometimes it can be beneficial
to
book for mass transportation in advance by phone but I leave this to
the
hotel personnel. That's why they are there in the first place
(typically
the language barrier hinders me to contact the agent anyways).

Why do you restrict yourself to environments where you don't need a
phone.

Mine is mainly used as an alarm clock when I'm on holiday, and a means
of
contacting my wife if we separated somewhere we're unfamiliar with.

--
William Black

So, how exactly did you manage to survive BEFORE this great invention?

Survival isn't the issue. Its a question of doing things more
efficiently so that you waste less time carrying out boring routine
tasks and more time doing things you enjoy. Because of these kinds of
technological advances many people can travel to places they would
never have been able to afford to go to before. When they get there
they can do their work from a laptop on a beach instead of pushing
paperwork around stuck behind a desk in some office on the other side
of the world.

Chris

What kind of effing rat racer does OFFICE work at a bloody beach? Get a
LIFE, bud!

"J. Clarke" wrote in message
...
Chris Blunt wrote:
On Tue, 21 Aug 2007 07:46:22 -0400, "J. Clarke"
wrote:

Chris Blunt wrote:
On Tue, 21 Aug 2007 06:26:47 GMT, "sharx35"
wrote:


"Chris Blunt" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 20 Aug 2007 15:58:18 +0300, Markku Grönroos
wrote:


"Spehro Pefhany" kirjoitti
om...

I carry a small bottle of shampoo, because I don't like the
free
stuff. Maybe 200ml, which could last for several weeks. Not
having a mobile phone seems silly.

Why? When travelling on holiday, you need a phone. I don't need
one.

I find a phone to keep in touch with people even more useful
when
I'm traveling than it is at home. It also serves as a camera, an
alarm clock, a GPS, and a way to check my emails. Something so
compact that does all that and only weighs around 100g easily
justifies being taken along on any trips I make.

Chris

They take lousy quality pictures.

In fact I think the 5 megapixel camera on my Nokia N95 takes
better
pictures than my Canon IXUS which I bought only a couple of years
ago.
It may not be a professional quality camera, I don't think anyone
would describe the quality as lousy.

No, you do NOT need GPS unless you are,
perhaps, on safari and surely the OPERATORS of the safari will
take
care of THAT need.

No, I certainly don't *need* GPS, but its was very nice to have
while
driving around Thailand a few weeks ago. On several occasions it
made
finding locations we were visiting a lot easier.

E-mails can be checked at any one of the MILLIONS of cyber cafes
in the world.

Of course, and that's probably what I'd do if I wanted to do any
serious work online. The advantage for me is being able to check
instantly from anywhere whether there's any email that needs
attending
to in the first place, without even having to go near an internet
cafe.

Personally I've never gotten an email that _needed_ checking. If
someone really wants to get hold of me they can call and if they
want
to get hold of me when I'm on vacation they can bloody well leave a
message and wait until I get home.

In that case you would have absolutely no need for such a function
on
a mobile phone. Not everyone is in the lucky position of being so
independent of email.

Actually I find the email function quite useful. Before I go grocery
shopping I email my shopping list to my cell phone. But I seldom get
email from others that has any urgency.

What kind of BLOODY nutbar are you? Haven't you ever heard of TAKING your
grocery list WITH YOU, when you go shopping? Talk about complicating the
simple. Never heard of, "Keep it SIMPLE, STUPID"?





The cell phone is for _my_ convenience, not for the convenience of
others. While I always carry it, unless I'm using it or expecting
a
call from someone I want to talk to, it's turned off.

I don't travel in order to place myself in some kind of self-imposed
isolation, and I usually have friends in places I travel to.

Turning off one's cell phone does not result in "self-imposed
isolation". Travellers had no trouble meeting their friends before
cell phones were invented. But when I'm with one of those friends
then I don't want the phone to interrupt the conversation.

A mobile
is invaluable for keeping in contact with them, arranging meetings,
dealing with last minute changes of plan etc.

Which comes under the heading of "my convenience".

Unimportant phone calls
on a mobile can be a nuisance so I normally use text messaging
rather
than making voice calls because I find it far less intrusive.

That's nice, but I don't usually call myself, and others don't have
your courtesy.

If other
people find writing letters to friend in advance, making use of
carrier pigeons, or leaving messages at hotel reception desks a
convenient way to achieve the same thing, then good for them.

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

"William Black" wrote in message
...

"Magda" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 21 Aug 2007 14:35:13 GMT, in rec.travel.europe, "William Black"
arranged some electrons, so they looked
like this:

...
... "sharx35" wrote in message
... news:7KAyi.91$Pd4.28@edtnps82...
...
... "William Black" wrote in message
... ...
...
... "sharx35" wrote in message
... news:fLyyi.87$Pd4.76@edtnps82...
...
... Those guys who are saddled with "high maintenance" wives, take
note.
...
... Define 'high maintenance' in this case please.
...
... In a nutshell? Demanding entitlement bitches who think that their
butt is
... made out of gold.
...
... Well the words seem to be in English but they don't make any sense.
...
... Does anyone know what this means?

Yes. He is right, too.


Oh great.

Another one who likes to play word games.


--
William Black

William, is English your FIRST language? I thought not.




I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland
I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate
All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach
Time for tea.

On Aug 22, 8:49 am, "sharx35" wrote:
"J. Clarke" wrote in message
[snip]
Actually I find the email function quite useful. Before I go grocery
shopping I email my shopping list to my cell phone. But I seldom get
email from others that has any urgency.

What kind of BLOODY nutbar are you? Haven't you ever heard of TAKING your
grocery list WITH YOU, when you go shopping? Talk about complicating the
simple. Never heard of, "Keep it SIMPLE, STUPID"?
[snip]

First of all, less caffine I think.

Second, I suspect here merely meant that he keeps his shopping
list on one electronic device (PC I presume) and the way to transfer
it is to email it. For all the ways I have to get stuff onto my PDA,
it turns out emailing it was often the easiest.

Third. There is an alternate version of the KISS principal which
goes
"Keep It Stupid Simpleton". There can be fine line between
"simplifying"
something and "dumbing it down". When you avoid complexity for
the mere goal of simplicity, it can be limiting. Alternately,
pursuing
complexity for the SAKE of complexity can frequently only deliver
complexity, without value added.

sharx35 wrote:
"J. Clarke" wrote in message
...
sharx35 wrote:
"J. Clarke" wrote in message
...
Markku Grönroos wrote:
"Chris Blunt" kirjoitti
om...
On Mon, 20 Aug 2007 15:58:18 +0300, Markku Grönroos
wrote:


"Spehro Pefhany" kirjoitti
om...

I carry a small bottle of shampoo, because I don't like the
free
stuff. Maybe 200ml, which could last for several weeks. Not
having
a mobile phone seems silly.

Why? When travelling on holiday, you need a phone. I don't
need
one.

I find a phone to keep in touch with people even more useful
when
I'm
traveling than it is at home. It also serves as a camera, an
alarm
clock, a GPS, and a way to check my emails. Something so
compact
that
does all that and only weighs around 100g easily justifies
being
taken along on any trips I make.

Fortunately I don't have to be available for other people at
work
by
phone. Actually I seldom carry a phone when I am out of home.
When
I
am back I just check the calls. If wandering in wilderness, a
phone
may be a good piece in security terms, but on the other hand I
have
never went deep in to wild vistas all my own.

If you're going "deep in to wild vistas" the cell phone usually
won't
work anyway. Taking a day hike in Connecticut it's nice to have
in
case you slip and break your leg, but coverage when you're away
from
areas of high population density starts to get spotty.

And what are the odds about breaking your leg on a hike in
Connecticut and someone NOT coming along with seconds?

If it happens on a Monday you may lie there for a week.

I've hiked
all over the Canadian Rockies WITHOUT breaking my leg and WITHOUT
a
cell phone OR a GPS unit. Never got lost. Never got injured. You
pansies are a bunch of nervous Nellies who can't get off the
electronic teat.

Anybody who thinks "it can't happen to me because it hasn't
happened
to me" doesn't have a firm grasp on reality.

And the fact that you call people who make choices different from
yours "pansies" and "nervous Nellies" tells me that you are
insecure
in your own choices and find it necessary to bolster your own
pitiful
ego by demeaning others.

Ah, but it is YOU who is doing the demeaning, telling us that it is
YOU who is insecure, having to defend YOUR choices.

I'm not the one who started disparaging others.

A long time ago in a backpacking forum I recall having a similar
discussion, with someone whose attitude was much like yours telling us
that he'd never gotten injured and that if he did he would crawl a
hundred miles if he had to. About a year later he came back on with a
story. Seems that he had broken his leg a hundred miles from
civilization and discovered to his dismay that he was unable to crawl
up the cliff he went over. He considered himself very, very fortunate
that someone found him and he's never going out solo again without
some means of communication.


It's clear though that you need to GTFU. When you have, let me know
and I'll unplonk you.

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)