Leaving My Laptop at Home

I am in Kathmandu now, getting ready to start a 17-day trek through the Himalayas. And I confess, I wrote this post before I got here. That’s because I made the way-more-difficult-than-it-should-have-been decision to leave my laptop at home.

Seriously, this should not have been much to think about. After all, internet access during my 17 day trek through the Himalayas will be almost non-existent so it’s not like I need my laptop to surf the net. But, I did think long and hard about the advantages of having my precious Asus netbook with me to upload and organize my photos every night and to write up some blog posts along the way. There was even talk of me bringing some work with me that would just be a lot of writing, so my laptop would have been a necessity.

But in the end, common sense ruled. I should not be so tied to my laptop that I cannot go without for three whole weeks. The poor thing has not left my side for more than about 12 hours in the last two years, so we probably need a break anyway. Not to mention, it would take up extra space and weight in my already tightly packed daypack and backpack. Did I really want to stash it in my backpack to be carried by porters? And did I really want to cram it into my daypack with my camera gear, leaving almost no room for anything else?

So the laptop is back in Chicago. I do have my iPhone with me so while in Kathmandu I can take advantage of wi-fi at our hotel. But once we start trekking, I will be completely offline. For seventeen days. Even longer than my internet hiatus in Turkmenistan or Tajikistan last year. I am hoping it will be a refreshing, relaxing break from being super connected all the time. What will I do without it? Well, I’ll enjoy the scenery, take a ton of photos, chat with my fellow trekkers and take notes in my journal – with an actual pen and paper! My biggest challenge will be taking good notes about the photos I take and keeping my memory cards organized so I can recall what I took pictures of once I’m back!

And what about you guys, my fabulous readers?

Well, never fear, I have made plans to keep you entertained (I hope!). I am going to take you back to my trip to Egypt in 2008 – I have already republished two old posts from my Egypt trip and every three days for the next few weeks, I have scheduled another post from that trip. Even though I visited five years ago, pre-revolution, the sights really haven’t changed so I hope you will find them still relevant today. So you will get to read about my exploration of tombs and temples in Aswan and Luxor, a disgusting overnight train experience and that time I kind of got scammed in Cairo.

I am sure I will return with a ton of photos and a lot to write about, but bear with me as I try to share it all. Just three days after I get back to Chicago, I head off to Washington, D.C. for four days – to attend two events for work and then catch up with several friends, old and new. And yes, my laptop will likely be with me again for that trip. If all goes well, I’ll start recapping my three weeks in Nepal by the end of October.