Travelling With A Laptop

More hotels are providing internet services, terminals and wi-fi. In France and Italy I have found internet cafes over the past few years, but the hotels where I've stayed offer the same for free or very little $. The only laptop I would consider carrying would be one of the light-weight ones, and they are too expensive for my budget. However, if you can afford one it would be easy to carry around.

Unfortunately laptops can get lost, stolen or broken during a holiday. Sadly they are targeted by theives. For the small amount it costs I would use internet cafes as a much safer, easier and lighter solution and leave the laptop at home.

On my last trip to Germany in October, I found that half of the hotels had wireless Internet connections, but Internet cafes were NOT common. Unless you have a fixed itinerary and can tell in advance that you will be in towns with Internet cafes, I would bring the laptop.

In my case, I have a very small and simple (no CD drive), lightweight (2.9#) laptop that, in its case, is no larger than many women's purses. It goes with me everywhere. I have a fixed itinerary and already know about hotels and attractions, but I use spreadsheets for train schedules and expense "reports". I have one spreadsheet that tells me how many Euro I need to finish my trip, so that the last trip to the ATM, I know how much to take out.

The laptop proved a necessity on the last trip, when my phone service was not working and email was my only link to home.

Laptops are more of burden than a benefit on vacation (as opposed to business travel). I've stayed very few small Rick Steves-type hotels in the past 3 years that didn't have a computer and internet for public use, although I couldn't comment on hostels. For those hotels that did not have a computer, I never had trouble finding an internet cafe, particularly in the east.

I think it depends on the kind of person you are. For me, I took a 6 week trip last summer and I loved having my laptop with me. If you're used to having a laptop with you and know what it is like to carry it in a backpack all the time, I don't think it's a burden. mine wasn't a burden for me at all and I was flying/going to a new country every 5 or so days. For me, having the laptop was an asset and I found it invaluable. It allowed me to write my trip blog, which I will keep forever. I think you really just have to decide if it will be something you'll be glad you have with you or not, depending on your personalities and how you travel and all those other things about you. I was really glad I had mine and i'm sure lots of people are glad they didn't have theirs or wish they hadn't brought it when they did.

Fortunately, I didn't follow Tom's advice or I would have been in deep stuff. Apparently Germans are increasingly getting their own internet connections, and Internet cafe's in Germany are going out of business due to lack of customers. I can't say about other countries, but I imagine they are headed the same way, although maybe a little behind.

When I was in Germany, I only found four cafes. Two had only one computer each. I waited at one of them for three hours but the "hog" never got off and I finally left. As I said, 6 or 7 places had wireless connections. Only one of these had a connected computer.

Unless you can be assured that there is an Internet cafe nearby, you had better bring something.

Also, before I left I loaded DBs CD of European train schedules. Very useful since DB had some strikes, and I had to change my itinerary on the fly.

Greetings

I also noticed that there were not a lot of internet cafes in Copenhagen, and the ones that did exist were not necessarily in the touristy parts of town. In Sweden there more - primarily, it seemed, for all the gamers. There are plenty of internet cafes in Scotland, but you can use wi fi for free at places like Starbucks. And one latte is cheaper than at least one hour on at a internet cafe.

I've always brought my laptop on trips - it makes my backpack a bit heavier, but it's often easier to find a wi fi connection than an actual computer. And rates at internet cafes can be pricey when converted into dollars. Hotels may have computers, but many charge per minute for use.

For five weeks, I would bring your laptop. For safety's sake you may want to remove personal data you don't need, password protect the screen saver. Also if you buy a fitted protective case for it, and keep it in your backpack rather than a laptop bag, you won't be such an obvious target.

Kate

If a traveler is doing more than checking email with their laptop than I say bring it along. In fact if you use it smartly you can actually save a lot of space in you backpack. For example you can utilize ebooks instead of carrying around paperbacks, and scan pertinent pages/chapters from guidebooks onto the hard drive. Also, if the weather isn't cooperating or your feet are sore, or your plane is stuck on the tarmac for two hours you can watch your favorite movie. If you really wanted to get decedent you can also buy a slingbox and connect to your DVR at home, and not miss the latest episode of Lost. As with anything be it a cell phone, hair dryer, extra pair of shoes, jewelry, ipod, or laptop, if you think you will use it enough to justify the hassle, then bring it along.

Thank you everyone for your thoughtful responses. It has clarified my decision making - I will be taking a small laptop. When I consider the bulk of other materials I would otherwise take (journal, travel guides, confirmations, addresses, etc.), it makes good sense for me to take the laptop. Thanks again - great suggestions.