Tech and Mobile Tech

I'm a geek, there it's out in the open, though anyone who knows me will know that.

I have in my time had LOTS of tech, and when I say lots, at one point I had 15 PC's in the house, there's only two of us! I had touch screen smartphone when most people had just discovered snakes on their Nokia's, I had a network running round my house when most big businesses had only just realised that they could connect computers, this was to distribute my lightening fast internet, a whopping 128mb dual honed ISDN!

Have I lost most of you? I'm not at all surprised.

So, on to the present.

We have been planning this trip, this complete change of life style for a little while now, and one of the things that has been on my mind quite a bit is the tech. There has been this big battle between need and want, I know what I want, but what do I need? Well the answer is, relatively little, a few items selected to meet a 'need' and I think we have the bases covered, or at least we have the plan to cover the bases.

We both come from different sides of the fence with regards as to what tech should do, Ali is an 'i' person, and over the last two years has gained an 'i' pod, phone and pad (nano, 4s and 2).  I on the other hand am an Android type person so have a Google Nexus one and an Asus Transformer (TF101).  All of these items have been bought with the trip in mind, and have been considered purchases. I also bought Ali a Mac Mini for Christmas, which was a stroke of genius to my mind, not only have we both had some time to get used to it's ways, it's small enough that when we go it'll go into Ali's hand luggage for safe keeping.

So that's the easy bit done, now I have to think about... how to connect to the outside world!

Mobile phones,
We all live with these things, and we live with our numbers, I know I've had mine for a good ten years, possibly more, the wife has had hers for about five.  We have changed carriers, we have changed phones, but we have always kept the same number.  So, what to do when we go out of the country? Do we both keep our contracts (Rolling Monthly) ruining, which will be fifteen pounds a month or is there something else we could do?  I'm still investigating.  When we are out there we'll be looking to use Skype or some other VOIP type service to call back to the UK and inevitably will have to get a PAYG sim only deal each so we can call each other and others within the US.

Mobile Internet,
I can't go without, Ali can't go without Facetube for too long, she gets withdrawal symptoms! Most RV sites have some form of WiFi setup and the option is to have a 3G / 4G dongle type device, they are available, but they are far from cheap ! I think for  the most part it's going to have to be a case of having a look at what's available when we get there and try to get a good deal because we'll be getting a bunch of stuff at the same time.

Well I think that's about enough rambling from me for now...

/Adam

The Waiting Game...

If you've been following our posts you'll probably know that the last blog was all about everything being sorted....hire cars, hotels and flights all booked....people to see and things to do before we go is pretty much tied up too....packing the last of our belongings is happening in the bestest, randomest order it can (as its been left to me)... Having everything tied up is great...and obviously there is still stuff we have to do...some phone calls for change of address and actually shipping our belongings to the in-laws for storage in their loft... but that cant happen yet....not unless i wanna be sleeping on a blowup bed for the next 9 weeks...

So the big thing now is the waiting.

Knowing there isn't really anything standing between us and the trip of a lifetime except time itself is a real bummer...
Everyone remembers being a kid in the back of their parents car.....a couple of hours day trip used to seem like an eternity...."Are we there yet?" Drove them mad...
My nan used to say "Dont wish your tomorrows away. It takes the fun out of today". Clever bird my nan. Its true too. Since we booked everything all Iv wanted to do is go...just pack up and leave. The mundane humdrum of work everyday. The relentless british weather (four seasons in one day). Ha.
But what about what iv got here and now. A lovely house in a lovely place, brill friends and family and my boys...my lovely boys. im gonna miss it all.

Seriously...I think I can honestly say Iv never been so scared in my life about a day trip....ok so its slightly longer than a day trip, but u get my drift. Giving everything up to go to a country Iv never seen before. (other than on telly or in a film...and we all know how accurate they are). A country pretty much as far away as you can get before you start coming back again. Where the weather is even more unpredictable as it is here. Real cowboys, on horses, with guns..(the cowboys not the horses) with more diversity than my tiny mind can imagine...and it can imagine a lot ill have you know...white people, black people, yellow, brown and green people. (well we are going to Roswell). All colours, races and creeds...all in one place...a pretty big place ill give you, but still...But i still wanna go now....

Am I mad?   Probably... but not about this i dont think. Anyone would be daunted by the prospect of selling everything they own, leaving their loving families, friends and canines at home and traipsing across a country that could virtually be classed as hostile...But i wanna go. I really wanna go. And im gonna... soon.
So for now Im still going to work everyday, Im still dodging the British rain and im still walking my boys. And we will go when its time to go and not before. I wanna enjoy my today and not spoil it by wishing it was tomorrow.

So, no...were not there yet...we havent even set off...

Ali

A map

We have a map on the wall, and it's got lots of dots in it as to where we want to go, no route just dots. So I've transfered all those little dots into a google map, and saved it, so I 'should' be able to put the map up here for you all too see.  AND the clever bit is that it should update as we mess with it.

View Our Holiday in a larger map

It's all booked up!

Well, we started with the flights and worked from there.  We fly BA from terminal 5, at half ten in the morning, so best we stop over the night before. So a hotel, Premier Inn, booked, sorted.
We need to get to London, lets make life easy, get the train, as we will be in North Wales, not Bloody Likely! at over 200 pounds it'll be cheaper to hire a car one way, so that's booked now too and nice and easy thanks to Hertz on line.
Now for the 'other' end, a hotel and a car for a week I think, hopefully will give us time to find what we need, Hertz again, prepayed and it's done, and it's costing double what we paid for one day for the week, go figure.
Finally the hotel, Hilton, just down the road from the RV place, 'special' pay in advance fee, that's twenty bucks cheaper than the walk in off the street fee? Don't mind if I do.
So that's us all covered, drive, sleep, fly, drive, sleep
Whoop Whoop!
/Adam

OMFG...

So, the car is sold

Now we can by some tickets....   errrr for when?

So, off to do some digging, we need the Gratuity money to pay for the RV, the money 'could' take up to 30 days to turn up after my "out date" (July 13th), then 5 to transfer, so we are looking at, sensibly, 35 days after my "out date" to fly out...  then to get to Las Vegas by the 27th August....  never going to happen.
So before July then....mmmmm...4th of July in America....Yes please...

So, the solution, borrow some money and pay it back with the gratuity, we could then leave before the money comes in and start the 'holiday' early.  So can we borrow some money please, yes of course you can says the young lady in the bank! right, done...  wedge of cash in the bank, thank you very much!

So, again, Now we can buy some tickets.....  errr for when?

There's no work or training type commitments from the beginning of June, but we are house/dog sitting 'till the 23rd.  So after the 23rd...  30th?  Cool....

So, the flights are booked and paid for!

We fly June 30th, Heathrow, Terminal 5!

OMFG!

/Adam

It's gone.....

In 1991 I bought my first car, a Toyota.  I've always had a car since then, sometimes more than one, sometimes complemented by a motorbike, but tonight I sold my car.  I don't have a replacement, that isn't mine anyways, we have the wife's car, but thats hers not mine.

When we were planning the trip, in the early stages we decided we didn't need to have two cars, especially whilst we are out of the country.  The decision was made to sell one of the cars, mine.  Ali's car is going to be more practical upon our return so we are going to keep it, her little sister is going to look after it whilst we are away.

So, now that it's gone we have the cash required to buy our flight tickets, and this will be the next big thing as that will then put some dates in the calendar that can't be moved.  Now it's just to work out that date....

/Adam

Their here....

Well the infamous American visas turned up Monday lunchtime...
A nice courier brought them to our door.
I have to say I'm a little disappointed... there was no unwrapping of an elaborately decorated box....no exploding confetti made of tiny US flags and most definitely no device playing the American national anthem concealed inside our security tagged poly bag.....bah....
But the visas are here... with our ugly mugs stuck to them and "United States Of America" printed in bold red letters across the top....that was enough for me i suppose...though i may contact the Embassy and suggest the above delivery packaging....

Ali.