I am going on a 6 month journey around SA and am torn about taking my laptop. In some ways I feel it would be good not to have it (less worry, take in more), yet in other ways I find it extremely useful (store my photos, Skype, music, internet, journal, etc.) From what I understand wireless internet is pretty accessible in much of SA these days.
I suppose my biggest worry is that it will be stolen, either while traveling between towns or in a hostel. Is that much of a possibility? Is it going to be more stress than convenience?
Reply to this We had one throughout our travels, including a couple of months in SA. Never had a problem. Mind you, we tended to stay in hotels rather than hostels, though on the odd occasion where I didn't feel comfortable with the security of the room I would keep the laptop with me in the backpack. We were never too impressed with wireless internet where it was available. It never seemed to work well, though possibly that was down to the wireless device in the laptop (which has since died). Especially in SA we tended to rely on internet cafes. Having a laptop proved extremely useful for writing blogs and storing piccies, especially as we could burn these to CD (the former for uploading in internet cafes, the latter for backup). I was lucky enough to have one of the smaller lighter models.
Reply to this My opinion: don´t bring anything that you wouldn´t be able to cope with losing. Personally, I wouldn´t bring it, internet cafes are everywhere and they´re way cheap (I´m in one right now, I´ve been on for 1 hour 12 minutes and owe $0.75 american.) I think that it´d be worth the piece of mind not to bring it. You´d be better buying an ipod and storing photos and music on that.
Reply to this I am getting ready for an extended trip in SA too, and I am planning on bringing my laptop. Like you I was unsure of wether or not this was a good idea. I have backed up all of my documents and pictures and taken out insurance. That is really all you can do. I fugure if it gets stolen that is just the way it goes, and all you can do is preapre for such an incident. I also reason that if I do not bring it then I am missing out on 6 months of my investment.
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