Have PDA, Will Travel

Posted on 2 Aug 2005 at 17:12

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If the weight of all your essential holiday items causes problems, Alan Docherty has the answer. Your PDA can carry all the maps, books, journals, language programs and internet access you'll need

Your computer and the web can really help when planning and booking a holiday or business trip, but what about when you're ready to set off? One thing you shouldn't leave at home is your trusty PDA. Handheld PCs are reasonably cheap, extremely lightweight and can make your travels go far more smoothly.

The last thing you want is to be laden with unnecessary luggage, and this is where your handheld comes to the rescue. It makes an easy replacement for a CD player, paper maps, diary, camera, travel journal and foreign language phrasebooks. You don't even need to lug around that hardback copy of Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything. It can all go on your handheld computer.

A PDA does a lot more than help lighten the load of your luggage. It can contain a raft of travel-specific software available that will make your trip more enjoyable. It may even impress your partner who couldn't quite believe it when they found you'd spent £200 on yet another gadget.

Before you head off, though, you'll need to spend a little time preparing your PDA for its trip. There's some software that may already be on your handheld, and there's some that you'll have to download. But with our help, you will be carrying a lot less baggage on your next expedition - and you'll be getting a whole lot more out of it.

Inside information

There's no need to take an alarm clock with you. Perhaps you've booked a scuba diving expedition starting at 5am, or you're waiting for a connecting flight 20 hours into your journey. If so, simply set your PDA's alarm clock to keep you on schedule. Handhelds don't just tell the time of your current location. Many clock programs include functions that give the time in different destinations, so international travellers can check the time in their home country as well as at their destination. This is useful when calling home, and it also helps prepare your body clock for life in a new time zone.

Don't forget to update your address book with the names and addresses of everyone to whom you want to send a postcard back home. A calculator programme comes in handy for currency conversions. The word processor or memo function can be used to record notes about your holiday, including travel and accommodation details. Before you set off, create the documents in a format your PDA can read and sync the file to your PDA's memory.

You could also use the word processor function as a travel journal to record the memorable moments of your trip. Some PDAs come with digital cameras, too. Although these aren't as good as even a cheap dedicated digital camera, they will take a few snaps and won't cost an extra ounce of weight.

Most PDAs come with music players, too, and with a high-capacity storage card you can carry dozens of CDs' worth of music. You could even brush up on your language skills with MP3 files of foreign language lessons.

Carried away

Many PDAs come with a handful of games to while away the hours, but a far wider selection can be downloaded at sites such as www.handango.co.uk. Here, you'll find classics such as chess, Scrabble and backgammon as well as current favourites such as Zuma.

You can also catch up with some reading on your trip. The volunteers at Project Gutenberg have assembled the largest single collection of free electronic books - 15,000 in all - and they're all available for free and legal download at www.gutenberg.org. Once downloaded, all you have to do is create a blank document that your PDA can read, and cut and paste the text from Project Gutenberg into the document before syncing it.