Technology

While not absolutely necessary, a little technology makes this mobile lifestyle a lot easier and more fun.

Of course, being the nerds we are, we must each have our own computer. We found this out in spades when we visited the British Isles and only took one. You can do almost anything online, and being able to order our prescriptions, check our accounts, buy Christmas and birthday gifts is great.
This is one of our latest upgrades. The small device on the right is Verizon's MiFi. It provides cellular broadband internet and acts as a secure wireless ethernet within the coach. It replaces and outperforms the pile of stuff on the left. That pile was pretty state of the art when we bought it three years ago. Wish I had all the stuff that I used for the first wired ethernet that I put in our house about ten years ago for comparison. Of course, we want to stay in touch with family and friends, and this webcam helps us do it. This is for my computer. Penny's computer has a built in camera.

Over the past year, we've both become crackberry, excuse me, Blackberry addicts. We get instant internet access, but we can check the weather, get gps directions, find business or other services, and much more. It's a lot of fun when we're traveling to be able to look up something we see by the side of the road, or instantly answer a question that comes up in conversation. Of course, Penny has her calendar and to-do list always at the ready.

Not exactly high tech, but if you travel extensively in the Northeast, you must have one of these. Even though it says Pennsylvania Turnpike on it, it will get you instantly through the toll booth on any of the Northeastern, Illinois, or Indiana tollways. On some, you don't even have to slow down as you pass the tollgate. It also gives you a discount. All you have to do is go online every now and then and make sure you have enough money in your account to pay the tolls you anticipate. It sure beats scrambling for money when the sign telling you how much finally comes into view, especially for a vehicle the size of ours.

Of course, we both have to have our ipods. This is my ipod touch. It will hold books on tape, or up to 200 music pieces. I also get free podcasts from The History Channel, Nova, PBS, and the British History Magazine. Makes a long bicycle ride or a walk on the beach much more fun. Penny has a newer, more powerful one.

Neither of us can do without books, but they take up space and weigh a lot. In this lifestyle, that's a big deal. With the help of our daughter Erin, Santa brought Penny this Kindle last Christmas. Books are easy to read on it, and you can set the type to any size you want. It can hold many books, and costs far less than purchasing the print versions in most cases. For example, you can get 200 works of Charles Dickens for $0.99. Several other titles are available for a similar price. Newly printed books are often available before they hit the stands for a price of $9.95. You can download books directly in a few minutes. You can also get several newspapers and magazines delivered to your Kindle. Amazon will store the books you've read and wish to remove from your Kindle for nothing. I'm hoping that Santa remembers me with one this year.

This is also a recent addition. When we bought our coach, it had a satellite dish on it, but after three years of service, it developed a malfunction that was going to cost too much to fix, so we decided to upgrade. We did a lot of research and this one was very highly rated. It quickly finds your satellites, can lock on to three at the same time, and is capable of receiving high definition broadcasts. When you're ready to travel, push the button and it folds into itself and extends only nine inches above the roof of the coach. The hard part is trying to get DirecTV to understand that just because we're in one place today, doesn't mean we'll be there when they're ready to bring out our HD receiver, and we want our snailmail correspondence delivered to an entirely different place. Wonder what wonderful new piece of technology will be next?