Laptop or No Laptop - that's the question

First off, Happy New Year to all the travelers out there! I hope 2008 brings new travel adventures and experiences to all!

Something that seems to come up in travel discussions a lot is whether to take a laptop on a vacation. On my 6-week trek through Europe, I took mine. All but a couple of my hotels offered some sort of internet access.

Just like every other bit of advice I've tried to give on here, the basic point is that ultimately, the decision is up to each traveler. I cannot make sweeping statements about laptops and laptop safety - that would be ludicrous. Instead, once again, I will share the experience I had and the opinions I've drawn from it.

From my experience reading several travel discussion forums, the people who suggest people don't take a laptop are maybe people who don't use laptops all the time. They say it's a pain, a hassle, an extra unnecessary weight. But those of us who are used to carrying our laptops in a bag or backpack all the time instead view our laptops as so important it's like a fifth limb.

I can't imagine not taking my laptop to Europe with me. It wouldn't have allowed me to do my blog every day - even if I had not had internet access, I couldn't have written that much detail every day in a notebook (I type much faster than I handwrite!). Also, organizing my photographs would have been more difficult - even with two 2GB memory cards, I would have had to find a way to empty them a couple times throughout my trip, and of course I never could have posted all my pictures so often.

Of course, many hotels and hostels provide a computer with internet access. This is fine for checking email and basic keeping in touch. If this is really all you'll need to do, then perhaps the laptop is not worth it. But if you are like me and would feel lost without your computer, I say bring it. Be smart, don't flaunt it in places where it might be attractive to thieves. Get a good backpack with a separate laptop compartment so it stays safe in the travel shuffle. For accommodation, I would lock my laptop in my backpack and put it in my hotel closet. In a hostel you can put it in the locker. I didn't have a problem but I also stayed at places that didn't appear to have any kind of problems with thefts. But it's no different from any other valuable - camera equipment, backup cash, etc. Some hotels even offer safes that are big enough for a laptop.

If your accommodations offer free wireless or ethernet, taking the laptop can be a money saver because internet cafes can be expensive. Something I enjoyed doing was using skype to keep in touch with home instead of spending money on phone cards or internet cafes.

So like I said, as with everything else it's a personal choice. If you know you will use your laptop a lot, if you have free internet in your accommodation, and if you are used to carrying your laptop places with you, then by all means I think you should take it. If you think it will be a hassle for you and if you don't mind figuring out what to do with your pictures a few times on your trip, don't take it. But I don't think anyone should be afraid to take it if you are careful and if it is the right decision for you.