Blogging Without a Laptop? iPad to the Rescue. I Hope.

I used to think that there was nothing more worthless than a blogger without Internet access. I stand corrected: a blogger sans a laptop is completely useless.

This is the second power supply to give up during my 2+ year trip — the first came apart in Varanasi, India with no warning. One day the cord just fell off — Surprise! You’re screwed! Amazingly, I found a computer shop that stocked a few basic Mac parts and was back in business within the day.

But now I’m in Mexico and, while there are a few Apple stores here, they’re all in the north. This time the problem is on the other end of the cord — the proprietary magnetized plug that attaches to the laptop was wearing out and required several minutes of fiddling and cursing before it would finally start charging. I think it had a serious masochist streak. 

(And before the PC crowd chimes in, I’d like to point out that reason Apple uses this MagSafe connection is that it comes free when someone accidentally kicks your power cord away, avoiding serious damage to the laptop. Working in coffee shops and cafes, I’ve had this happen nearly a dozen times in the last two years, so the feature has undoubtedly saved me some repair costs. It’s costing me now but I can’t really complain. I suspect it’s a wash.)

After researching online and finding that the nearest Apple vendor was at least 14 hours away by bus, I thought: I’ll just order online. It was easy enough, despite my poor Spanish, (Google translated most of the page) and I quickly received my confirmation with a UPS tracking code. Delivery was 10 days away — hopefully the adapter would hang in there until then. 

They delivered it three days early. In Mexico. I had planned on camping out at my apartment “complex” (8 rooms) for the last couple of days before the due date but this caught me unprepared. Instead, I was out riding a rented bike in the mountains when it was delivered and my Canadian neighbor –not recognizing my name– refused to sign for it. 

The online tracking said it was scheduled for redelivery and it soon was, two days later — to a stranger in Mexico City. UPS is “investigating”. I’ll never see it, I suspect.

The nearest confirmed Apple store (or iStore, as they’re reportedly called here) is in Merida, a 14 hour bus ride from here. I have a fellow traveling friend who may be able to pick one up for me and return sometime during the week. 

If not, there’s some serious bus time in my future. But I’m trying to be upbeat and have decided that I’ll attempt to turn a negative into a positive. I’ve been making notes on a future review of the iPad as a travel tool and this seems like the perfect time to do that.

I’ll also do a post on the pros and cons of using an iPad as a blogging tool — it will be a bit of a challenge, I suspect. I own an iPad 2 and the camera is terrible, so don’t expect any stunning shots. 

But it will be an interesting experience, I’m sure. 

So, let’s see what happens. And, for the record, this post has been created entirely on my iPad.  

Tagged as: blogging, Mac, macbook, tech