Travel Light Without Leaving Your Laptop Behind
Friday, 12 February 2010
Recently I have been mulling over the possibility of commuting to New York—owing to a hazy future at my current employer. Whether or not I am ready to trudge there and back every day of the week is still an open question, but the siren song of the city has its draw.
With such a fine commute comes an interesting problem: one needs to cart lots of stuff to and from, especially a laptop and possibly a Kindle for the train ride, but no one wants to lug huge bags throughout the subways of Manhattan.
Anyway, here’s the article from Wired Magazine’s How-To Wiki on how to Travel Light Without Leaving Your Laptop Behind.
Got any ideas? It’s a Wiki, so go ahead and contribute yours.
One point that I don’t think they mention: I want a bag or backpack that looks nothing like a laptop bag. I really don’t care to walk around with a neon sign on my back saying “I’m carrying $3000 in electronics!”
I’m still looking for that perfect gruffy looking bag.
No. 1 — February 12th, 2010 at 9:49 pm
Hey Tad, I’m with you on the bag-that-doesn’t-scream-laptop thing. I recently changed up my bag arrangement for exactly this reason.
I have a small hoard of bags– a Tom Bihn Checkpoint Flyer, which is great for traveling by air; a laptop backpack; a very simple messenger-style bag that houses a laptop and a few files or a book. But I also have a classic leather briefcase (not an attaché case,nor a satchel, nor a messenger bag– a real briefcase, something like this one: https://www.jackgeorges.com/images/products/prestige_collection_classic_br.jpg ). It’s classy, it’s simple, it’s elegantly utilitarian– and it looks nothing like a laptop bag.
I got a gorgeous fitted leather sleeve from Renaissance Arts (http://www.renaissance-art.com/) for my MacBook, and it slides down into one of the side gussets of my briefcase. I’ve got room for books in the middle, and my Tom Bihn Freudian Slip (http://www.tombihn.com/page/001/PROD/ACC/TB0345) and I’m good to go.
Nobody knows I’m carrying a laptop– in fact, even my colleagues who know I’m seldom without it are surprised to see it emerge from my briefcase. It’s a great mix of function, form, and disguise!
If you’re looking for something similar, you might check into these bags form McKlein: http://www.mckleinusa.com/83384.html.
No. 2 — February 12th, 2010 at 11:47 pm
Thanks for the cool links. I really like the style of those Renaissance Art ones. I might just save my pennies for this one. Then I can look dashing in my Indiana Jones fedora as I bound up the subway stairs.
One of the best I have seen of this genre is from BookBook: hardcover laptop cases that look like stuffy old leather-bound books.
No. 3 — February 13th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
Very smooth– I like those BookBook cases a lot.
And yeah, I could see you with that messenger bag and a fedora. In the subway, though? Hmm…
Plus, you’ll need more space for your new ScanSnap 1300 to travel with you, right?