Thanksgiving travel and your laptop

C'mon, sing it with me.  "Over the river and through the woods to grandmothers house we go...oh crap!  My laptop!"  Thanksgiving is a time to gather with family and friends often in faraway places, but for some of us, we still have to be connected.  Maybe there's a report that's due on Monday and you've been putting it off all week or little Billy hit the delete key while watching "My Little Pony, the golden years" while flying from Denver to Philly.  Or maybe you simply need to stay in touch with the folks back home.

My laptop is my life...even more so than my wife!

Ok, piece of advice.  First, laptops are replaceable...second, don't say things like this out loud.  Traveling with a laptop can be quite a hassle, but a little prep can go a long way.  First, make sure your laptop is not a 48 pound boat anchor.  Seriously, many folks don't realize that the family laptop is often not built for portabilty and is really not much more than a desktop replacement.  If you have a big heavy laptop then don't bother.  You'll be miserable lugging that thing around in airports.  I've always maintained that you find out exactly how heavy your laptop is once you fly with it.  If you have a huge laptop there are other alternatives I'll cover in the next few paragraphs.

Be sure to back up all your important data before leaving.  After all, things happen.  Never check your laptop in your luggage.  Lost underwear is one thing...a lost laptop is quite another.  Plan ahead.  You're gonna need to take the laptop and any PDA's out and place them on the conveyor belt to be scanned.  Keep things organized and easily accessible.  I often use my laptop bag as my only carry-on.  A nice big laptop bag can hold a change of clothes and a few other things in addition to the laptop.  If you're able to, buy a spare battery and charge it before leaving.  Don't forget your charger either!  If you have important files on your computer at home or at work, leave it on and use something like GoToMyPC to access your computer in the event you forget something.

Um...do I gotta' bring my laptop?  It's just another thing I gotta' carry!

No...luckily many people have computers nowadays.  If you're a good son or daughter you've made sure that Mom and Pop have a computer of their own to be able to send you every email joke that comes across their inbox as well as being able to share all of lifes little details through multiple daily emails.  Well, now you can use that computer!  Worried about applications?  You have a lot of choices.  If you are a cloud computin' person using such things as Google Docs, Thinkfree Office, or Zoho Office, then you can simply log on and get to work...from anywhere!  Another possibility is to use a USB flash drive not only for document and file storage, but for your applications as well!  Use Portable Apps and take your applications with you!

Great!  Now all I have to pack is the stroller, the diaper bag, the portable DVD player, the....

I wish I had some tips for that, but unfortunately I don't.  At least I hope you can lighten your load a bit by either traveling smart or traveling without your laptop.  In any case, enjoy your trip and Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope you have a lot to be thankful for! 

David Trask writes for Flubbernuggets.com and is thankful that he travels with a VERY small laptop.  Either a System76 Darter Ultra 2 or an older Dell X200.  Although, he secretly covets the new netbooks from Asus, HP, MSI, and Dell...and is being very good so Santa will notice.  ;-)

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Surviving Thanksgiving travel without killing your offspring

Sounds like a funny title doesn't it? You won't think it's so funny after you've heard, "Are we there yet?". "How much further?", "I gotta' go pee!". "Mom!"...3.5 million times. Thanksgiving happens to be one of the busiest travel times of the year and families all over the US climb into mini-vans, cars, trains, and planes to make their way to grandma's house for the holiday.

Oh come on! I love the little darlings!

I love my kids too, but stress can drive folks to do some crazy things. Hey, some animals eat their offspring! I'm not recommending this...if you do you won't have room for turkey.

Off we go! Now what?

Finding ways to keep children busy can be a challenge. If you happen to be one of the lucky ones who has a DVD player in the mini-van then you are pretty much all set. Make sure you rent LOTS of movies. Music works too! Grab some great tunes by downloading them at Amazon.com or iTunes and burn a great mix CD (or load them on an iPod) filled with kids songs. OR...you can visit www.momsminivan.com! This site is chock full of good ideas for keeping kids (and you) from going crazy on the trip to grandma's. Games, songs, printable game boards, coloring...you name it...it's there! Enjoy your trip. Enjoy the holiday. And still have your kids when it's all over... ;-)

MomsMinivan.com - 101 Car Games, Travel Games and Road Trip Games for Kids -- Printable Road Trip Activities

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Surviving the Thanksgiving Turkey debacle

They say you can find almost anything online. A husband, wife, new car, new home, child to adopt, (still don't know if you can have a baby online yet), food, and all the assorted gadgets you could ever need. More importantly there is a wealth of information online. Granted, 99% of it is crap, but some of it is actually worth knowing.

How to not burn the turkey is something worth knowing

As we approach the big turkey day I thought I might share a little information on cooking a turkey. It's not every day that most of us cook a giant bird the size of a household dog (No! Put Fifi down! Cut that out!). It's also not every day that we invite several people to our house to sample our cooking. For many of us...that's a GOOD thing.

Ok...buying 42 frozen TV dinners with turkey and stuffing is a tad expensive don't you think?

I'm sure the thought has crossed your mind. Go to the supermarket, buy 40-50 Lean Cuisine or Healthy Choice frozen turkey dinners and scrape them out onto a big plate. Let me clue you in on a little secret...it's ALL white meat with NO drumsticks. Folks will catch on very quickly. Fights will ensue, family members will shun you, and your status in Uncle Earl's will could change drastically.

I'm scared! What shall I do?

Have no fear! Remember how I said you can find anything online? Well, there are life-saving instructions for cooking a turkey! Yay! (waiting for the applause to die down) Who'd have thought there'd be a website called "www.howtocookathanksgivingturkey.com"? Well there is, and it is full of great information on how to prepare that big bird for the feast. So, why am I telling you this today? Because you gotta' get started! Seriously! Cooking the turkey requires careful planning and timing, especially if it's frozen. So...click on the link below and rest assured that even the least knowledgable turkey cooks can pull off a great thanksgiving meal. Enjoy! (and good luck) ;-)

HOW TO COOK A TURKEY | HOW TO COOK A THANKSGIVING TURKEY

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