traveling around the world for 2 years...

[jetlagged]

I currently own a MBA 2012 13" i5 1.8/8gb ram/256 gb. it's probably my favorite computer i have ever owned in my life. bought it in november 2012.

i've been thinking, although it's way too early still, and i need other opinions on this matter if i should sell my MBA 2012, use some of that cash when i do sell it and buy a 2014 MBA.

i plan to travel around the world starting september 2014 for maybe 18 to 24 months, starting off in south america for 5 months, then europe for 2 months, before rounding off in india, nepal, southeast asia, australia, new zealand, japan hawaii and back to the u.s., biggest factor is battery life in my opinion, and of course portability. i dont know if i should consider an 11" mba or just stick with the 13", or just outright stick with what I have now. i plan to carry an iphone 5, and my ipad mini retina as well. i love the screen size for my mba 13. its just perfect, battery life could be better, but closing some apps and programs and tweaking the display settings really gets me close to that 7 hour rated battery life. but the improved battery of the latest generation model of mba has got me thinking, i think it's really nice. only thing i do that's heavy is doing some simple lightroom editing of raw files and imovie video editing to upload to youtube.

although i'm considering upgrading to a 2014 either 11 or 13, i'm also inclined to maybe just stick with what i have now. but by the time i come back from my 2 years of travel, my mba 2012 would be more than 4 an a half years old.

anyways, just need thoughts and opinion. not in a rush to buy a new computer.

 

[BigPrince]

Keep the one you have.

1. its very portable and the new ones offer no significant improvement in its portability.
2. Less valuable=less stressful.
3. If something happens, less annoying to replace since its already older.
4. Your gonna be too busy seeing these awesome places to need all that battery life in one go.
5. Powerful enough. (assuming your not some sort movie developer, etc.)

 

[thundersteele]

If you think you need the battery life, upgrading might be a good idea. For any other reason: no!

With the older MBA, you have to worry less about it being damaged or stolen, since it represents a lower value. I would be somewhat more nervous traveling with an almost new machine.

And performance wise things are not so different from 2 years ago...

 

[nebo1ss]

Personally, my view is that you plan to take way too many toys with you if you are going to travel for two years. The secret of that type of travel is to travel light and avoid making yourself a target. An unlocked Iphone 5S can do everything you need including being the camera of choice.

 

[Gav2k]

The new model could be the mystical 12.2" lol.

Anyway for your use stick with your current model it'll do you proud.

 

[MarkII1968]

I agree with Nebo, done a fair amount of travelling too, I think your taking way too much, the Air and iPhone is plenty, and your just adding to possible stress, where are you going to leave all that stuff?. in your hostel or guest house, its a lot to carry in a day bag, anyway I would give it some thought

 

[Steve121178]

Why buy a new computer that's going to get knocked around a fair bit while you travel? Just buy a new one on your return.

 

[jetlagged]

Thanks for the replies folks. I figure I'd throw out my thought out there. And I completely agree. It makes more sense to just keep what I have now. So yeah I'll be keeping my mba 13"

I will be traveling as light as possible with a 38L backpack which I'm hoping to buy this month. I own a 55L+10 backpack right now and i think that was too big the last time i traveled. but then again i had to bring a tent and sleeping bag which I dont plan on doing, that easily will save me so much space. And I figured out a way to fit everything into a 38L backpack. I'll be using a small daybag which is compressible as well. When I'm not moving from place to place, i'll store it at the hostel or guest house, they usually have lockers, or have it stored at the front desk. one thing traveling has taught me is how safe it really is, of course proper safety precautions must be taken into account as well.

 

[alphaod]

If your current computer is working reliably, I say stick with it.

There are other things you'll probably want or need. Something I have found handy is my sat phone.

 

[Backegg]

All sensible answers above. I travel a lot for work and travelling light is vital. I take my iPhone 5S and iPad Air only. For family holidays I will add my Canon EOS 700D for photography to the list. I get really uncomfortable trying to "juggle" too many gadgets.

 

[Boyd01]

I also like the advice given so far, but just a bit of food for thought. I had a 2011 13' MBA which I really liked, but I sold it and got an 11" MBA last summer. Best decision I ever made. You may not think there's much difference from the specs, but the 11" is really MUCH smaller and lighter. I just love this machine (and I have it maxxed out with i7/8gb/512gb).

Have been doing some travelling myself and it's fantastic. I'm writing this from Athens now in fact. Don't know about the 2012 models, but I get WAY more runtime on the 2013 11" MBA than the 2011 13" model. I mean like many hours more. If I set the screen to low brightness and watch ripped DVD's in iTunes, surf the web, check my mail, work on a spreadsheet, etc, it seems to never run down. After 4 hours of this kind of activity the battery will still be at 70%.

Of course nobody really knows what the 2014 models will be or when they will arrive. But if you want portability and great battery life, the 11" 2013 MBA is a real winner.

 

[Micky Do]

Less is more.

My experience is that less stuff means fewer worries and more freedom…… I have lived a few itinerant years.

Do you really need all that tech stuff, no doubt along with a fancy camera and other paraphernalia? What is your mission?

If it was me, I'd just take the currently owned Air and a point and shoot camera that takes reasonably good pictures.

 

[960design]

Thanks for the replies folks. I figure I'd throw out my thought out there. And I completely agree. It makes more sense to just keep what I have now. So yeah I'll be keeping my mba 13"

I will be traveling as light as possible with a 38L backpack which I'm hoping to buy this month. I own a 55L+10 backpack right now and i think that was too big the last time i traveled. but then again i had to bring a tent and sleeping bag which I dont plan on doing, that easily will save me so much space. And I figured out a way to fit everything into a 38L backpack. I'll be using a small daybag which is compressible as well. When I'm not moving from place to place, i'll store it at the hostel or guest house, they usually have lockers, or have it stored at the front desk. one thing traveling has taught me is how safe it really is, of course proper safety precautions must be taken into account as well.

Whoa! You are hard work traveling. I prefer taking my house with me. Check out these brave travelers; my heros.
http://vimeo.com/15351476

Good luck and enjoy the journey!

 

[Boyd01]

If it was me, I'd just take the currently owned Air and a point and shoot camera that takes reasonably good pictures.

Why bring a "point and shoot camera" when you already have an iPhone 5?

What I don't understand though is why the OP wants to bring the iPad. Seems like the MBA and iPhone would already cover all those bases.

Just noticed this though...

i love the screen size for my mba 13. its just perfect, battery life could be better, but closing some apps and programs and tweaking the display settings really gets me close to that 7 hour rated battery life

It sounds like the battery life on your 2012 MBA is comparable to my 2011 13" MBA. But making those same tweaks on a 2013 11" MBA, will get something closer to 12 hours. But I have the i7 processor in mine. If you get the i5, you might add another hour or more runtime.

 

[jetlagged]

@Boyd01
nice, you got a little powerhouse of a computer there. yeah no doubt about that. 11" is the ultimate travel size for traveling light.

@Micky Do
I don't really have a purpose for traveling for 18-24 months. It's been my dream for the longest time. and it's something I want to do before I work my butt off for the next 25-30 years of my remaining work life. Besides it's the perfect time, stars aligned and all that for me. no kids, no mortgage since I chose not to buy a house until I have gotten this travel sickness of long term travel out of my system, no car payments. i've been saving for nearly a decade

the only other gadget of course is my small point and shoot camera, i own an RX100 II by Sony. I'm thinking either getting a gopro hero 3 black or just a waterproof point and shoot camera by nikon, olympus or panasonic. long story short, i took out my iphone 5 to take pics in the drenching rain of new zealand, iphone died, lost 10 days of amazing pictures. good thing was that I was also shooting with my dslr at the time, so the damage wasn't as severe. but there were those 2 days where I shot with nothing but iphone.

one reason i was thinking of bringing an ipad was that I will have a lot of downtime when i'm traveling slow for that long. I want to be able to read stuff like my mangas, lol, on those long bus rides or on a slow day, okay, let's just close this topic, it's run its course and I have found my answers. keeping my mba 13"