For 11 days, I was on vacation. In the past, this meant that I would find myself without email or any internet connectivity. This time, I was more connected than ever. I was more connected, in fact, than I normally am at home. This was accomplished in a number of ways. In addition to bringing my new (pending road trip review) iPhone with me, I also packed the car up with several other goodies that made hours stuck in a car on the highway tolerable for a techie like me. On previous vacations, I’ve found myself unplugged and itching to get online, check email, etc. A vacation without electronics just feels unnatural, so I was determined to remain online in the most unobtrusive ways possible on this trip.

Working… just a little
I often need to work, if even just a little, while on vacation. Most times, I have been forced to spend 20 minutes walking someone through how to SSH into a server and make changes to something like DNS or a hosting configuration file. On this trip, I simply pulled out the laptop, plugged in my Verizon Wireless broadband card and made the change myself in about 5 minutes. Not only did I save someone else time, but I managed to get back to relaxing pretty quickly. In this photo, I was fixing a client’s DNS records as we were cruising down the highway. This may not be the most affordable for those of you who are tethered to a desk constantly, but if you travel enough, this is a great alternative to telling someone else how to do your job while you’re away. It was also a nice way to have a more secure connection than the hotels’ hacker-friendly wireless setups.

Keeping up with Email
One of the key features I looked for in a new phone was the ability to send and receive email. The iPhone promised this and has delivered to a marginal degree. When it works, it works and when it doesn’t, it just plain doesn’t work. Initially, I chalked this up to all the new iPhone owners, and that may still have something to do with the fact that I can only get it to actually GET my email about 70% of the time. Eventually, I still get all of my email, but if a client sends me something to review and I can’t get it right then, the whole “get email on your phone” functionality is useless. I remain optimistic, but will also enter an Apple or AT&T store with concerns this week.

Finding things and getting there
Finding things was relatively simple with my new iPhone handy. If it was food, I used Urban Spoon (1). While it works fairly well, it threw me a curve, suggesting 3 Monkeys in St. Louis, having me navigate through the “ghetto” to get there. After turning onto Compton St, we decided to just head down town for food. Another option that worked well for more specific navigation (such as the St. Louis Arch) was to just type my query right into the iPhone’s integrated Google Maps. Either way, you end up with a pin on your map (2). From there, you can simply click on the pin for more information, or to set up driving directions (3). We used this constantly, not only to determine drive times and best routes (4), but also to zoom right in for a turn-by-turn map of how to get there (5).

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Google Maps on the iPhone was one of the things that made our trip a lot easier. There were some glitches, but for the most part, this was a life-saver.

Keeping in touch
One of the most important things you can have on a road trip is a cell phone, even if you could care less about electronics or staying connected. If your care has ever broken down miles away from civilization, you already know about this first hand. A cell phone can be your life line to get medical help or even just a tow or a gallon of gas, but not if it says “No Service”. Since I was testing the iPhone, I took several opportunities to check the cellular availability of AT&T versus Verizon in places like the Painted Desert in Arizona, in mountain ranges, and everywhere else. Surprisingly, both did very will in most places and AT&T even outperformed Verizon a few times in the middle of nowhere, although Verizon is still king in the middle of Phoenix.

Satellite tracking for kicks
I took advantage of some test hardware we had at the office and rigged the car to be tracked constantly via satellite (except when I unplugged it). Below is the actual trek we made to Michigan last week, indicated by a couple hundred points on a basic map. While there can be some practical applications for this technology (and there are… trust me), we did it just for kicks so Michelle’s parents could watch us head their way.

Managing money
Have you seen the commercial in which a man and woman are scaling a mountain and she gets a text and a few hand motions later announces that she was almost overdrawn and that she just rectified the situation from her phone? Well, if it were that simple, there would be no security. However, after logging in, the Bank of America iPhone app allowed me to quickly move money from one account to another and pay my mortgage at 80 Mph. While it was more than just a few hand gestures, it was pretty painless and quick.

Plugging it all in
A lot of my favorite electronics just plug straight into the wall for power. What, then, do I do when I’m on the road of hours and hours? The answer is an inverter. This little guy juiced up my laptop, ipod, and iPhone when I needed it most and plugs right into the standard 12 volt socket most cars come with. This is a must for a cross-country road trip.

In case you haven’t already guessed, I’m a fan of the iPhone (or any comparable phone) that can keep me so connected in the most unconnected places. I suggest an iPhone for anyone who loves road trips as much as I do. The laptop was still like a monkey on my back, but was necessary for any complicated work to be done quickly, as well as for uploading photos from my digital camera. For now, at least, I’ll drag it along with me. Being able to plug it in for extended use was a huge bonus.

What do you use to stay plugged in when you’re away from home or the office?