One of the best things to take traveling with you is an mp3 player. Some people will argue that you should be listening to the sights and sounds of the country you’re in.
That argument is complete nonsense when you consider you could be spending a huge amount of time traveling on a night train or a bus. Or in my case, on one occasion 3 days straight due to road blocks and protests in Peru.
Listen To The World
Certainly open you ears and listen to the amazing sounds around you whilst you travel, but at times (especially before sleeping) you’ll be so pleased you brought along some music with you.
I wouldn’t advise taking a brand new mp3 player with you. It will be a beacon to thieves and stick out like a sore thumb. Purchase a cheaper mp3 player, that way if it gets broken, stolen or lost you can deal with it a lot easier.
Just Like Home?
More developed countries can often feel much more like home (If you indeed come for that type of country). For example in Sydney, Australia you probably feel the pressure to have better clothes than traveling through Asia. These countries are much more wealthy so carrying gear like mp3 players, laptops, straighteners, hair dryers, phones etc is much more common place. Eg, Australia, USA, Canada.
Uploading New Music
Springing up in many countries are shops where you can buy cheap mp3’s downloaded on to your mp3 player. This means you can update your music collection on the go, unfortunately for me this actually caused mine to crash. I lost all 3000 songs.
Carrying an mp3 player can make you associate certain memories with certain songs. Once you hear that song again the memories will come flooding back.
Overall taking an mp3 player will be a blessing on some of the longer journeys you may face.
Do you really need a colour screen? Photos? Video? No, keep it cheap ,simple and if possible don’t bring a brand new shiny one.
From a recent interview I did that will be published soon: "It all depends on the length of your travels, but for the longer trips (week+), an iPod might be a lifesaver. It was indispensable on my travels through Laos. Some bus rides are long and lonesome. With an iPod you can bring a little bit of home with you. And it’s not only the music. You can load it up with some TV shows, Movies, even some photos of your family and home videos you’ve created in iMovie. I’ll definitely be bringing mine along with my to Vietnam this summer."So I guess you could see it both ways.
I find my iPod indispensable on trips. Sure, there are sights and sounds to enjoy, but on a bus or a train where most of the sounds are unpleasant (snoring, talking and occasional farting), I'd rather block silence those sounds and keep a hand on my bag should I fall asleep and someone tries to nick it.The only challenge I face is recharging on the go. Sometimes there isn't enough time or the outlet is a bit dodgy even if I have the right adapter.
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Hey LnddMile,
Thanks for the comment. Great to have any positive feedback. Good to have you on the site.
Paul @
TravMonkey.com