It was time for one of those dreaded business trips again. However, this time I thought that I would make the trip a little more interesting by using my gadgets more than normal just for fun. I would keep a kind of diary along the way and keep track of how I used them.

When the trip was over, I was quite amazed with what I had done. Here is a summary of some tips and tricks that I used:

Pre-Flight

At Home - I set up my airline accounts to automatically send text messages to my cell phone 3 hours before the flight and notify me at any time if my flight is delayed or canceled. This is easily done on the websites of many airlines and other travel sites. The alert came in handy as my flight was canceled due to weather so I was immediately notified and able to quickly reschedule my flight.

Driving to the Airport - While driving to the airport, I listened to my MP3 player in the car using a DLA FM transmitter that plugs into the cigarette lighter for power.

Parking the Car - After I parked the car on the 3rd level at the airport, I used my cell phone to take a picture of the sign on the third level as I left the parking lot to remember where I had parked when I return.

Waiting for the Plane - While waiting for the plane to arrive at the gate, I passed the time by listening to my MP3 player while I synced my Treo 650 cell phone data with my laptop.

On the Flight

During Boarding - I booted up my PowerBook and listened to iTunes while I organized my DVDs in a new DVD program that I had purchased called DVDpedia.

In Flight - I did not care to watch the movie that they were showing in flight, so I watched my own DVD on my laptop (after I did some work of course!). To ensure a longer battery life while in the air, I made sure that BlueTooth and the Airport wireless connections were turned off. I also turned down the brightness of the display. Luckily I had a spare battery as the flight was almost 4 hours.

At my destination

On the bus to the rental car - I called my wife on my cell phone to let her know I arrived safely. I checked and answered my work email on my cell phone. When I got my rental car, took a picture of it in case I forgot which one was mine if I parked it with other cars.

At the Hotel - Took a picture of my room number in case I forgot where the room was. Hooked into their wireless connection with my laptop to catch up on the news while having a drink in the lobby bar.

At the Business Meeting - I impressed my client by controlling my PowerPoint presentation with my Treo 650. During the break, I checked the status of my return flight with the Palm application FlightStatus on my cell phone and sent a text message to my wife. After the meeting, I used the digital photo I took to find my car in the parking lot.

Return Trip

My coworker offered his Delphi MyFi satellite radio to listen to on the way home, but I decided to relax instead and play Mario on the new Nintendo DS portable gaming system before I listened to an audio book I had downloaded onto my cell phone!