MacBook Air experiment proved successful on recent trips

I often said I was the McFirst guy. If I was allowed to keep only one of the Apple Tech, I would pass the iPhone and iPad (yeah, I’ll reach that plural…) without flashing.

If you want to work while traveling, the MacBook Pro will naturally come along with you. But you may be surprised that I also knew I had with me on holidays and even on long weekends…

MacBook Pro for Travel

Certainly, this could be eccentric on my part. Because I can’t do anything genetically. Place me on the beach lounger, and I perhaps If I’m reading a particularly good book, then the last few hours on the first day, that’s what will be that week. Mostly I want to do something and see something.

Furthermore, seeing and doing what is commonly used to involve taking photos.

I’ve switched more to video recently.

Some people argue that taking photos and videos will help you distance yourself from experience. But for me, it always has the opposite effect, and I am more aware of what I see and appreciate.

It also meant that otherwise it was a rather fleeting experience, and that the memory faded over time was revitalized as I looked back at my images.

In theory, it doesn’t require a Mac. At that point you can take photos and videos and then transfer them at home. But in the days of standalone cameras, I wanted to at least be able to back up my photos. If it was a long-haul flight, editing them was the perfect way to fly back. Even now, I still feel happy when I have another copy of my memories on my Mac, using an automatic Icloud backup using my iPhone.

But I prefer Macs more generally. I’ve sometimes put together a detailed travel itinerary in advance, but sometimes I prefer the flexibility to schedule things while I’m there. That includes persuading the Notes app for my plans and ideas, checking the weather, searching for transit times and routes, reading TripAdvisor reviews, and booking tickets for both attractions and trips using the webpage. I think multitasking like that is very easy.

All of this means that I had a MacBook Pro on most trips.

MacBook Air Experiment

However, this has some drawbacks. First and most obviously, it is a relatively large and heavy device that is portable. Except for tango trips, I have to keep my baggage to accommodate additional clothes and dance shoes, but I’ve only travelled by handbeg. MBP, chargers and protective cases take up a significant amount of room in your cabin luggage.

Secondly, if you want to use it during your flight, the 16-inch MBP is a rather large device on the tray table.

Third, my life lies in my MBP. Of course, it’s all backed up, but if it’s stolen it still hurts a lot, and hotel rooms and holiday apartments are not always the safest places.

However, I was very impressed with the M1 MacBook Air I bought last month so I decided to install the other apps I needed and travel instead.

It immediately felt like a good decision. It’s even lighter than the 12.9-inch iPad Pro and Magic keyboard that you use when you leave your Mac at home. It offers similar battery life. Easy to use on an aircraft.

I was like a convert from still to video for my travel memories, but the videos I made are very informal. All I did was to shorten some clips and glue them together. So I was able to install Final Cut Pro, but I chose to download Imovie and use it instead.

I was able to experience another advantage of an MBA. If you are sightseeing all day long, you usually use a slim backpack to carry some essentials. A compact umbrella if it rains, a sweater if the temperature can be changed, a metro, a water bottle, or a Kindle if you drive a travel mug (I’m in the UK).

For this trip, it was a Shinobu backpack I reviewed last month. What I found was that the MacBook Air was so light that I barely noticed this when I let it slide. So I was able to take a Niagara video together and head back to town. It was a truly wonderful use considering the view from the train was almost rather industrial.

I honestly didn’t know any extra weight or bulk when wandering, despite being quite a walk (this lasts about 5 minutes, including wandering on the Rainbow Bridge for my shortest visit to the US).

I didn’t experience “damn it,” I wish I had MBP with me” moment so I think this will become my travel device from now on.

About those iPads…

Yes, so I’m not just one yet two I told the iPad over a year ago that I hadn’t used it anymore.

Honestly, I can’t remember using the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. (a) it’s no longer worth it, so (b) I plan to replace the old one with the smaller one and use it as a dedicated smart home control panel.

What about other iPads? I thought I hadn’t managed to find an excuse to keep my iPad Mini 6, but as it turns out, it has become a dedicated ebook reader for Libby. Unlike the US, you cannot borrow e-books from libraries on a Kindle in the UK, so I use the iPad Mini for that. I found it worth it from that one use. So amazing cute).

But while that feels like a somewhat fake justification for a rather expensive e-reader, there’s no sense that you need to justify your MacBook Air to yourself.