I thought some of you might enjoy my most recent blog post. It doesn't have anything to do with the language...it's about how my last trip to Ireland taught me about traveling light:

http://www.bitesizeirishgaelic.com/blog ... n-ireland/

All sounds very sensible! Wouldn't the phone eliminate the alarm clock?

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Back then, I had a plain vanilla phone that didn't have an alarm. I actually borrowed a friend's phone to use as an alarm in GCC, as I forgot my travel alarm in Ballyvaughan, then picked up another travel alarm in Dublin. This time I'll be acquiring a cheap go-phone to use in Ireland...if it has an alarm on it, I may or may not decide to rely on that.

I'm still trying to decide if I want to bring my own cell phone with me to contact Tony and Anna when I'm en route. I'm thinking I won't...I can call Tony from a pay phone in New York to touch base, and it doesn't seem worth it to haul along a phone I won't be using while in Ireland.

One thing I try to avoid is bringing too many things that have to be plugged in (the few I do bring, such as that hair dryer I brought last time, have switchable current)...that way I only need a three-prong plug adapter and not a separate unit to adapt American appliances to European current. My camera, for example, uses AA batteries (when at home I use rechargeable batteries, but when traveling I use disposables). As it is, on this trip, since I won't need a hair dryer, and the Irish phone won't need a plug adapter, I may even leave that at home.

Redwolf

Looks like a small travel iron may be joining the pile. My shirts are not as wrinkle-free as I'd hoped.

I took my Samsung Droid last year (not to use as a phone) and it can plug right into a 220 socket using a 3 euro plug adapter. That way I had my phone for photos and my Collins Irish Dictionary even though it didn't work as a phone. I used my Irish phone for an alarm clock. BTW, unless things have changed, In Gleann Fhinne you will have perhaps 15 minutes a day to even be on internet there in the school. There never was internet in the house where I stayed. Concerning further exploration of USA phone usage in Ireland, this year I will take my iPhone 5 and I think I can get a chip for it there in Derry so it will work in Europe. We will see. It's all getting easier and easier and more and more adaptable to each place.

That's interesting about being able to plug it directly into a 220 outlet. I don't know if you can do that with an iPhone or not...I suppose I could check on it. It would be good to know, in any case.

I decided not to take my iPhone for several reasons:

1) I don't want to risk losing it by accidentally leaving it behind. I'm very routine-driven (it's a function of ADHD, actually) and when I'm not following my usual routine, the likelihood of my setting something like that down somewhere and forgetting about it increases considerably.

2) I don't want to have to pay for data charges, especially as I plan to try to avoid using English as much as is reasonably possible, so I'm not going to be doing a lot of internet surfing or Facebook posting. A plain vanilla phone, possibly one that allows for texting, will be all I'll need communications-wise.

3) I like my Collins app, but I like my Foclóir Scoile too, and it fits comfortably in my Baggalini (know this from prior experience).

4) I don't find the photo quality to be as good as that of my regular digital camera. It's OK for snapping that quick "in the moment" shot, but for stunning photographs in challenging lighting conditions it just isn't as good.

What the decision finally came down to was that there's nothing my iPhone will be able to do for me in Donegal that something else I already have can't do as well, or even better, other than make phone calls...and given my tendency to absent-mindedness, especially when I'm following a different routine than usual (not to mention preoccupied with forcing my brain to think in Irish!), buying a cheap "burner" phone seems the easiest thing to do.

I figure it will be good for me to be "less wired" than usual...so long as I can keep in touch with my family and they can reach me in an emergency, I'll be content.

The only think it would be nice to have the iPhone for would be to check in with family when I have my layovers in New York (going) and Atlanta (returning)...I'm banking on the hope that airports still have pay phones and that it's still possible to make credit card calls!

Redwolf