Blogging on the Trail
So far, I have only written my blog posts after being on a trip, but I asked myself what would speak against blogging on the trail as a trip diary.
In itself it is quite simple. You can write in a diary during a tour after all. Blogging on the trail brings some problems with it. First of all, you need many times the power for your phone. My smartphone, an LG G4, for example, has a battery life of just five and a half hours with the display switched on. So far I have been using it for one to two hours per day, mainly taking photos and sending messages. Blogging will mean I need many times more power in the future.
Then there is the writing itself. So far, all on-screen keyboards have driven me to despair sooner or later. Even with the promising Swype, writing got on my nerves within a few sentences. I still mourn my first Android smartphone with a hardware keyboard. To solve this problem, I now pack an additional Bluetooth keyboard..
To test the whole thing, I took the following items on vacation:
• LG G4 Smartphone
• Breffo Spiderpod smartphone holder
• Jelly Comb Tri-Fold Bluetooth keyboard
So far I have pre-written my blog posts in Google Docs and later published them in the blog software via copy and paste. Unfortunately, the Google Docs Android app does not offer the full range of functions compared to the web version. I especially miss the revision history. I also tried it via the Firefox browser in PC mode. That way the revision history is partially displayed. Unfortunately, half of the website is cut off; the resolution and pixel density is probably not suitable for a display.
To be able to create new files offline, I kept looking around and found the app “OfficeSuite Pro”. Unfortunately, this app is pricey at over €16. On top of that, there is around €8 for an app to get spell checking in OfficeSuite. Still, it is worth it to be able to write half-way professionally on the trail.
So far I am very happy with the setup. Maybe I will pack the keyboard more often in the future, who knows? The future will tell, I will keep you posted!
