Hi Gang…I see people updating their journals at trailjournals.com that are on the trail. Are they only doing it in town at rest stops. Or are their ways to access this site on the trail ( and E mail loved ones on the trail) If so how and what are they using ( I didn’t think blackberries would work on the trail…Thanx
Texas Don
A lot of people used pocketmail . They’re wonderful little things. Other people just updated in towns, or, like Leki, handworte journals and mailed them home for some poor family member to try to decipher:girl
Xena
It appears most people are using pocketmail devices or jumping on computers where access is available in towns.
Blackberries will work on the trail. It really depends on the plan and the carrier you use. Although I don’t use mine too often, I get a signal more frequently each time I’m out.
I’ll be taking mine for journaling this spring, and see how it goes.
Mayfly
All “techies” please feel free to elaborate or correct me here.
Probably the easiest way for me (very much a non-technical person) to describe this is in simple terms. It is a handheld device operating on GPRS technology. It can be used as a cellphone, web brower, etc.
Most importantly for me though, it allows me to access my e-mail remotely from just about anywhere I can also get a cell phone signal. I can send and receive e-mails on the device, and it weighs less than the cell phone it replaced.
You can also access www.blackberry.com for additional information.
Mayfly
I’ve done both the pen-and-paper and pocketmail thing for trail journals. Personally, I prefer pocketmail for the simple fact that it’s easier to edit and add to my daily journal after I first write it.
Another consideration is for the person who is transcribing your journal. I transcribed in 2000 for an AT hiker. For the first few weeks it was fun. I quickly grew to hate it. Transcribing is really a terrible thing to ask someone to do. Granted, there are people who enjoy transcribing handwritten notes. But I couldn’t stand it. With pocketmail, all my transcriber had to do was spell check, copy and paste.
I replace my pocketmail batteries once a month, whether they need it or not. This prevents me from losing battery power between town stops.
yogi
yogi
When I was on the trail, Hammock Hanger was my transriber. So I wrote out everything on paper and then just mailed it to her from town. My mom did pictures for me, so I would just send her the film and she would do it all for me. It was so easy to do it this way. Some people who typed their own trailjournals and uploaded their own pictures from while on the trail seemed a bit stressed out in town.
Tell it like it is
Ditto what Yogi said about transcribers.
Don’t make them type out your paper scribbles. Transcribers are doing you a favor, a labor of love. Make it as easy as possible for them.
Use pocketmail for keeping in touch with the folks back home, and pen and paper for yourself, if you wish the best of both worlds.
LiteShoe
Anyone doing the AT in need of a transcriber for 2005? Let me know if we can work something out! Windrambler@aol.com
windblue