Should you take a Kindle overseas?
Should you take a Kindle
For one thing, it suffers from all the usual flaws of technology: It’s fragile, doesn’t like getting wet, you can’t use it to hammer a nail into the ceiling to hang a mosquito net, and it’s a theft target.
On the plus side, it can hold all the reference books you will ever need, but then so can your laptop, which you’re going to need anyway (and while we’re talking about laptops, I’ve been totally won over by the new MacBook Air
That’s for non-fiction reference books, which play to the strengths of e-readers in my mind, then, for fiction, take real books – just a couple of them, and trade them with others.
Of course, if you want one anyway, it helps me support this site if you buy it from the link here
I would actually disagree, as I think that a Kindle is a fantastic thing to take overseas. In my opinion (and based on past experience), packing books is one of the most unwise uses of space and weight in your luggage allowance. There are so many things you’ll want to use more often than a book, which you’ll only read once. (My advice for the extra luggage space: bring granola bars and other familiar snacks for those days when you are sick of the local food in your new country of residence.)
Furthermore, a Kindle really is different from a laptop because of the “virtual ink” technology, which makes reading much more pleasant and easy on the eyes. The battery life of the Kindle is also amazing (I recharge mine about once a month, despite frequent usage) — which comes in handy if you’re somewhere with frequent power outages! And as long as you invest in a case, it’s pretty sturdy (and not nearly as flashy as a laptop, so I don’t think that theft is an issue to be concerned about). Buying books on the Kindle is fast and easy (you just need a WiFi hotspot), there is a great selection of titles, and it’s cheaper than buying real paperback or hardcover books.
That said, if you’re going to be someplace with easy access to English books (either through bookstores or through an expat community that likes to trade books), it may be more worthwhile to save money and not buy a Kindle. Also, I’ll always bring a hard-copy guidebook, rather than loading it on my Kindle.
Thanks for that perspective – I definitely like the e-ink screen of the Kindle, and the battery life!