by Charles Miller

Several times over the last few decades I have read the same story in a number of different books; leading me to believe there must be at least some veracity to the tale. The story says that in North Africa, Afghanistan, or other forbidding deserts, the caravan masters all have the same practice of loading up their camels, starting off into the desert, then five minutes later stopping to pitch camp for the first night only a few meters outside of town. This seemingly ridiculous exercise is to test if they might have forgotten to pack something important, such as food and water.

I am not sure if reading that story is what led to my getting into the habit, but two or three weeks before I take off on a long overseas trip I always pack up my bags and take a short overnight trip. Almost invariably doing that reveals that I overlooked something or another. Before I took up this habit, some of my friends remember me as the guy who joined them on a SCUBA diving trip and forgot to pack a bathing suit.

Sometimes what I forgot to pack is easily replaced, such as toothpaste. Other items such as a battery charger, or a cord for it, might be more difficult to obtain on the road. Or it could be a password or phone number scribbled on a yellow Post-It note left on my desk. Other times it is files I thought I remembered to copy from my desktop computer to my laptop but found they were not there. My own situation is a bit more complex than most because I file a lot of data on my home network server, meaning that I might slip up and fail to notice that the files I viewed on my laptop were actually on the server that stays home and not on the laptop that goes traveling.

The other thing that can change drastically the minute you leave home is your online access to important accounts. One of the reasons for this is that many secure sites keep track of your location for security purposes. This applies to practically every bank on the planet. If you always log into your bank while at home you may have never seen the message that will display when you try to access your account away from home. When not at home, my bank asks me to verify my debit card number, expiration date, CVC, and PIN in addition to the username and password when only the last two are required when I am at home.

Accessing your email while traveling might also present challenges. When logging into your account from a new location you need to be prepared to answer additional security questions, such as the "secret questions" to which you provided answers years ago when you setup your account. Be aware there are some internet providers that simply do not allow you to use your email if you are not at home connected to their system.

Using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) for added security is highly recommended when traveling. This is also something that needs to be tested beforehand to be sure it works as expected. Quite a few public WiFi networks block VPN traffic, so do not be surprised if your hotel does this. I will not go into here why some hotels do that, but it has to do with monitoring unapproved use. If you do encounter this situation on the road, when you return home from your short trip you can consult with the tech support for your VPN provider to see if there is a work-around available.

Taking time to check out all these things on an overnight trip can greatly reduce unexpected technology-related problems while you enjoy your longer time away from home.

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Charles Miller is a freelance computer consultant with decades of IT experience and a Texan with a lifetime love for Mexico. The opinions expressed are his own. He may be contacted at 415-101-8528 or email FAQ8 (at) SMAguru.com.

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