Sorry for the lack of posts recently. I wish I could say I’ve been busy, but it’s been the complete opposite! January was a very unproductive month in terms of work and for the first time in my life, I truly felt burned out. So instead of work, I decided to chill out with friends in Bangkok, Hua Hin and on Koh Tao instead. It was a lot of fun.

David decided to return to Mukdahan with me, in order to crank out lot’s of work (I’m now making up for being lazy during January!). On Saturday we decided to go on a little road trip, so we got on our bikes and headed north up the Mekong River to Wat That Pranom.

At the last minute, I decided to film the whole day and make a little movie out of the footage I had recorded. What you see below is my first try at driving iMovie on the Mac, so it’s a bit rough round the edges but hopefully you’ll get to see a little insight into what makes Isaan special.

Keep an eye out for more videos on the blog as I plan to make a 5 to 6 minute movie every month here on out – in order to keep up with one of my 2011 goals to record more video content.

What do you think?

For many years people have laughed at my old Nokia phone that didn’t even have a colour screen! Considering I’m in the tech space, people didn’t understand why I didn’t have a smart phone. The truth is, I couldn’t justify spending the money as I’ve been putting the bulk of my income into my projects over the last few years. I guess I’ve felt more obligated to invest in my businesses, or invest in experiences, rather than physical products for myself.

During December, this all changed. I thought it’s about time I treated myself and went all out buying the gadgets I’ve wanted to buy for a while now (while a couple were xmas pressies!). I thought its better I get all the purchases over and done with so I can get back investing my monies back into my web stuff from the new year onwards.

All of the products below were purchased to enhance my traveling experiences, so thought likeminded travelers would appreciate my thoughts and reviews on them. Without further ado, here goes!

The transition from an old Nokia phone with no camera to the best phone on the market was a nice transition indeed! The apps, camera, UI and design are all so well thought out that I’m finding myself constantly addicted to the thing whenever I’m not on my notebook. I now couldn’t imagine living without it, and although expensive (for the unlocked version), I can see the many apps, email on the move and the maps features will really enhance my traveling, and gulp, even business work flow.

My trusty old Sony Vaio was getting rusty. The battery died years ago meaning I couldn’t use it on the go (I had to plug in into the mains). The camera had also died, along with some keys that were just about to fall off the keyboard! Basically, it had been put through its paces and out of the the toys listed here, this was my most important purchase.

Enter my first Macbook, the Macbook Pro 13”. The design is absolutely beautiful, the UI a little confusing as I’m so used to keeping things simple running XP, yet the transition is getting easier the more I use it.

iMovie and similar programs that come pre-installed on the Mac are a dream to use. I hate to admit it, but I’m running Windows XP on the machine at the moment for when I just want to get some work done rather than carrying out Google searches for simple functions I don’t know how to perform yet. I’ll likely remove XP within a couple of weeks while I get more accustomed to the Mac side. Overall, I’m very impressed with the new machine and can see that I’ll eventually be happy with the move from PC to Mac.

I had a hard job deciding between the Sennheiser HD595 or the Monster beats that Dr. Dre helped develop. Overall, I’m glad I went with the Beats as I’m a fan of music that has big bass. The beats deliver big bass awesomely and the mid range is excellent, and they are very comfortabe to wear.

The negative side to the beats is that they feel a little flimsy as they fold up into a small carry bag, and the pouch that comes with them is not a hard case, so I’m a little worried they’ll get damaged if I’m a little careless with them.

Overall, the amazing sound and bass make up for the negatives and they make traveling and waiting around at the airport so much more fun!

How did I live without a Kindle, I’ll never know. The device is absolutely beautiful, is just the right size and is ultra light weight. I’ve used it for 3+ hour reading sittings numerous times now and find it a pleasure to hold. It’s a real joy to use.

One of the annoying things about traveling in Asia is the lack of good books available, especially getting hold of the new releases. The Kindle changes all that; I now have thousands of books to choose from via a click of a button. I can easily see I’ll go from reading 15 books last year to at least 40 this year.

If you travel frequently and like to read, I can’t recommend the Kindle highly enough!

If you are a regular reader, you’ll know I’m a huge fan of 4 wheel suitcases. The one I have now is great, but I’ve been keeping an eye out for a bag I can use for weekend trips and a general carry-on bag for when I’m travelling.

After reading Dan’s review of the North Face Surge, I decided to give the bag ago. Now I’ve had mine for a couple of weeks, I can see what all the fuss is about (the reviews online are very positive!). The amount of pockets the bag has is mind boggling, the build quality is excellent and the overall design of the bag is nice. I can see the Surge lasting me many years, and would defiantly recommend it to others who are looking for a sturdy bag that will last.

What are your favourite gadgets you travel with?