LAPTOP BASTARDOS

I've been deliberating for several weeks now on whether to take a laptop with me to South America. It’s evident from the numerous backpackers seen tapping away on laptop at airport and coffee shop wireless hotspots in recent years that a computer is an increasingly commonplace thing for non-business travellers to pack in their luggage, probably because price is much less of a barrier nowadays, and it’s possible to get a high-spec notebook for less than GBP 200 – less than I paid for my Malarone anti-malarials. 

But in the end, I have opted not to take one with me. First and foremost, it feels the right decision to make given a large part of my reason for taking a Sabbatical in the first place is because I am sick of staring at a computer screen for 10-12 hours a day. Another important factor I considered is that I need to travel light, and a laptop cannot really be considered an essential item to take up the limited space I will have in my rucksack. Lastly, I realised that carrying a notebook computer will probably increase the likelihood of attracting the unwanted attention of thieves, or as BabelFish just advised me: 'bastardos de toma de muestras'.

I will stick to cybercafés to check my email and write this blog, and hopefully avoid the bastardos.