Literally. Earlier this week our family returned from a quick vacation. Now, I left my laptop at home, and while I brought my cell phone, it stayed turned off the entire time we were gone. That doesn't mean we were gadget-free during our vacation...we just adapted to our surroundings.



If you listened to The GeekDads: Episode 38, you know that the GeekMom and I took the kids on a Disney Cruise. We did NOT fly from Wisconsin down to Florida - we drove. Yes, 21 hours in the burbmobile...thank you to whomever thought of in-van DVD players.

Twenty-one hours from Wisconsin to Port Canveral, Florida. To aid us in the trip we had:

a Garmin Nuvi (never question the lady in the box...but that's another post)

twenty-one family-friendly DVDs

family-friendly DVDs seven MP3 players (for a family of six)

MP3 players (for a family of six) three Nintendo DS, and one Nintendo Gameboy Advanced SP

Nintendo DS, and one Nintendo Gameboy Advanced SP two digital cameras (we're guessing that only one survived)

Our burbmobile takes six DVDs at a time. We loaded up the changer and played in order. I think we got through 8 or 10 of the DVDs on the round-trip.

Seven MP3 players - the GeekMom brought two - because she was listening to audio books and we don't have a car-charger for either of her MP3 players.

The Nindento DS and the picto-chat was really fun to watch in the Disney Cruise terminal. Our kids were chatting with people they didn't (knowingly) meet face-to-face...but hey, it passed the time between our check-in and when we were allowed on-board.

The digital cameras - well, I had one, my oldest GeekTeen had the other. I put the family digi-cam in my swimsuit pocket and soon after jumped into one of the pools on-board the ship. A less-than-family-friendly word escaped my lips when I realized what had happened. The digi-cam is sitting in a container with uncooked rice in an attempt to revive it. The jury's still out on this one.

We had a fantastic time (and this GeekDad highly recommends a Disney Cruise for the family [or just the GeekMom and GeekDad]*), and the kids were troopers considering we spent nearly two full days in our van.

So what gadgets go with you when you go on vacation?

*this GeekDad is getting nothing for recommending a Disney Cruise - he's just hooked on cruising with a magical mouse...