Typewriter Twenty Two : August ’16

Reading this on my blog for the first time? Don’t know what this is about?

Let me tell you about this!

Cast a Spell.

I don’t like re-reading letters. If I’ve sent you one, I’ve probably written it in one go, without crossing out words, let alone lines. Recently, I wrote something for myself, and read it after a few days.

Once I did, I realized how much we rely on our computers or mobile phones or another electronic devices to assist us with our sentences. A green squiggle is formed each time the device *thinks* we’re not constructing sentences as per the grammar rules. And, let’s admit it, we’ve all depended on the red squiggly line that appear beneath the words we type to save us from trivial, but often embarrassing mistakes!

I figured I’ve made so many minor typos in that one note I wrote! Typos I tend to ignore because my brain *knows* that they’ll be auto-corrected on any device.

I can’t believe I’ve gotten so used to technology helping me out at each step. It makes me wonder, will spelling and handwriting become obsolete gradually? Will we start completely relying on technology when we want to write? Will we let the device think on our behalf?

More importantly, is that what we want?

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Would you like to read a little more?

Check out the previous edition of Typewriter Twenty Two here.

And, the next one, here.

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Travel Checklist : 7 Unconventional Items

I was thinking of a few things that help me enjoy my trips better, so I thought I’d list them out. Do you relate to any of these?

1. Decide how you’d like to document the trip.
Well, a lot of us go in thinking we’re going to blog every night, or put up pictures online daily, or maintain scrapbook, but then, reality strikes. Most of us end up procrastinating or just get too tired by the end of the day to follow through. So, think of a realistic way you’d like to document it, so that you don’t miss out on the little things you’d like to remember from your trip.

Check out this really fun way we decided on, here!

2. Stop looking at pictures. NOW.

Yes, I know you’re excited and you want to go through every picture ever taken at your travel destination. But, I request (?) you to stop, stop now!
Stop because you must let some things remain new to your eyes when you get there. You’d want to be able to stand in front of the windmills in Netherlands and say “Woah! That’s such a wonderful sight”, and not “Yeah, I’ve seen this before on Instagram, from a better angle probably. What’s next?”

3. Collect your friends’ postal addresses.

This is for when you had a great time in a city and want to send a postcard to your friend. But, what’s their address? Damn.

4. Use a separate device for music.

Phones are well-equip to carry massive music playlist and click HD photos, and help you keep in touch with loved ones, but, the last thing you want is ending up in a long bus ride or in the middle of a Skype call back home with the low battery sign. Or well, just carry a portable charger.

5. Fine-tune your to-do list

In place of letting your London to do list read just:

London Eye
Westminster Abbey

..and so on, add little things to do like, things unique to that place like

Ride on the Double-Decker Bus
Buy an umbrella!

6. Find a way to backup photos!

 Yes, in this day and age, this might seem a tiny bit obsolete, but this is a must! I had a horrible experience this time, when I took photos from our DSLR and didn’t back it up. Towards the end of our trip, the card showed a “Card Corrupt” error, and thrust us in a state of panic. I’m still trying to recover files from that card.

Find a way to backup photos, or take photos from multiple devices; the pictures we took from our iPad were our saving grace.

7. Carry a few a snacks from home, if you’re visiting a different country

You’re probably going to laugh at this one, after all, when in a new country, you’d probably like to experiment with their cuisine. But, that can get a little taxing. There will be times when you crave a familiar flavour, and this will save the day.