I’m writing this from my room trying to figure out ways to keep your body at ease when in front of a computer while counting days to my trip with my boyfriend and our first trip in 2018. God, I just can’t wait to dip into the warm water of Pacific Ocean.
As someone who had traveled quite a lot, I already know the mistakes I made while on the road and have plans I’m going to execute to make my travel as stress-free as ever.
One of the dilemmas I face when traveling as a location-independent writer is dealing with distractions and focusing on work. I’ve been doing this writing thing and traveling as far as I can remember, but I never really paid attention to the gadgets I use when I’m working remotely.
I have a 15-inch laptop I use at home, and obviously, it is not convenient to carry it around in my already heavy 50-liter backpack that I usually use.
I used to have a 10-inch Asus Eee PC that I brought with me anywhere I travel but it eventually gave up. I didn’t really think about replacing it right away and I don’t know why. Maybe because I didn’t really plan on traveling longer than one week after it broke, so I thought it’s not that necessary.
Then, out of the blue, I thought about buying a tablet because I found it hard to read books before bedtime and without leaving the lights on. And if you don’t know already, I sleep on a loft bed, which means I need to get down using a ladder in order to turn the light switch on.
At first, I didn’t know which model to buy, but then I stumbled upon a tablet PC by Acer called Iconia W3.
Since it was a tablet PC and have Windows OS installed, I used it for work while on the road. Although it did its job, for the most part, it was not easy to use and I would not recommend it. Because of that, I told myself I should invest in a better travel computer, and that’s when I decided to buy an old MacBook.
I did weeks of research on which is the best laptop I could buy for such an affordable price. I had a lot of options, and I could have had bought one right away. But then again, I had limited budget, so it is either I am going to buy a $200 brand new netbook or a second-hand laptop with the same price but offers a better performance.
I chose the latter.
As you might probably know, I like editing videos, so I tried to look for a machine that will allow me to edit videos with at least 1080p resolution, and I think this option is more likely to cater to that need. I browse through different local secondhand marketplaces and it was hard to decide whether I should buy the first decent one I saw.
Then, I remember that my boyfriend is coming home – aka to me ;) – next month, so, I thought, why not shop for a laptop in America and send it to his house so he could bring it to me?
I searched for laptops on eBay and randomly bid on multiple laptops which I thought were ‘qualified’ for what I was looking for, but the first few days weren’t lucky for me. It was alright, I thought, at least I’ll have more time to research. Until I saw how old MacBook laptops were priced on the website. You can buy one for more or less $100!
I never had a MacBook before, in fact, the only MacBook I laid my hands on was my boyfriend’s. He’s a devoted Apple user, by the way. I looked at the auctions and saw ones that have $50 as starting price.
I bid on my heart’s desire. I lost most of them and eventually focused on one of the ones that left.
I said my max bid would only be $60, but then I was outbid, so I raised my max bid to $67, and then I said $70. But then I thought what if this competitive person trying to outbid me also has the same max bid? So, I raised my bid a little bit more and made it $72. In the end, I won the laptop at $69. I was right – his max bid was almost the same as mine! I am happy.
In the end, I paid $69 on top of the $15 shipping.
I know this computer is pretty old considering it’s about 7 years old (that’s 1 year in dog’s year!) but it performs well and does its job. Most importantly, it is lightweight and came with Microsoft Word (thanks to the seller!) I think the size is also pretty decent. It is 13 inches, the same as my boyfriend's MacBook, except his is slimmer and lighter.
I also bought cases for it off eBay also. It’s still somewhere in China, I assume, but it’s going to be here in time for my boyfriend's arrival and for my new but old MacBook A1181. I’m also going to buy an ergonomic mouse for easier use.
I’ll be updating this post with a review of the machine. I think it’s still worth it considering that MacBook A1181 is still widely sold on Amazon and eBay and it’s a good travel laptop.
If you have any suggestions on what laptop is the best to use for traveling or you have questions on how to master the art of eBay bidding (lol) or you just want to say hi, let me know in the comment box below!