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My laptop charger gave out in a tiny town in Laos last month
I was in this place called Muang Ngoi, way up north... no real stores, just a dirt path and some guesthouses. My charger just stopped working one morning, no warning. The only place with power was the main village generator that ran for a few hours at night. I had a client call the next day, so I was in a real bind. I ended up paying a boat driver about $15 to take me down the river to the next town, which took almost two hours. Found a shop that sold a universal charger that got super hot, but it worked long enough to get me through. Has anyone else had a key piece of gear fail in a really remote spot? What did you do to get back online?
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faith27424d ago
That bit about paying a boat driver for a two hour trip just to find a charger really hits home. I used to pack super light and never brought backups for anything. Then my only phone cable fried on an overnight bus in Bolivia, and I was stuck for a full day with no way to call my hostel or use a map. Now I always have a backup power bank and an extra cable buried in my bag, no matter what. That one cheap piece of gear failing totally changed how I think about being ready.
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john_cooper24d ago
It's funny how the backup stuff you never use becomes the most important. My old waterproof phone case seemed silly until a sudden rainstorm in Vietnam. That zip lock bag for my passport looked dumb next to fancy document holders, but it saved everything when my water bottle leaked. Sometimes the cheapest, simplest backup plan is the one that saves the trip.
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