A Gizmo’s & Gadgets Check List

I was reading Jerry and Suzy’s blog Monday morning and saw that they had experienced one of my nagging fears, leaving an essential component of my laptop computer at home – the A/C power adaptor. Luckily, they were only 80 miles from home, so they were able to go back and get it without it drastically affecting their travel plans. Living on an Island, that’s not a realistic option for us – once we’re off, that’s it until we return home for good. So, I needed something to help ensure that I wouldn’t forget a gizmo, gadget or any of the adaptors and cables that make them work. What to do?

A sampling, from a few months ago, of some of the gizmos we bring along with us

The answer of course was a Gizmo & Gadgets Checklist! Paulette and I have checklists for Trailer Packing, Hitching, Un-Hitching, RV Park Arrival and RV Park Departures. With so many tech devices now, it was time to sit down and make another checklist. Here’s what I came up with:

Gizmos & Gadgets Checklist
(This is how the list should look when it is properly completed)

Tech Device	In RV	A/C Adapter	USB Cable	Lithium Battery Chargers	Car Chargers
R-Laptop	Y	Y	Y	-	-
P-Laptop	Y	Y	Y	-	-
Cradlepoint Router	Y	Y	Y	-	-
Verizon Air Card	Y	-	-	-	-
R-Camera	Y	-	Y	Y	-
P-Camera	Y	-	Y	Y	-
R-IPod	Y	-	Y	-	-
P-IPod	Y	-	Y	-	-
R-Cellphone	Y	-	Y	Y	Y
P-Cellphone	Y	-	-	Y	Y
Card Reader	Y	-	-	-	-
Skype Headset	Y	-	Y	-	-
Sony eBook	Y	-	Y	-	-
Satellite Receivers	Y	Y	-	-	-
Satellite Remotes	Y	-	-	-	-
Cobra Radios	Y	Y	-	Y	-

Legend: R = Rick; P = Paulette; - = N/A

By the time I had finished, I was surprised at just how many tech devices we actually bring along with us. Are they all absolutely essential? Probably not, but I can’t imagine going on a long RV trip without our laptops and digital cameras for sure. Satellite TV, while not essential, is sure nice to have especially since we are able to get all of our local stations from home as well. The rest of the gizmo’s and gadgets would be, at best, an inconvenience if left behind.

As suggested by Al of The Bayfield Bunch, this is my “White on White” wall mural

Will this checklist actually work? Well, it should if we use it properly and check everything off as we go. We’ve always used our Hitching and Un-Hitching checklists and I just know that it has saved us from a lot of unnecessary grief and expense. Although I’m usually pretty careful, I’ve found myself about to do something and then decided to check my list only to discover that I was about to make a mistake that could have caused some problems.

The trees and shrubs are trimmed, the grass is cut - we’re all set until next Spring

I know how to hitch-up our truck and 5’er, and how to un-hitch it, from memory as I’ve done it enough times. But, it just takes one time to either forget or be careless and boom! More often than you might think, experienced RV’ers still drive away from RV sites with their power cords still plugged into shore power. I could do that! But, if I follow my checklist, I should avoid that problem. Let’s hope so, anyway!