Two days into a three-week trip around Europe, my iPad died.

Did I bring another computer along with me? No. Did I think my beautiful iPad would go to Apple Heaven? Absolutely not. So the morning I woke up to a blank, back-lit screen, I knew my blogging days were over.

Or were they?

I had five things on hand that could cure my disease: my iPhone, a bluetooth keyboard that I had used for heavy blogging with my iPad, and three Snickers bars. You may argue that it was the Snickers bar that did the trick, but something struck a chord in me and I realized: I can put the phone on the bluetooth keyboard, and have a mini iPad Mini!

My Life in Four Inches (of Phone)

Ladies, it’s not about the size of your device. It’s what you can do with it. I know you’ll be shocked by what my phone can do, so I’ll explain its functionality very clearly. It can take pictures. It can browse Facebook, or any other website, with ease. It can book flights. It can tell you the best coffee shop near your current location. It can pretty much do everything you want, but the speed at which it can do these things decreases drastically when you’re typing on a screen that’s smaller than your hand. I often find myself getting a million things done at once on my double monitor at work. Once I return home to my laptop, I feel amazingly limited. On the phone, even more-so. That’s how it works.

Yet suddenly, with a keyboard, you can do anything you like. Write this blog post, for example (in less than ten hours, which is about how long it would take using just my touchscreen and fingers). Send long messages to family and friends. Actually check email without flagging things.

Living without large devices

In fact, having a phone and a keyboard instead of a computer while traveling is pretty nifty. It keeps me from being attached to my devices, but also allows me to be fully capable if I have the need to be. I can both live in the moment and be independent of technology while having this technology at my disposal as a travel blogger. And with a bluetooth keyboard, I’m able to take my blogging from a tablet, to a phone, to whatever device I like. And it fits in my purse (I know an iPad can also fit in your purse; just go with it).

How Do You Travel?

I obviously didn’t plan to travel with such a spartan technology inventory, yet now that I’m forced to live with it I’m adjusting quite well. I won’t say I’m a convert, but it’s got its perks.

Have you ever traveled the world with just four inches of connection to the digital world? Would you ever try it? What technology can you absolutely not live without, and what would life be like if one day you turned it on during your travels and it stopped working?