I’ve been consumed with getting the new Mia Terra Tours & Retreats venture started. I’m also preparing for my upcoming trip to Spain with my friend Colby.
We’ll be in Spain nearly three weeks in March, most of the time sailing on the tall ship Tenacious from Seville to Valencia. Since we’ll have only one day to explore Seville before we board the ship, we have several walking tours planned to capitalize on our time there. Seville is the birthplace of both tapas and Flamenco, so our tours will include a big taste of those two wonderful things.
We’ll be setting out on our voyage from Seville down the beautiful Rio Guadalquivir, the longest river in Spain. We’ll sail into the Atlantic Ocean along the coast of Spain, through the Straits of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea and north along the Spanish coastline to Valencia. I expect we’ll call into a Spanish port or two along the way. When we arrive in Valencia, our ship will be part of the big Fallas festival there.
After we leave the ship, Colby and I will spend three days in Valencia wandering the streets. They will be lively with festivities and jammed with tourists. I’ll take lots of photos and videos to post for you after I return. I’m bringing along a couple of cameras, an iPhone and iPad so I can record all the amazing events and scenes we’ll encounter.
These mobile devices take a lot of juice to run. In fact, one of the biggest dilemmas for travelers these days is how do you charge up your mobile devices on the go? Yes, you can charge them in your hotel room at night. But if you’re walking around all day using your devices, or you’re on a tall ship (like Colby and me) where the few electrical outlets are in high demand, you’re likely to run out of juice just when you want to get a photo of something famous or you need to use your GPS to find your way back to the hotel.
I have a lot of travel apps on my iPhone, including a Valencia Metro map app, a couple of Valencia street map apps with GPS, a translator app in case my Spanish fails me, and my flight itinerary in the Tripit app. These apps can drain a battery fast. What if my batteries run out? How do I charge all of these devices when I’m walking around Valencia all day?
No worries! I bought two self-contained power sources to charge my mobile devices. The Powertraveller Powermonkey Extreme 5V and 12V Solar Portable Charger can back me up in two ways. The power unit can be charged in advance by plugging into an electrical outlet. It can be used to recharge an iPhone/smartphone up to 6 times, an iPad/Tablet up to 2 times or most SLR camera batteries twice. It will work with almost any 5V or 12V devices including head lamps, handheld action cameras and more.
If the juice runs out of the Powermonkey and you don’t have a place to plug it in, you can use the portable solar charger. The included solar panel will charge the Powermonkey Extreme battery unit in 18-22 hours in optimum light conditions and is also capable of charging 5V devices directly. The solar panel’s folding, clam-shell design is compact and it can be attached to backpacks, tents, etc with the Velcro strap. It’s ideal for camping, hiking, biking and sailing.
However – the Powermonkey might be a bit cumbersome to use while walking the crowded streets of Valencia, so I bought the FLUXMOB BOLT 3000mAh Battery Backup and Wall Charger. BOLT is the world’s smallest portable battery backup and wall charger all in one. It will work with any USB device, including Apple iPhone 6+, 6, 5S, 5C, 5, iPad, Galaxy S5, S4, HTC, Motorola, Moto X, and iPads. BOLT is designed to replace your wall charger. Plug it into a wall outlet with your device attached and charge both your device and BOLT at the same time. Then just pull it out and go. At 2.75 x 1.33 x 1.10 inches, it’s small enough to put in your pocket. You’ll have dependable battery backup wherever you go, all day long!
After I return from Spain in late March, I’ll let you know how well these two devices worked for me. I’ll also post multiple articles about my adventures in Seville, on the ship and in Valencia. Stay tuned!