How do people post to a trail Journal on the trail?

[Sclark9082]

I personally do not want to carry gear to do this. So how do people post daily journal reports?

[Chaco Taco]

for the first few weeks, when you get to hostels or motel/hotels. They usually have computers. Most people now carry smartphones and post from there.

[ChinMusic]

I can post to TJ any time I have a cell signal w my iPhone. It's not difficult

[Old Hiker]

Had ATT - usually didn't have data coverage and minimal phone. I had to wait until towns to update. There was a stretch of 4-6 days when I couldn't update - wife and friends got kinda anxious.

[Slo-go'en]

If you want to do more or less daily updates, then you'll need a smart phone. No way around that.

If you don't want to carry the gear to do daily updates, but want to keep an on line journal, you can use the public internet at Libaries, Motels and most hostels. However, there is always a waiting line and your on-line time is limited.

[yellowsirocco]

The last thing you want to be doing is typing a journal out on a phone or spending your time in town writing journal entries. So write the journal by hand at night, then take a picture of what you wrote with a smartphone, upload those whenever you get a chance, then have you support person back home transcribe. And twitter is good for small updates since it can be used with text messages which need much less signal than voice or data.

[ChinMusic]

If takes very little time to type up a journal entry on a phone. I usually do it while laying in my sleeping bag before going to sleep. Modern phones also give you the option of just speaking to the phone. I've done this when there are no other tents around.

[Sclark9082]

Thanks. Good advice. Will be looking at upgrading to a smartphone then. Does it ever become a challenge to find a charging source in town?

[Don H]

I wrote down in a small note pad something every day. When I got to town I found a computer and emailed the info home. My wife edited it and posted it to TJ. Another way is to send home by mail your notes to someone who can post them.

[moytoy]

Thanks. Good advice. Will be looking at upgrading to a smartphone then. Does it ever become a challenge to find a charging source in town?
As a side note. There is much better coverage with Verizon than any other service provider. I recently switched to Sprint and coverage is not good.

[Turk6177]

I use my iphone and type my journal entry at night when it is fresh in my mind. I use the notepad app. When I have broadband, I cut and paste from the notepad into my journal and upload it.

[bear bag hanger]

Thanks. Good advice. Will be looking at upgrading to a smartphone then. Does it ever become a challenge to find a charging source in town?
It's usually not a problem. If at all possible, look for a smart phone which charges via a USB cable and an adapter. Then you can charge not only with a 110V plug in, but a vehicle 12V power port as well. I carry two adapters, one for 110V and the other for 12V sources. It's about one or two extra oz, but, I think, worth it.

[rusty bumper]

I carried a Verizon LG Cosmos. It's not a smartphone, but it has a slide out keyboard and you can add a "data package" from Verizon for and extra $10/month that will let you send and receive email. I wrote my journal entry as an email every night after settling into my sleeping bag. I'd send it off to my wife right away if I had a cell signal....if not, I waited 'til the next morning when I got to a higher elevation, and sent it off with a photo or two. My wife cut and pasted the email into Microsoft Word and cleaned it up...spelling, typos, etc. She then posted it to Trail Journals. Almost every day of my 5 month hike, my journal entry was posted by 10 in the morning. And BTW, I was very pleased with the coverage provided by Verizon...rarely was I unable to email, text or talk at some point during every day.

[moldy]

I know of one lady who just phoned it in to her mom who typed it in to TJ on the spot. If you go for the I-phone carry your charger, you will have no trouble finding a place to plug it in. Keep it turned off while hiking. Verizon is best.

[10-K]

I use my iphone and type my journal entry at night when it is fresh in my mind. I use the notepad app. When I have broadband, I cut and paste from the notepad into my journal and upload it.

Thats what I do.

The last journal I kept was in real time and I feel like it wasn't as good as the ones I typed up from notes after I got home.

In the evening I was usually too tired to sit there with my reading glasses on and peck on a little iPhone keyboard for 30 minutes so I skipped a lot.

[Sclark9082]

Exactly what I have a hesitation about. Not currently a user of any type of smartphone device and at times I feel like I'm all thumbs trying to use the virtual keyboard.

But everyone has really given me great ideas on how to handle it. It might have to be a combination of things for me. I just know that I do want to maintain a journal that family has asked me to do and friends.