While traveling, I like to keep my electronics (camera, flash units, laptop, etc.) fully powered. And, I like to import photos from my camera's storage cards to my laptop each day. Upon import, I caption the images and then back everything up using two portable external hard drives. All of this can be challenging to accomplish on long road trips while camping at night.

During past trips, I was able to keep current on these tasks. I used a power inverter in my car to keep everything charged. And, I would usually import images on the laptop while sitting in the parked car somewhere.

During my last road trip to the Desert Southwest, I visited McDonald's to accomplish these tasks with ease. In recent months, I've noticed that many of the McDonald's restaurants have power outlets next to the booths. All of the restaurants offer free Wi-Fi.

So, I visit a McDonald's during an off hour in the middle of the afternoon (when the light isn't optimal for photography). While I'm working on my photos (captions, adding GPS coordinates, etc.) on my laptop, my laptop and camera batteries are being charged. The fast internet connection also enables me to look up information to help me with my captioning as well as to do research for the next day's travel.

By the time I leave the restaurant, I'm all caught up and ready to continue with the trip: electronics charged, images imported, photos backed up, emails read, etc.--all with ease and in comfort!