The musical backpack

One thing I had hoped would happen on this trip, was some nice nerdy inspiration for tech things to work on once the trip is over. I think it is working.

Finally getting a proper photo album written was definitely a step in the right direction; whether it becomes anything more than just a personal web-site doesn't really matter, it felt good to be writing code and doing things my way, for myself, again.

Another little bit of inspiration came from the people of Mexico City itself. One of the highlights of the subway system in Mexico is all the people selling things on the trains. Many of them have speakers sewn into backpacks and walk around loudly playing samples from the CDs or DVDs they have for sale.

I thought this was rather cool. I've always thought it would be nice to have a band following me around, playing a soundtrack for my life. This is admittedly unrealistic, but wearing a backpack with speakers playing my favorite tracks isn't a bad compromise.

I realised the other day that I had all the ingredients to make this happen: Our day-packs have little net pockets on the sides. I bought tiny little battery-powered speakers for the trip, which fit nicely in those pockets, and my Android does quite a good job as an mp3 player. A couple of pokes with my leatherman made holes so the cables could be invisible and voila! Musical backpack! I'm like a real Mexican now! If only I had pirated CDs to sell!

Of course, I'm still a bit too shy to use it in public. But I'm sure it'll come in handy on a picnic sometime or something. And in our hotel rooms or at impromptu parties or on busses...

Both Ewelina and Unnur had the same reaction to the musical backpack: they said I had obviously been in the city too long. Which is fine I guess, as I'm writing this on a bus to Oaxaca.

With the musical backpack on the floor by my feet! 8-)