I Have the Power!

Australia Travelog #43
Leura, NSW - Sat, 30 Dec 2023, 9pm

As Hawk and I settle down in our hotel room this evening with our computers open and our phones and my camera recharging— our standard evening practice— I realize that all this week I've neglected to talk about the simple technology that makes it easy to use all these electronics: power adapters.

Yes, power adapters are a critical bit of kit that any serious world traveler needs. Go without and you're at the mercy of whatever adapters are available in your hotel. For example, the Hilton we stayed at in Sydney's central business district this week had an outlet that could accommodate two-prong US and EU plugs... but just one outlet, and it was 240v (not all devices designed for 110v can handle the voltage change), and it had no grounding pin. Oh, and it was in the bathroom. I've played the can-my-computer-cable-reach-from-the-bathroom game before. It's not fun.

It's not hard to plan ahead to get a power converter. I mean, you just have to plan ahead. You don't even have to shop a specialty store anymore; Amazon has dozens of options. All the options boil down to two basic kinds: universal adapters, and country-specific adapters.



Universal adapters, like the one shown in the photo above, are the pick of a lot of globe-trotters. They're handy for people who go a lot of places and never know where they'll be sent next month. By pulling those black levers on the side you can pop out 5 or 6 different types configurations of prongs. These bad boys work in probably hundreds of countries.

There are drawbacks, though. For one, they're big. That's a problem not just for packing them but also for plugging them in. The space around the outlet isn't always huge. Another drawback is they only provide one electrical outlet. What do you do in 2023 when you've got a laptop or maybe two, a tablet, a smartphone, a camera, and a shaver? And what do you do when you're a family traveling together? Bringing a power strip to plug in to the adapter is a lot of extra bulk to pack.



Instead, for this trip, we bought these simple adapters. They just convert a US plug to Australia/New Zealand/Fiji, that's all. But that's all we need for this trip. They were cheap, so we bought three. And they're compact, so tossing 3 in our bags took less space than that one universal adapter. And we have three. That means Hawk can be stretched out on the bed with one plugged in at her night stand for her devices; I'm sitting in the armchair with one over here; and there's still a spare for recharging things on the desk.

Packing to Go Home

Australia Travelog #44
Leura, NSW - Sun, 31 Dec 2023, 9am

Well, it's that sad time in almost any trip: packing to go home. We've spent about 30 minutes pulling our bags together. In a few minutes we'll leave the hotel, get in the car, drive to Sydney Airport, and await our flight home.

Could we try to squeeze in one last hike or sightseeing bit today? Not really. Though our departure isn't until 2pm, between the time it takes to drive, gas up and return the car, and allow for lines at the airport when flying internationally there really isn't time to commit to anything else in our schedule. And the weather sucks today anyway. It's cold outside (in summer!) and raining. At least that lessens the sting of this last day in Australia being a travel-only day.

I note that today I slept in until my 7am alarm and then hit the snooze button a few times. There was no waking up at 4-5am and being unable to get back to sleep today. I've finally acclimated to the time zone change... just in time to leave. 🤣 When we get back it'll take me 5 days to readjust to home.

Hertz selling off 20,000 rental EVs to buy more ICE

It's in the news the past few days that Hertz is selling off 20,000 EVs from its rental fleet and using the proceeds to buy internal combustion engine (ICE) cars instead. Example news coverage: Reuters article Jan 11, USA Today article Jan 11.

While some might read such a headline and conclude that it's a matter of Hertz adjusting to consumer demand— and thus presumably an indication that consumers don't want EVs— pretty much all the articles are careful to point out that Hertz explained the move in terms of costs. Hertz found the EVs, especially the Tesla models which composed most of their EV fleet, were on average twice as expensive to repair when damaged as comparable ICE vehicles. Moreover, the Tesla EVs took a huge depreciation hit over the past year as Tesla aggressively cut the price of its new vehicles.

But is there also an issue of consumers not wanting to rent EVs? I wouldn't be surprised if there is... because as a consumer who rents cars about once a month on average, I have steered away from renting EVs.

I'm not politically opposed to EVs. I don't think Joe Biden and/or some global cabal dedicated to overthrowing Truth, Justice, and the American Way is trying to cram them down our throats. I'm not out there "rolling coal" with dual smokestacks on my gas-guzzling gussied-up grocery-grabber.

My caution around EVs is purely practical. Where will I recharge it? How far out of my way will I have to go in a place I'm already probably not familiar with? Will I have time in my travel schedule to sit at recharging stations? How much, and how, will I pay at recharging stations? When I helped a friend drive an EV 500 miles on a road trip I found that if you have to pay market prices at a charging station it's expensive.

FWIW these are all concerns when owning an EV as well. Though when renting they're even more of a challenge because I'd have to figure these things out just for a short trip— and in an unfamiliar area, and without the fallback of charging at home. That's kind of a shame because it seems like renting an EV is a good way to dip one's toes into the waters of owning an EV, learning the ropes of driving an EV before committing serious money to buying one. Alas I don't think it's practical to rent an EV on a trip unless 1) I had time to plan up front where/how/when I'd recharge, and 2) the rental company provided some kind of membership plan for cost-effective charging. And that's why I've considered, but have turned down 100% of the time, selecting an EV when renting from Hertz and other companies over the past year.