I do a great deal of my photography, writing and geekery on the hoof, and am often to be found staggering around assorted strange parts of the planet, swaying like an overloaded Christmas tree under the combined weight of camera, computer and communications gear, and all those bits and pieces that I've slung in, "just in case". So, Welcome to the review area – this is where I'll be reviewing technology and tools that really work (or, for that matter, which don't) for those of us who spend rather too much – often too much – of our lives on the road, in planes and, on occasional, up to our individual or collective armpits in mangrove swamps. In particular, it's aimed particularly (but certainly not solely) at the needs of the digitally-driven travelling and expedition photographer – from the casual traveller through to the semi-pro and onward to the full-on hairy professional.

I concentrate on reviewing stuff that has at least a nodding acquaintance with the notion of portable⁽¹⁾, and which is actually useful once away from the beaten track of broadband-enabled hotels and the Starbucks monoculture. Included are computers, phones, PDAs, communications services, cameras, accessories to any of the the foregoing, luggage, books, useful web sites and, of course, the power sources that help keep everything going.