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Three gadgets that made my impromptu father-son overnight fishing trip an instant success
It's Friday. I've finished reviewing some of the best web hosting providers. The weather forecast was for rain, so I hadn't prepared to leave the house. My head torch is not charged and my phone has less than 20% power. My headphones are dead and I'm ready to settle in for the evening. Maybe build a block tower. Draw with some crayons. Then, think about what I'd like to do with my son before his bedtime.
When suddenly, my son tells me he wants to go fishing. I look at his smile, and I first make a mental list of the reasons to tell my son all the fish have gone on holiday to Fin-land.
- All my devices are on low battery
- The wind is blowing from the east
- It's unseasonably cold
- My son will be bored after half an hour
- My son might get sick
- If my son does get sick I am definitely getting the blame
I look back at the smile and think of some reasons to go
- How many more summers will I really have with my son?
- It would be nice to be outside
- Spending time with my son is fun
- Fishing is fun
Then, I glance over to the portable power station I have on loan from Acer and tell my son if he eats all his dinner, we can go fishing.
Gadget 1: Acer 1800w Portable Power Station
The power station is eminently usable for these little impromptu camping trips that might not have happened otherwise.
On a hot summers day there would be no bringing my son home, but this is England and there wasn't going to be sunlight for much longer. I didn't want to entertain my son next to a cold, dark river bank. I wanted to fish, and it's probably better to have a working phone for emergencies.
This isn't something I could have done with a small power bank. The benefit of the power station was that I could charge everything I needed, all at the same time and crucially, at the fishing spot rather than at home. This brings us to my second must-have: the iPad.
Gadget 2: iPad Mini Gen5
I see the Father of the Year award disappearing off into the distance. Yes, I gave him an iPad.
However, his screen time is limited to an hour, and it was more than an hour before bed. Sure, he is supposed to be learning mindfulness, patience, how to be at peace with oneself, and having a crack at the world record for most questions asked about fish in the span of 20 minutes.
I had an awesome time fishing with my son, and when he got bored and conditions became too wet and windy, he retreated to the tent to watch some educational videos.
He actually put the iPad down a lot quicker than expected and spent most of the time in the tent smashing Transformers into each other, scaring the fish away.
Gadget 3: Acer Enduro Connect
I could have downloaded some educational videos for my son in advance, but I had not organized this trip. The iPad would have caused more grief than relief had it not been for the Acer Enduro Connect: it's SIM-free, scans all available networks and selects the best one. It also works in multiple countries.
These days, I turn roaming completely off when I go on work trips and get a cheaper rate with this device. So, when I do get signal around my home I still have some data left.
Would I have gone without these gadgets?
I probably wouldn't have. I take my son camping and fishing regularly, sometimes disconnecting from technology and sometimes embracing it. On this occasion, having charged-up kit was the difference between going and not going, because of the dark, the exceptional high tide, and the poor weather. My gadgets completely removed these barriers; I had fully charged kit, entertainment for my son, and light.
The last thing my son said to me before he fell asleep was "Daddy I really like it here". So, I'm glad I had these gadgets because instilling an appreciation for the outside and a resilience against imperfect weather is important to me as a father.
Turns out all the fish had gone to Fin-land, but I did net myself some husband points and generated some core memories for my son.
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