If you are an active Internet person and use a smartphone or tablet a lot, I have two helpful hints that can make traveling much easier. I carry a nine or 15-foot extension cord with me so I can stay in bed and be connected to electricity all the time. The cord doesn’t take up much space and gives me the flexibility to move around my hotel room without worrying about how much charge I have left on my devices. Most of the hotel rooms I visit never have the electrical socket in a convenient spot.

The second item I won’t leave home without is a small grounded electrical adapter with multiple outlets. You plug it into one of the outlets in your room and then you have additional sockets, plus a built-in surge protector in case you overload the circuit.  I always plug my hair dryer and flat iron into the adapter so I don’t blow the electricity in the room.

Today we hiked through a remote island in Costa Rica. We came across a mountain top lodge and, when we entered to cool off, this was the first thing I spotted.

I would never survive here. Everything I do is on my smartphone – my digital books, newspapers, magazines, emails, audio books, Words With Friends, apps, websites, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, plus, plus, need I say more?

Some photos from today’s nature walk.

Several Zodiacs took us to the private island in Costa Rica named Marenco.

We traveled with several naturalists who carried spotting scopes to zero in on birds and monkeys.